The Ancient and Modern Silk Road. Europe and China from the Han Dynasty to the Belt and Road Initiative

Migrants, abandonment and reuse of historical centers. The case of Riace in Calabria. – Italy, a migratory crossroads between Europe, Africa and Asia, has always been affected by migratory movements that have affected its regions in different ways. In recent decades, they have assumed a synergistic demo-graphic dimension between population and depopulation, which modifies the structure and composition of the population, mitigating the unstop-pable demographic decline along with the depopulation of historic cen-ters. This is possible through urban redevelopment and socio-economic revitalization paths linked to the reception of migrants. The contribution analyzes possible causes and effects of migratory processes on the Cala-brian population, using the Riace case study as a model in which the “wel-come path” has had positive results and revitalized the historical center with the return of residents and the construction of a society with high values of cultural pluralism.

Environmental transition and energy transition. A regional analysis – The relationship between environmental quality and GDP has been emphasized in the past, placing the accent on the “natural” trend towards improving environmental quality during the maturity of economic growth, after its deterioration in “takeoff” phases of the economy, according the socalled Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This condition has in many parts been disavowed or weakened. In the same way, an attempt was made to read the energy transition through the EKC filter, but a regional analysis, carried out within the European Union, of the components of the energy transition (energy demand, intensity of energy, consumption of fossil fuels and renewables) shows that these conditions can vary considerably from country to country and that policies can determine changes, not just economic growth.

The role of policies for the activation of human capital and territorial mobility in con-trasting skilled youth emigration. – This study aims to investigate the role of local human capital activation policies and the value of territorial mobili-ty to contrast the phenomenon of qualified youth emigration. A phe-nomenon that has regained momentum in Italy in the last decade.
This study examines complex initiatives implemented by Italian regions and local authorities (especially Torno Subito by the Lazio Region and other programmes such as Ritorno al futuro by the Puglia Region and Master and Back by the Sardinia Region) that can serve as a model for national and European policy makers. Programmes that can help to counter skilled emigration and support the "right to stay" of a generation of skilled young people who, more than others, suffer from job insecuri-ty and a growing risk of marginalisation.

Considerations on the regional landscape plan of Sardinia: a contribution from internal areas. – The concept of landscape is at the core of many geographical studies and is rich in different meanings that over time have given rise to numerous interpretations. According to the European Landscape Convention adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2000, landscape is a combination of natural and cultural elements in continuous transformation. Transformations that, if not planned attentively, can give rise to processes of deterioration and loss of quality of landscape configurations. In a Europe where there is still a significant dualism between urbanized and rural areas and in an environmental, economic and social era marked by the objectives of sustainability dictated by the 2030 Agenda, it is therefore necessary to adopt and strengthen policies and strategies for a more cohesive development and planning of the territory. The contribution, after a brief review of the literature on European and national policies on the landscape, wants to focus on the ability of regional realities to activate reconstructive interventions and environmental improvements from the adoption of Landscape Plans. In particular, the attention wants to focus on the Sardinian regional context, the first reality in Italy to have adopted a Landscape Plan in 2006. A plan that, to date, has identified only in the coastal areas the areas to be protected and enhanced. However, in the light of the priorities for a sustainable future, the Plan needs to be reviewed and a new plan that can also include the internal areas that are still not sufficiently integrated in the development process of the island.

Environmental sustainability among socio-economic variables of influence and geographical determinisms. An analysis of the Italian scenario at nuts-3 level. – The process of awareness of the value of environmental sustainability is currently changing, also due to the the media lever that has catalyzed its dynamics both individually and collectively ones. At a European level, particularly, with the von der Leyen presidency, the orientations based on a vision linked to the Green Deal seem to have strengthened even more, according to which Europe must aim to become the first continent with zero climate impact by 2050, at the same time stimulating the economy, improving people’s health and quality of life, taking care of nature and in the absence of geographical differentials. The real effectiveness of these actions, however, will only materialize where integrated approaches will be adopted able to improve other variables directly related to the propensity for environmental sustainability. The present contribution, through a multivariate regressive analysis, a clustering methodology and the related cartographic representation, therefore tries to understand which are, in the Italian scenario (Nuts 3 scale), these socio-economic variables of possible influence, in order to clarify the territorial differentials that can be detected in the domain of sustainability.

Biofuels and bioplastics between opportunities and opportunisms in a regional experience. – Global and European strategies on renewable energies increasingly highlight the need for a paradigm shift in socio-spatial relations in agriculture. The territoriality of the renewable energy supply chains re-proposes the top-down characteristics of the fossil fuels era, deferring the support to coherent initiatives linking energy and territorial systems. The contribution explores European biomass strategies and their effects on a territorial level in Sardinia. The EU and Italian government strategies aiming at consolidating bioenergy and bioplastic production, both in terms of regulatory regulation and financial incentives for production, are reviewed. Starting from the agriculture and biomass energy production literature and based on a series of interviews carried out between 2018 and 2020 with local stakeholders, the effects of policies are investigated. The energy production process from biomass in Sardinia and the internal and external variables connected to it are examined.

