GEOGRAPHY I

The course focuses on the main concepts relating to environmental issues affecting the recent increase of human action in trasforming the earth surface, in order to improve students' expertise in analyzing and explaining territorial complexity.
Special interest will be devoted to the concept of both environmental and cultural heritage. The course will consider instruments to understand the history of geography and its connections with ecological issues. Specific aim will be the critical analysis of both environmental waste and its geographical spreading, with special attention to land and water grabbing and the related emergencies that will be affecting the future of young people.

The instructional goal of the course is that of developing knowledge about:
- the relevance of the environment in the evolution of human landscapes, with special regards to natural characters and to cultural heritage.
- the concept of "Environmental Risks" with its manifold aspects, focusing on the threats affecting both rural and suburban landscapes.
- the role of humanistic geography in facing with ecological issues.

The achievement of specific practical and applied skills will concern:
- assessment of Cultural Heritage within each landscape, evaluating both environmental and aesthetic qualities.
- the competence to detect and analyze the potential environmental risks, with a special focus on freshwater local contexts.
- the proper use of digital tools to set up a census in order to assess and safeguard natural and cultural heritage.

Basic knowledge of concepts and terms of geography.
Students are besides required a basic knowledge of the concept of "Environmental Risk", with special regard to increasing global urgencies. They are finally espected to manage high school atlases cartography.

Main terrestrial ecosystems and their relationships with human activities will be considered. The course is besides aiming to develop the idea of landscape in an holistic sense, with a special focus not only on alternative social economic landscape planning strategies, but also on cultural attitudes in order to foster new participative territorialities. A special investigation will be devoted to the relationship between climate change and social behaviours. A special focus will be devoted to the local hydrography as remarkable repository of ecosystem services. Urban sprawl effects in Venice inland will be finally considered.

Attending students:

1) Notes from the lectures

2) Antonio PAOLILLO (a cura di), Luoghi ritrovati. Itinerari di geografia umana tra natura e paesaggio, Vidor (TV), ISTHAR, 2013.

3) Luca MERCALLI, Non c'è più tempo. Come reagire agli allarmi ambientali, Torino, Einaudi, 2018.

4) A further lecture notes will be available on line.

Not attending students:

1) Antonio PAOLILLO (a cura di), Luoghi ritrovati. Itinerari di geografia umana tra natura e paesaggio, Vidor (TV), ISTHAR, 2013.

2) Luca MERCALLI, Non c'è più tempo. Come reagire agli allarmi ambientali, Torino, Einaudi, 2018.

3) Francesco VALLERANI, Italia Desnuda. Percorsi di resistenza nel paese del cemento, Milano, Unicopli, 2014 (only chapter 4).

4) A further lecture notes will be available on line.

The exam will be planned according to the health situation. More details will be provided later.

Depending on the health situation, teaching should take place in presence with frontal lectures. The specific procedures will be communicated in time.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development