Urban ecosystems: challenges and new perspectives for landscape architecture

The paper will discuss the pivotal role of landscape architecture in counteracting biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, especially in urban context. Scholars agree that cities are the ground on which to respond to the pressure of manifold environmental and socioeconomic issues. There has been much talk of climate change and, finally, also on the need to defend globally threatened biodiversity. The conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems is a hot topic, generating a contemporary theoretical debate and a new design approach. Given its multidisciplinary nature, landscape architecture is perfectly suited to address these challenges and define new paradigms for urban development. The responsibility is high, and the demands are varied: a project must be able to design beautiful, inclusive and ecologically valuable spaces, while conveying important messages, raising public awareness and involving citizens. This opportunity for landscape architecture to respond to increasingly hectic global processes, however, implies several challenges

Multiscale approach to biodiversity conservation: Chicago as a case study

Biodiversity loss is a major global concern, strictly connected to heterogeneous phenomena occurring at various spatial and temporal levels. A multiscale approach to biodiversity conservation is therefore crucial to better understand and manage ecological dynamics and processes. Scholars agree that a joint effort of decision-makers, planners, and designers is necessary to successfully integrate the conservation of biological diversity into sustainable development strategies from the national to the local scale. Among the many cities that are worldwide adopting biodiversity-aimed policies and plans, Chicago stands for its forward-looking approach to environmental conservation, whose antecedents can be found at the turn of the 20th century, when the Forest Preserves of Cook County were established in the Chicago metropolitan region. The institution of this system of protected sites became the framework for the foundation of the regional alliance Chicago Wilderness in 1996, that aimed at bringing together organisations, policy-makers, landowners, and citizens to implement the quality of delicate ecosystems and conservation areas. In 1999 the alliance produced an innovative document for that time: the Biodiversity Recovery Plan (BRP) for the greater Chicago region. It was followed in 2004 by its spatial representation, the Green Infrastructure Vision, that identified priority areas to be protected, restored, and connected. In order to implement the BRP regional goals at the urban level, in 2006 the City of Chicago developed its first Nature and Wildlife plan (updated in 2011) to preserve and restore habitats within the city. Proposing the experience of Chicago as a best practice, the paper will address the complex system of tools adopted to tackle the loss of biological diversity from regional to municipal level. Through the analysis of a selection of contemporary landscape architecture projects implemented in Chicago, the paper will highlight the productive and mutual influence of landscape planning and design in biodiversity conservation

Multiscale approach to biodiversity conservation: Chicago as a case study

Biodiversity loss is a major global concern, strictly connected to heterogeneous phenomena occurring at various spatial and temporal levels. A multiscale approach to biodiversity conservation is therefore crucial to better understand and manage ecological dynamics and processes.Among the many cities that are worldwide adopting biodiversity-aimed policies, Chicago stands for its forward-looking approach to environmental conservation, whose antecedents can be found at the turn of the 20th century, when the Forest Preserves of Cook County were established. The institution of this system of protected sites became the framework for the foundation of the regional alliance Chicago Wilderness in 1996, aimed at implementing the quality of delicate ecosystems and conservation areas. In 1999 the alliance produced an innovative document for that time: the Biodiversity Recovery Plan (BRP) for the greater Chicago region. It was followed in 2004 by its spatial representation, the Green Infrastructure Vision, that identified priority areas to be protected, restored, and connected.In order to translate the BRP regional goals at the urban level, in 2006 the City of Chicago developed its first Nature and Wildlife plan (updated in 2011) to preserve and restore habitats within the city. Proposing the experience of Chicago as a best practice, the paper addresses the complex system of tools adopted to tackle the loss of biological diversity from regional to municipal level. Through the analysis of three contemporary landscape architecture projects implemented in Chicago, the paper intends to highlight the productive and mutual influence of landscape planning and design in biodiversity conservation

First-principles calculations and bias-dependent STM measurements at the alpha-Sn/Ge(111) surface: a clear indication for the 1U2D configuration

The nature of the alpha-Sn/Ge(111) surface is still a matter of debate. In particular, two possible configurations have been proposed for the 3x3 ground state of this surface: one with two Sn adatoms in a lower position with respect to the third one (1U2D) and the other with opposite configuration (2U1D). By means of first-principles quasiparticle calculations we could simulate STM images as a function of bias voltage and compare them with STM experimental results at 78K, obtaining an unambiguous indication that the stable configuration for the alpha-Sn/Ge(111) surface is the 1U2D. The possible inequivalence of the two down Sn adatoms is also discussed.Comment: Submitted to PR

A cross-cultural discourse analysis of the way readers are constructed in textbooks

Cross-cultural discourse analysis (CCDA) provides a theoretical framework for comparing discourse genres within different discourse communities. In this paper, I adopt this theoretical framework to examine the genre of foreign language textbooks, comparing coursebooks of English and French as foreign languages used in Japanese high schools between 2017 and 2018. The former were created mostly by Japanese authors, while the latter have been produced by Japanese and French authors. I argue that some differences might depend on this factor and thus research can rely on CCDA to address them. More specifically, I propose a study focused on how textbook authors address their readers/learners, exploring the use of deictics on the enunciative level (KERBRAT-ORECCHIONI, [1999]2014) and of noun phrases creating functionalizations on a sociolinguistic level (VAN LEEUWEN, 2008). The results of the contrastive analysis show two different practices: on the one hand, an inclusion that takes place between the (mainly Japanese) authors of the English textbooks and their readers, on the other hand, a certain exclusion which occurs through the frequent reminder of the school context by the authors of the French textbooks (both French and Japanese).L’analyse du discours contrastive (ADC) constitue un cadre théorique permettant de comparer des genres discursifs au sein de communautés discursives différentes. Dans cet article, nous adoptons ce cadre théorique afin d’examiner un ensemble d’ouvrages d’anglais et français langues étrangères (EFL et FLE) utilisés par des lycéens japonais entre 2017 et 2018. Les premiers (EFL) étant rédigés principalement par des auteurs d’origine japonaise, alors que les seconds (FLE) sont conçus par des équipes beaucoup plus mixtes, une approche comme celle de l’ADC permet de relever des choix qui peuvent dépendre des pratiques discursives des auteurs, ayant ici des origines différentes. Plus précisément, nous proposons une étude ciblée de la manière dont les auteurs des manuels s’adressent à leurs lecteurs/apprenants, explorant notamment l’utilisation de déictiques sur le plan énonciatif (KERBRAT-ORECCHIONI, [1999]2014) et de syntagmes nominaux relevant de fonctionnalisations au niveau sociolinguistique (VAN LEEUWEN, 2008). Les résultats de l’analyse contrastive permettent de constater deux pratiques différentes: d’une part, une inclusion qui s’effectue entre les auteurs (majoritairement japonais) des manuels d’anglais et leurs lecteurs, de l’autre une sorte d’exclusion opérée à travers le rappel fréquent du cadre scolaire qui est mis en place par les auteurs (français et japonais) des manuels de français