Costruire geo-competenze, apprendimento permanente, lavoro decente, quale ruolo per la GIScience e i Sistemi a Pilotaggio Remoto nella promozione degli obiettivi di sostenibilità al 2030?

La Geographic Information Science è stata considerata la “causa comune per la ricerca interdisciplinare” (Onsrud, Kuhn, 2015). Nell'era dei sistemi aerei a pilotaggio remoto, l’Università di Padova ha avviato con l’anno accademico 2015/2016 un nuovo master di secondo livello in “GIScience e Sistemi a Pilotaggio Remoto (SAPR) per la gestione integrata del territorio e delle risorse naturali”. Il master vede la collaborazione di cinque dipartimenti universitari, aziende che operano nel campo della GIScience e dei droni, ONG. Con il volume del 2016 Education for people and planet: Creating sustainable futures for all, l'UNESCO ha avviato il monitoraggio dell'obiettivo 4 dei Sustainable development goals: "Garantire l'educazione di qualità, inclusiva ed equa e promuovere opportunità di apprendimento permanente per tutti". In questo contributo si indagano, alla luce degli obiettivi di sostenibilità al 2030, le possibili integrazioni tra apprendimento permanente, lavoro decente, sviluppo sostenibile, innovazione tecnologica ed il ruolo della GIScience e delle opportunità di utilizzare la piattaforma offerta da un master di secondo livello per facilitare le interazioni tra giovani, imprese, territorio

Virtual Organization Managements Across Middleware Boundaries

One of the most important challenges in production Grids is to achieve interoperation across several heterogeneous Grid middleware platforms: eScience applications need a coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals/institutions, independently from whatever middleware the resources are running. For this reason, there is a great effort going on to define standard interfaces, in order to implement common services that can be used to achieve cross-middlewares interoperability. In this paper, we present our modifications to the Virtual Organization Management Service (VOMS), a widely-known and used tool that acts as an Attribute Authority. We enhanced VOMS to expose the standardized interface of the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), and therefore to release SAML assertions. This way we want VOMS to be available on the larger possible number of Grid middleware platforms

An Open Multi-user Platform in Support of Urban Development: the DATA WebGIS

One of the key features of our times is the availability of a huge amount of digital data regarding any branch of knowledge or human activity, combined with the widespread diffusion of devices connected to the web. Besides, the potential of data mining and processing offered by contemporary ICT is constantly growing. Turning these capabilities into opportunities and advantages is a challenge involving a lot of research areas. In the field of urban and territorial studies, free and open access to spatial data is by now a common policy for national and international institutions: an example is the INSPIRE Directive by European Union, which sets a framework for Spatial Data Infrastructures by its member states. As a consequence, georeferenced data and thematic maps concerning cities and their surrounding territory are released for public consultation by administrations and monitoring agencies. Nevertheless, this proliferation of data is not always accompanied by an improvement of spatial planning quality: in western cities, economic crisis and functional obsolescence can take to decommission or underuse of buildings and compounds, both public and private; at the same time, a circular and environmentally- friendly vision of urban development is still struggling to gain acceptance in practices. In order to reactivate complex urban or peri-urban areas, traditional planning shall therefore lean on different research fields in a multidisciplinary vision. Proposed scenarios should be sustainable, and take advantage of new ways of thinking and acting bred by the advancement of digital geo-information technologies. DATA \u2013 Developing Abandoned Transurban Areas is a research project financed by European Social Funds, involving Departments of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and Industrial Engineering of the University of Padova and fitting in the framework described above. It aims to generate pilot transformation scenarios for abandoned areas awaiting regeneration. The chosen sample region is a part of the western periphery of Padova, in the North East of Italy, marked by a mix of rural and built surfaces, infrastructures and partially abandoned building complexes. One of DATA topics is to collect and process multi-scale data related to the region of interest, for the purpose of releasing them on an open source webGIS platform, thus spreading knowledge outside the academic field and creating interactions with involved urban actors. Collected data include base city maps, social and environmental information, historical evolution of the studied area, urban development plans. Their processing is developed through an open source workflow, from QGIS software to a GeoNode web platform, and their combination produces integrated information layers and in-depth analysis about the nodes of possible urban transformations. This paper introduces data and GIS-based analysis feeding the platform, together with its fruition levels: the webGIS in fact addresses to different users' categories, including the research group itself, public and private stakeholders that may be interested in starting new urban projects, active citizens and associations willing to participate in the processes of development. The final goal is to keep the platform working beyond the end of the research project, as a base framework for the futures of the area

