Neogeography and seismic risk perception : a comparison between two case studies : Calabria, Southern Italy and Malta

Geography of perception aims at clarifying human behaviour by studying the concepts and images of the real world that a person elaborates on by considering the psychological and social aspects of man’s behaviour within an environment. In this context, a questionnaire was given to primary and middle school pupils in an area of Calabria (Southern Italy), which has recently been affected by an on-going seismic sequence widely felt by the local population. The same questionnaire was given to students in Malta (Central Mediterranean), an area considered to have a low-to-moderate seismic hazard, and where earthquake awareness is not culturally strong. In this way, the knowledge effectively possessed by the students (relating to age, experience and area of origin) are analysed; their analogous and differing perceptions on earthquakes in different areas are highlighted. The data collected can be used to project and create new informative tools through which students will become “geographic information volunteers” studying natural risks such as earthquakes, and augmenting the territory’s level of resilience.peer-reviewe

Percepire e rappresentare il rischio sismico nell’antropocene confronto tra due casi-studio : Mottafollone (Calabria) e Malta

La Terra, mite ed ospitale per diecimila anni, da circa due secoli è entrata nell’Antropocene, una nuova epoca geologica che si distingue per l’impatto dell’uomo sul clima e sull’ambiente. Secondo Sandro Calvani (2013), è certo che viviamo per la prima volta in un sistema planetario di relazioni tra umanità e natura in cui l’umanità controlla tutte le altre variabili ed è responsabile di tutte le conseguenze. Il genere umano è in grado per la prima volta di distruggere o salvare il suo futuro. Per questi motivi, da alcuni anni, in Italia, sta crescendo l’interesse per la Geoetica (Peppoloni e Di Capua, 2012) che si occupa delle implicazioni etiche, sociologiche e culturali delle Scienze della Terra, ampliando le prospettive e le aspettative delle Geoscienze ed evidenziando il ruolo fondamentale svolto dagli studi geologici e geografci nel trovare soluzioni ai problemi pratici della vita dell’uomo, compatibilmente con la preservazione della natura e del Pianeta. Infatti, l’uomo costituisce sempre parte attiva anche nei fenomeni catastrofci in quanto può fungere da amplifcatore del danno e delle dinamiche naturali. D’altra parte, per quanto tali fenomeni risultino solo parzialmente prevedibili, comunque si può intervenire sui parametri del rischio dipendenti dall’antropizzazione quali la vulnerabilità e valore esposto che segnano il discrimine tra evento e calamità. Attraverso l’informazione e la conoscenza del rischio è, quindi, possibile contenere al minimo i danni, affnando le tecniche di previsione e prevenzione. Nell’ambito di ricerca che riguarda la percezione dei rischi naturali, si collocano storicamente gli studi di tipo geografco orientati all’approfondimento degli elementi di natura descrittiva e all’analisi del comportamento sociale di fronte al verifcarsi di rischi naturali generati da fonti assunte date ed esogene (Gatto e Saitta, 2009). In tale contesto, è stato somministrato un questionario agli studenti della secondaria di primo grado di Mottafollone, in provincia di Cosenza, nell’area del Pollino, che costituisce un’area sismicamente attiva, e nell’isola di Malta, che costituisce, invece, un’area di bassa-moderata pericolosità sismica in cui la consapevolezza del rischio sismico non è culturalmente solida. Le isole maltesi hanno, tuttavia, risentito storicamente di una serie di terremoti, i cui epicentri furono in Sicilia orientale, nel Canale di Sicilia o nell’Arco Ellenico. Alcuni di questi terremoti hanno prodotto notevoli danni.N/

Scientific investigation of The Conversion of St Paul painting (Mdina, Malta)

The paper presents the results of two different approaches applied to the newly-restored painting The Conversion of St Paul, the main altarpiece in the Cathedral of Mdina in Malta. This large, dramatic painting is work of the Baroque artist Mattia Preti, il Cavaliere Calabrese. As is normal with a professionally executed restoration, several scientific methods have been used before, during and at completion, in the framework of a global analytical strategy. In particular, we focus on the results of the digital photogrammetric survey which uses image-based approaches for 2D/3D models reconstruction enormously. The model was used to quantify and measure important features on the painting as well extensions of areas restored. In addition, portable Raman spectroscopy was used to identify, in non-destructive way, the nature of the painting materials with the final goal of reconstructing the color palette of the artist.peer-reviewe

Perception of seismic risk in the new Anthropocene geological era : a comparison between two case-studies : Calabria (South Italy) and Malta

About two centuries ago, the Earth entered the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch in which man has a marked impact on climate and the environment. In comparison with the slow passing of previous millennia, our species has, in a very short time, radically altered the world's ecosystems. For some years now, interest in Italy has been increasing in Geoethics and the ethical, sociological and cultural implications of Earth Sciences. This involves amplifying the prospects and expectations of Geosciences and highlighting the fundamental role of geological and geographical studies in finding solutions to the practical problems that man faces which are also compatible with the preservation of nature and the planet. Indeed, man can even be an active participant in natural catastrophes in the sense that he is able to amplify the damage and natural dynamics. On the other hand, as much as these phenomena can only be foreseen to a limited extent, intervention is possible with regards the parameters of risk which are dependent upon anthropisation, such as those of vulnerability and exposed value that mark the difference between a natural event and a calamity. Therefore, through information about and knowledge of risk, it is possible to keep damage to a minimum by refining techniques of prevision and prevention. Geographical studies orientated towards examining descriptive natural elements and analysing social behaviour when people are faced with natural risks generated by assumed given and exogenous sources can be historically placed within the area of research into the perception of natural risk. In this context, a questionnaire was given to primary and middle school pupils in an area of Calabria which has recently been affected by an on-going seismic sequence, widely felt by the population. The same questionnaire was given to students in Malta, a zone of low-to-moderate seismic hazard where earthquake awareness is not culturally strong. The Maltese islands have, however, been affected historically by a number of earthquakes, the epicentres of which were in Eastern Sicily, the Sicilian Channel or as far away as the Hellenic arc. Some of these earthquakes produced considerable damage. In this way, the knowledge effectively possessed (relating to age, experience and area of origin), and the analogous and differing perceptions of earthquakes in different areas are highlighted. The data collected will be used to project and create new informative instruments through which students will become "geographic information volunteers", studying natural risks such as earthquakes and augmenting the territory's level of resilience. Consequently, local institutions will be able to refer to information about individuals' perception of seismic phenomena and use it to realise effective environmental planning and an efficient strategy of prevention.peer-reviewe