“ALLA SCOPERTA dei TESORI del MARE” - Scienza e Tecnologia, Memoria Popolare e Identità Culturale di una città della costa ligure

“Il dovere degli scienziati non è quello di educare il pubblico, ma piuttosto di interagire con esso. Il pubblico è la vera forza trainante dietro decisioni con conseguenze sociali, e deve essere coinvolto su base paritaria nei dibattiti inerenti queste decisioni” . La comunicazione scientifica e tecnologica fra scienza e società, da anni, non è più un mero scambio di informazioni e risultati (spesso fra determinate élite), ma è diventata il veicolo privilegiato per insegnare, formare ed ispirare un pubblico sempre più ampio. Ma non si parla solo di trasmissione uni-direzionale: il dibattito fra scienza, tecnologia e società (amministratori locali, politici, imprenditori, giornalisti, studenti e semplici cittadini) sta guadagnando una partecipazione di interlocutori sempre più numerosi e preparati su temi dalle complesse caratteristiche ed implicazioni (etiche, sociali, economiche, politiche). Questo è in parte dovuto ai cambiamenti avvenuti negli ultimi anni nella scienza (e all’impatto che essa sta avendo in molti ambiti della vita sociale. Tali cambiamenti stanno determinando nuove forme di comunicazione scientifica e cooperazione con la società e l’aumento, nell’ultimo decennio, di iniziative e percorsi di formazione, spesso organizzati dalle stesse istituzioni scientifiche. Uno dei risultati più tangibili della cambiata interazione fra scienza e società è la nuova generazione di ricercatori-comunicatori, dotati di una maggiore abilità nel comunicare la scienza in modo efficace e ad un pubblico più ampio e diversificato. In questo contesto diventa importante capire l’efficacia di ogni azione di comunicazione scientifica, impostando uno studio che analizzi, volta per volta, i punti di successo e le criticità emerse nei due comparti causa-effetto. Causa – gli elementi di base della comunicazione scientifica e tecnologica:  i valori sociali e culturali di riferimento (ad es. protezione ambientale, sicurezza, salute); - i contenuti (formato di presentazione, tematiche scelte); - i canali usati (web, social networks, stampa cartacea etc.); - i modelli di relazione con il pubblico (scienza vs pubblico, peer education). Effetto - la risposta della società:  diretta (affluenza; questionari di gradimento)  indiretta (visualizzazioni web; like se tweet dei social network). Questo lavoro presenta una relazione illustrativa (per la prima volta sul territorio della Spezia) dell’efficacia di un evento specifico inserito all’interno di una manifestazione di portata locale, la “Festa della Marineria 2013 ”, destinato al grande pubblico e caratterizzato da diverse attività (tra le quali quelle di tipo ludico-educativo) concepite con l’obiettivo di puntare l’attenzione sui ‘tesori’ scientifici e culturali di una ‘Città di Mare’qual'è La Spezia

Sailing for Science: on board experiences for transferring knowledge on Historical Oceanography for Future Innovation

Smart, sustainable and inclusive Blue Growth means also knowing past technology and the paths followed by ancients in order to understand and monitor marine environments. In general, history of Science is a matter that is not enough explored and explained or promoted in high schools or university official programmes, and, usually, scientist do not consider it as an important part of their curricula. However, bad or good ideas, abandoned or forgotten beliefs, concepts, opinions, do still have a great potential for inspiring present and future scientists, no matter in which historical period they may have been formulated: they should be always be taken into consideration, critically examined and observed by a very close point of view, not just as part of the intellectual framework of some obsolete ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ with limited access except for the chosen few. Moreover, history of Science should be transmitted in a more practical way, with hands-on labs showing the limits and challenges that prior generations of ocean explorers, investigators and seafarers had to face in order to answer to crucial questions as self-orientation in open sea, understanding main currents and waves, predicting meteorological conditions for a safe navigation. Oceanography is a relatively young branch of science, and still needs further approvals and knowledge (National Science Foundation, 2000). The Scientific Dissemination Group (SDG) “La Spezia Gulf of Science” – made up by Research Centres, Schools and Cultural associations located in La Spezia (Liguria, Italy) - has a decadal experience in initiatives aimed at people and groups of people of all ages, who are keen on science or who can be guided in any case to take an interest in scientific matters (Locritani et al., 2015). Amongst the SDG activities, the tight relationship with the Historical Oceanography Society, the Italian Navy and the Naval Technical Museum (that collects a rich heritage of civilization, technology and culture witnesses, related to the naval history of seamanship from the origins up to nowadays), allowed the creation of a special educational format based on Historical Oceanography, for university and high school students as an integration for their curriculum. The Historical Oceanography Society has provided the major knowledges included in the ancient volumes of its archive, thanks to the availability of its members that also held theoretical and practical lessons during the course. The present paper will describe the one-week special course (about 60 hours of theory and practice with technical visits to Research centres and Museums) that has been planned to be carried out on board of the Italian Training Navy Ship (A. Vespucci) and has been organized in order to give the hints about on board life, as well as theoretical lessons on modern and historical oceanography, hands-on labs on oceanographic instruments from public and private collections, physiology of diving techniques and astronomy. The general aim of this course has been, hence, to give to excellent students all those technological but also creative and imaginative features of our past.PublishedVienna1TM. Formazion

Terrestrial behavior in titi monkeys (Callicebus, Cheracebus, and Plecturocebus) : potential correlates, patterns, and differences between genera

For arboreal primates, ground use may increase dispersal opportunities, tolerance to habitat change, access to ground-based resources, and resilience to human disturbances, and so has conservation implications. We collated published and unpublished data from 86 studies across 65 localities to assess titi monkey (Callicebinae) terrestriality. We examined whether the frequency of terrestrial activity correlated with study duration (a proxy for sampling effort), rainfall level (a proxy for food availability seasonality), and forest height (a proxy for vertical niche dimension). Terrestrial activity was recorded frequently for Callicebus and Plecturocebus spp., but rarely for Cheracebus spp. Terrestrial resting, anti-predator behavior, geophagy, and playing frequencies in Callicebus and Plecturocebus spp., but feeding and moving differed. Callicebus spp. often ate or searched for new leaves terrestrially. Plecturocebus spp. descended primarily to ingest terrestrial invertebrates and soil. Study duration correlated positively and rainfall level negatively with terrestrial activity. Though differences in sampling effort and methods limited comparisons and interpretation, overall, titi monkeys commonly engaged in a variety of terrestrial activities. Terrestrial behavior in Callicebus and Plecturocebus capacities may bolster resistance to habitat fragmentation. However, it is uncertain if the low frequency of terrestriality recorded for Cheracebus spp. is a genus-specific trait associated with a more basal phylogenetic position, or because studies of this genus occurred in pristine habitats. Observations of terrestrial behavior increased with increasing sampling effort and decreasing food availability. Overall, we found a high frequency of terrestrial behavior in titi monkeys, unlike that observed in other pitheciids