Learning Environment for GIScience in the era of flying robot

The increasing availability of geographic information and the rapid development of new technologies for the management of geographic data (from drones, to WebGIS, to Mobile-GIS) require the updating, the reorganization and the development of decision-making processes in many sectors of the economy, public administration and the non-profit. At the same time Universities are challenged in providing suitable learning environment for updating and building appropriated skills. With the academic year 2015/2016 the University of Padua has launched the new Master di secondo livello on "GIScience and Unmanned System for the integrated management of the territory and the natural resources - with majors" (Professional Master). The master sees the collaboration of five departments, firms operating on GISciences and drones, NGO. The master offers 4 academic paths: Production and management of geo-information; GIScience for environmental conflict management and participation on public decision making; Cartography and GIS for green infrastructures; Geoinformation and new technologies for sustainable agriculture. With a first group of 25 people the Master started in March 2016 so we can share the first results participant observation of this initiative considering the complex context for GIScience and geography in Italy

Mobile Mapping System per l\u2019analisi del paesaggio visibile dalla rete stradale in provincia di Treviso

Scopo del lavoro \ue8 sperimentare l\u2019uso di rilievi eseguiti con tecnologia MMS per valutare la potenziale attrattiva paesaggistica di una strada. Lo studio \ue8 stato condotto in via sperimentale su un unico tratto di strada in provincia di Treviso. Il rilievo della strada \ue8 stato visionato, identificando e mappando i tratti di strada per i quali la visuale laterale risultava libera oppure occlusa. I tratti di strada a visuale libera sono stati considerati come punti di vista nella conduzione dell\u2019analisi di visibilit\ue0 finalizzata alla definizione della distanza massima dell\u2019orizzonte visibile dalla strada e alla mappatura delle aree di territorio visibili. Dalla sovrapposizione delle aree e punti di interesse paesaggistico con le aree visibili \ue8 stato possibile dare un giudizio qualitativo sull\u2019attrattiva paesaggistica della strada. Tutte le elaborazioni sono state eseguite in ambiente GIS impiegando il software ArcGISTM. Oltre all'aspetto relativo alla valutazione paesaggistica si vuole indagare possibili nuovi utilizzi dei dati grezzi ottenuti da rilievi MMS, al fine di ottenere informazioni aggiuntive che possano arricchire lo standard informativo di questo tipo di rilievi

Overlapping of onshore oil activities and biodiversity in Italy: spatialising the guidelines for the Environmental Impact Assessment in \u201cVal d\u2019Agri\u201d Concession, Basilicata, South of Italy

Among the human activities characterized by higher negative effects on biodiversity conservation, there is the hydrocarbons extraction, with all the connected phases. The production of hydrocarbons, in fact, can lead to a wide range of effects on ecosystems including contamination of soil, water and air pollution, deforestation and habitat fragmentation. In Italy there are few analysis about the relationship between oil extraction and environment and biodiversity, so this research provides an evaluation of the main Italian onshore oil activities (\u201cVal d\u2019Agri\u201d Concession, in Basilicata, South of Italy) through two steps: development of Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines and the spatialization of oil operation and biodiversity through the analysis of oil operation in relation to Natura 2000 network. The research presents the development of new guidelines providing a signi\ufb01cant contribution to identi\ufb01cation and management of adverse impacts in continental areas characterized by high biodiversity. The guidelines focus on the life cycle project of oil activities, the impacts and the possible mitigations, in the framework of Environmental Impact Assessment. Tuned guidelines are then tested and spatialized in the case study showing the level of pressure on biodiversity due to oil operation

