The integrated action framework of Rete Natura 2000 Basilicata

Basilicata Natura 2000 network consists of 50 Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and 17 Special Protection Zones (SPZs), covering alltogether more than 17% of the regional area. This network, partially overlapping other forms of land protection, represents a valuable environmental, agricultural and cultural heritage, in which the safeguard of natural resources and landscapes has to be coupled with the needs of the local population; especially in relation to development and social welfare. The Natura 2000 project involved a panel of experts belonging to 15 different institutions, to form a steering committee with the following professional and scientific skills: vegetation, landscape, fauna, geology, agriculture, forestry, sea, architecture and planning, territorial analysis and representation. Along the 4 years project, the steering committee designed and coordinated the activities of over 150 professionals, mostly from Basilicata, who carried out field surveys and data analysis aimed at assessing the environmental conditions in the SCI and SPZs, proposing measures and plans, implementing thematic databases. SCI/SPZ management plans, by themselves, may not be sufficient to fulfill the requirements of an effective environmental policy, which has to go along with the awareness of people, citizens and local administrators about the instances of a sustainable policy. For this reason, the activities of surveying and management have been coupled with a communication project that involves all the experts and a relevant part of professionals who participated to the Natura 2000 project. The communication activity implies the use and the creation of several tools (publishing, video, websites, meetings, photo contests, social networks ...) targeted to different groups: policy makers (local, regional, national, European ), organizations, citizens, schools, farmers, small and medium enterprises (www.natura2000basilicata.it). A further goal is to feature the environmental highlights of Basilicata which are linked to a specific and often surprising integration of an ancient human presence with the natural elements, and the role performed by the traditional farming activities in the maintenance of ecosystem dynamics and services (in particular with agriculture). In fact, a good number of Natura 2000 sites can be considered High Nature Value Farmlands (HNVF, sensu E. Andersen, 2003), in which a virtuous relationship was established a long time ago between traditional practices and the environment itself. In this context, it combines the convergence between the activities carried on the Natura 2000 network and the project Agrival (http://utagri.enea.it/projects/agrival), a research project led by ENEA in Val d'Agri, in order to experimentally contribute to the methodology for the identification of the High Nature Value Farmlands and make them cohabit with the other economic activities in the local context. The process started with the project Basilicata Natura 2000 Network is therefore an interesting methodological model that, in coherence with the financial planning of the European Community for the period 2014-2020 (Brussels, 12.12.2011, COMM. 874) puts together projects on environmental issues to boost the meeting of agricultural, environmental, cultural and productive policies, fostered by the EC, and enhancing the implementation of the "Prioritized Actions Frameworks" (PAF), pointed out by the European Commission as the optimal tools for the management of Natura 2000 networks

The pandemic within the pandemic: the surge of neuropsychological disorders in Italian children during the COVID-19 era

Background: Quarantine and isolation measures during COVID-19 pandemic may have caused additional stress and challenged the mental health of the youth. Aim of the study is to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic impact on neuropsychological disorders (NPD) of Italian children and adolescents to provide general pediatric recommendations. Material and methods: A retrospective multicenter observational study was planned by the Italian Pediatric Society (SIP) to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the access of children to pediatric Emergency Departments (pED) for the evaluation of neuropsychological symptoms, collecting the classification codes of diagnoses between March 1, 2019 and March 2, 2021. The period study was split into two sub-periods: a pre COVID-19 period (from March 1 2019 to March 1, 2020) and a COVID-19 period (from March 2, 2020 to March 2, 2021). As additional information, data on NPD hospitalizations in any pediatric department of the involved centers were recorded. Results: During the study period, a total of 533,318 children were admitted to the pED involved in the study. Despite a 48.2% decline of pED admissions, there was a significant increase (83.1%) in patient admissions for NPD. The most frequent NPD conditions which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic were suicidal ideation (+ 147%), depression (+ 115%), eating disorder (+ 78.4%), and psychosis (+ 17.2%). During the pandemic period, a 39.5% increase in NPD hospitalizations was observed as well. The NPD disorders that mostly required hospitalizations were suicidal ideation (+ 134%), depression (+ 41.4%), eating disorder (+ 31.4%), and drug abuse (+ 26.7%). COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on children's health, mainly on their NPD development. Neuropsychological assessment should be required at the primary level, in the pediatrician's office, to facilitate early capture of the sign of impairment and provide an adequate treatment. Conclusion: SIP underlines the psychological consequences of COVID 19 pandemic on the youngest and recommends an early identification of NPD in the pediatric population to avoid other serious consequences for children's physical and mental health

“Morfologie idrodinamiche”

Catalogare i diversi tronchi dei corsi d’acqua, mediante l’identificazione e la validazione delle forme dei loro alvei, con particolare riferimento ai processi di instabilità fluviale e all’impatto delle opere: è questo l’argomento del presente lavoro. In particolare, si è giunti a costruire una prima versione di un “catalogo di morfologie idrodinamiche nel deflusso idrico sui versanti e nei corsi d’acqua”, composto innanzitutto da un elenco e un glossario delle tipologie morfologiche rinvenibili nella letteratura scientifica. Il catalogo può diventare un utile strumento per una migliore e più corretta pianificazione degli interventi nelle aree fluviali e perifluviali, in accordo con le naturali dinamiche dei corsi d’acqua e con le interferenze antropiche. L’elenco-glossario contiene infatti una definizione, una breve relazione descrittiva, e talvolta anche un breve commento a fini operativi, per ciascuna forma morfologica individuata. Per una più estesa e dettagliata caratterizzazione delle morfologie, esso è corredato di un cospicuo numero di ‘report’, che propongono un’approfondita descrizione fenomenologica delle morfologie considerate, nonché una selezione bibliografica, foto, schemi, e, in taluni casi, anche una proposta di criteri di intervento. Un livello informativo di maggiore dettaglio è fornito da schede operative, compilate per specifici casi-studio, che sono rivolte al riconoscimento numerico-quantitativo delle caratteristiche idrauliche e geomorfologiche dei tronchi indagati e tipizzati nel glossario. Alcune monografie tematiche forniscono, infine, un approfondito livello informativo, sia scientifico che tecnico, per un numero rilevante di morfologie. Le informazioni contenute nei vari documenti prodotti sono organizzate mediante un sistema informativo che gestisce un data-base, in continuo aggiornamento