Saving soil for sustainable land use

This paper experiments with some costs-benefit analyses, seeking a balance between soil-take and buildability due to land policy and management. The activities have been carried out inside the MITO lab (Lab for Multimedia Information for Territorial Objects) of the Polytechnic University of Bari. Reports have been produced about the Southern Italian Apulia Region, which is rich in farmland and coastline, often invaded by construction, with a severe loss of nature, a degradation of the soil, landscape, and ecosystem services. A methodological approach to the assessment of sustainability of urban expansion related, on one hand, to "plus values" deriving from the transformation of urban fringes and, on the other hand to the analysis of the transition of land-use, with the aim of "saving soil" against urban sprawl. The loss of natural and agricultural surfaces due to the expanding artificial lands is an unsustainable character of urban development, especially in the manner in which it was carried out in past decades. We try to assess how plus value can be considered "unearned", and to understand if the "land value recapture" can compensate for the negative environmental effects of urban expansion. We measured the transition from farmlands and natural habitat to urbanization with the support of the use of some Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools, in favor of a new artificial land cover in the region of Apulia, Southern Italy. Data have been collected at the regional scale and at the local level, producing information about land use change and increases of property values due to improvements, referring to the 258 municipalities of the region. Looking at the results of our measurements, we started an interpretation of the driving forces that favor the plus values due to the transition of land-use. Compensation, easements, recapture of plus value, and improvement are, nowadays in Italy, discussed as major land-policy tools for managing environmental and landscape preservation. The interplay between urban economics and environmentally sound regulations reveals some controversial issues in urban governance and nature preservation: perhaps some abstract regulations, conjoined with non-case-oriented urban policies, consider these keywords as the old chemists considered the Philosopher's Stone. The analyses show criticality emerging themes in emblematic cases, studied in some municipal contexts

Identification of relationship between housing difficulty and property values in urban areas

The objective of the present work is to use statistical data to identify territorial zones characterized by the correlation between urban access to services and quality of housing and the value of property ownership. While poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multidimensionality and make comparisons over time and space easy. With this in mind, we attempt to apply a Total Fuzzy and Relative (TFR) approach, based on a fuzzy measure of the degree of association of an individual to the totality of the poor and an approach of semantic distance (Munda, 1995), based on the definition of a “fuzzy distance” as a discriminating reference to rank the availability to property in real estate market, as complement of urban poverty, in a specific case (the Italian City of Bari)

Utilization of marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii as a feed additive in seawater-tolerant Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, Linnaeus 1758) strain

The low omega-3 content of tilapia flesh, when compared to marine fish, affects its marketability. In marine animals, the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) can be linked to the oil produced by marine diatoms. Among the marine diatoms, the genus Thalassiosira is known to exhibit high content of HUFAs such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Thus, in this study, the use of marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii as a dietary additive in the seawater-tolerant Nile Tilapia strain was evaluated. One hundred ninety-two, 1.40 ± 0.05g seawater tilapia were randomly allocated into 4 treatment groups in 4 replicates. The first treatment group was fed with a control diet (D0), without the diatoms while treatments 1, 2, and 3 were each fed with diets supplemented with T. weissflogii paste at 2.55% (D1), 6% (D2), and 12% (D3), respectively for 60 days. The diets were isonitrogenous, isolipodic and the omega-3 and omega-6 requirements were satisfied. Results demonstrated that D1 had the highest percent weight gain among treatments. Although not significantly different, other parameters such as percent survival, specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and feed intake had desirable results in D1. The proximate composition of seawater tilapia showed that % crude protein was highest in D0 but % crude lipid was highest in D1. The fatty acid composition of tilapia in D1 had the highest omega-3 content at 9.29 mg/g tissue and also had the highest n3:n6 at 2.19. Muscle growth-related genes (MyoD and MYG) were up-regulated while liver genes involved in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis (oni-fads2 and elvol5) were down-regulated in D1 as compared to D0. Feeding the diatom-supplemented diet to tilapia had no significant effects on hepatic cells and intestinal morphology. The results suggested that a 2.55% supplementation dose of T. weissflogii could promote growth and enhance the tissue content of omega-3 fatty acids of the seawater strain Oreochromis niloticus

Fogli 609-596, Termini Imerese-Capo Plaia

Il Servizio Geologico Nazionale ha unificato i Fogli 609 "Termini Imerese" e 596 "Capo Plaia" in un unico Foglio denominato 609/596 "Termini Imerese-Capo Plaia" allo scopo di uniformare i rilievi e raccoglierne la descrizione in un unico volume delle Note Illustrative. Il Foglio 609/596 "Termini Imerese-Capo Plaia" della Carta Geologica d’Italia in scala 1:50.000 è stato realizzato nell’ambito del Progetto CARG con i fondi della Legge 67/88 - Legge 226/99 con una convenzione tra Servizio Geologico Nazionale ora ISPRA) e Regione Siciliana. Le aree ricadono interamente nella Provincia di Palermo, comprendono la fascia marina del Golfo di Termini Imerese fino al promontorio di Capo Plaia, la regione dei Monti di Termini Imerese e Trabia ad ovest e il settore occidentale del gruppo montuoso delle Madonie ad est. Tra questi rilievi si sviluppa un’ampio settore collinare inciso dai fiumi Torto e Imera settentrionale (o Fiume Grande)

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Tutela e valorizzazione del paesaggio nel Parco Agrario degli Ulivi Secolari in Puglia

Tutela e valorizzazione del paesaggio nel Parco Agrario degli Ulivi Secolari in Pugli

Scenari di riqualificazione urbana: le valutazioni complesse come processo di apprendimento [Urban Rehabilitation Scenarios: Complex Valuations as Learning Process]

Alla base degli approcci integrati che possono caratterizzare i processi decisionali si pone l'esigenza di dover affrontare ed esplicitare i concetti di complessità, incertezza e conflitto. La valutazione viene concepita come un processo di apprendimento sociale, dinamico, flessibile e adattivo, quale strumento di supporto al processo decisionale. Il contributo presenta la sperimentazione sviluppata dagli autori nel quartiere Scampia a Napoli, in cui il processo decisionale si struttura mediante un approccio integrato e partecipato

Identification of relationship between housing difficulty and property values in urban areas

The objective of the present work is to use statistical data to identify territorial zones characterized by the correlation between urban access to services and quality of housing and the value of property ownership. While poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multidimensionality and make comparisons over time and space easy. With this in mind, we attempt to apply a Total Fuzzy and Relative (TFR) approach, based on a fuzzy measure of the degree of association of an individual to the totality of the poor and an approach of semantic distance (Munda, 1995), based on the definition of a “fuzzy distance” as a discriminating reference to rank the availability to property in real estate market, as complement of urban poverty, in a specific case (the Italian City of Bari).Urban Difficulty, Scan Statistics, Fuzzy logic, Property appraisal