Il respiro del Sahel. Rappresentazioni di uno spazio in movimento

The Sahel is an area that, over time, has had multiple definitions, climatic-botanical and political: its limits have been traced in very different ways. Even the usage of this name and its delimitation on maps has been openly questioned and contested. Our contribution proposes a cartography capable of mapping the incessant movement of conditions, limits and possibilities that characterize this strip between the Sahara and the humid Sudanese regions, rendering the areal definition of the Sahel visible and fluid at the same time. However, it is a question of rethinking the very foundation of cartography – what has been ‘taken for granted’ in the past – such as the common tools of cartographic representation, for example the concept of ‘isohyet’ to identify climatic areas or ‘boundaries’ to define political jurisdictions. Knowledge from fieldwork and expertise in the processing of satellite and geo-referenced data converge in this path of analysis and representation

Oil production, biodiversity conservation and indigenous territories: Towards geographical criteria for unburnable carbon areas in the Amazon rainforest

Climate change currently represents the tip of the iceberg of the human footprint on the Biosphere, showing social and environmental impacts both on local and global scales. McGlade and Ekins (2015) argued that to keep the temperature from increasing by 2\u202f\ub0C, more than 80% of coal, 50% of gas and 30% of oil reserves must remain \u201cunburnable\u201d underground. Within such a global scenario, the Amazon Biome presently plays a crucial role both as a carbon sink and as a fossil fuel reserve. Secondly, the Amazon Biome, - a key region in terms of provisioning ecosystem services and biological and cultural diversity - is endangered by several threats and pressures from oil and gas activities. In this study, the first Amazon-scale integrated spatial analysis was performed, quantifying interactions between oil operations, protected areas, and indigenous territories, and focusing on the issue of leaving fossil fuels untapped. The general aim of the present research is to provide a spatial tool useful for geographical criteria to define potential unburnable carbon areas in highly sensitive cultural and biological areas. Specific aims are identifying and quantifying overlaps between oil exploitation elements (blocks, wells, seismic lines, pipelines) and Protected Areas for biodiversity conservation, and indigenous territories. The results show that 10.47% of the Amazon study area is currently involved in oil and gas activities. In particular, oil blocks overlap 59.26% of the Ecuadorian Amazon, 34% of the Bolivian Amazon, and 35.77% of the Colombian Amazon. The overlaps could have a stronger effect on policymakers decisions if we consider that: a) 10.47% of the Amazon study area means that oil and gas concessions cover about 620,679\u202fkm2 of tropical ecosystems, i.e. the 6% of US territory or more than the double of UK

Soil sealing in Padua and green scenarios: the case study of San Lazzaro district

The increase of soil sealing is presently affecting urban areas by concrete surfaces, asphalt, new buildings, and infrastructures. This phenomenon is eroding important urban ecosystem services provided by the soil system: carbon sequestration, micro-climate regulation, mitigation of hydrogeological risk, water and air purification, cultural and aesthetical services. According to ISPRA (2016) soil sealing in Italy is a crucial issue at national scale, so that 21,100 km2 (7%) are, at present, sealed. Veneto is one of the most affected region showing the highest values in the Province of Padua by 40,310 ha sealed from 2012 (18,8%). The city of Padua is one of the 20 municipalities most affected by this phenomenon, showing 4,558 ha sealed only in 2015. In such context the European Commission is addressing urban policies and strategies to implement adaptation and mitigation measures to compensate soil sealing and improve ecosystem services quality (2016). The general aim of this work is evaluating the evolution of the territory in complex macro-area of Padua (the San Lazzaro neighborhood), characterized by an industrial sector, a residential district, broad communication infrastructures, and green areas