The valorization of the natural and cultural heritage of the territory of Grassano and Grottole in Basilicata for sustainable tourism: geomorphological and GIS analysis for planning sustainable tourism itineraries. – The recognition of Matera as European Capital of Culture 2019 will certainly serve in the near future to channel more effectively part of the tourist flow towards the inner areas. Therefore, a study of a significant portion of the inner area of Matera was undertaken, aimed at collecting elements of the physical landscape that would act as a landscape “frame” for the formulation of hypotheses of routes with “multiple” values. In fact, the study area includes the villages of Grassano and Grottole, which have elements of cultural interest that are useful for valorising the itinerary to be proposed. The knowledge of the geographical elements of the study area, the accurate analysis of the forms of the physical landscape and the geomorphological processes that have generated them, the inventory of the main cultural attractions of the two villages located in the study area, as well as the use of a geographical information system, have made it possible to design the route proposed in this article.

Climate Changes and International Security. – «Global warming is potentially the most dangerous of all forms of terrorism»: this is the disturbing revelation of a report prepared for the Pentagon by two American futurists, Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall. All that might be caused by climate changes as result of accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere: the first to be hit would be, the Gulf Stream, which for centuries mitigates the climate of the east coast of the United States and northern Europe with a later «domino devastating effect». The report, which was to be secret, was for 2004 but was later published by various media organizations. Today, these positions are becoming increasingly important. On June 5, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing that global warming may cause a threat to international security and calling for UN agencies to «intensify efforts» to combat the effect emissions. But there are also dissenting voices.

Europe amidst global challenges and idealistic drives

Pandemic crisis and economic crisis. The historiographical debate on the effects of the Black Death. – The great plague which hit Europe from 1348 has long been at the core of different historiographical interests. Alongside research focusing on the demographic consequences of the plague, other studies examined strictly epidemiologic issues, the socio-political effects of the crisis, or its „emotive‟ impact in the long term. Among the questions taken into consideration, the relationship between plague and economic trends has obviously played a crucial part. The essay aims to look at this debate, especially highlighting the significant interpretative changes which emerged in the past few decades. The gloomy picture of the post-plague economy, marked by a long decline, has now been replaced by a more optimistic view, which tends to underline the positive consequences brought about by the demographic drop in the medium-long term: in terms of wage growth, for instance, or increase in consumption, but also of the weakening of aristocratic control over peasants‟ work, processes of productive specialization, and the increase of commercial exchange.

Geopolitics of pandemic: soft and hard power as reading keys. - The Covid 19
pandemic is one of the hardest challenge of the last century. With its
m edical emergency, Covid 19 has created a lot of changes in the
international relationships and in the geopolitical equilibrium. In this
paper, we are attempting to show and analyze global governments’
behavior against the pandemic through the use of both h ard and soft
power. We’ll see, particularly, Chinese and American government’s use of
hard and soft power. Then we’ll examine how European Union deal with
this global emergency. Each nation has carried on different diplomatic strategies to face the pandemic and to promote is own international image. Hard and soft power, in this sense, will be useful also to implement the social and economic policies and to make them effective in the post pandemic phase.

The Italian agri-food industry between global and local: food habits before and during the pandemic virus Covid-19. – The pandemic generated by the virus known as Covid-19 is an expression of an unbalanced relationship between man and environment on which geography is called to investigate and also to redefine the spaces of intervention. It will be useful to propose the adoption of a trasncalar point of view that, if in one way widens the horizon to the entire globe in a contagion and in a need for collaboration that do not recognize nor can allow us to raise limits, on the other hand, it becomes a metaphor and a warning to create a new ecology and new social political relations to weave as much at a global level as at a local and personal level.
From the forced isolation – due to the rules of social distancing adopted in many European and non – European states – paradoxically emerged a glocal dialectic to interpret. As can be seen from observing what is happening in the Italian agri-food sector, on one hand we are forced to open our economic spaces recognizing the indispensable contribution of immigrant labour for the cultivation and harvest in the fields. On the other hand we are led to close the horizon of our primary needs without being able to address the question to our trusted provider and/or topographically closer even through the network that puts us in contact with the entire rural world. The authors, also thanks to the results of the direct survey, conducted on the purchases and the alimentary habits of the families during the pandemic, underline the opportunities of growth and valorisation of the Italian agricultural and food sector.

Covid-19, from Venice to Wuhan: a historical recognition and potential mutations of globalization. – The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic follow an east-west direction (from Asia via Europe to the Americas) which matches the flow of Modernity. This work aims to assess how these events are resulting in a comeback of what we might envisage as modern measurable space in Geography, through a historical comparison with containment measures put in place in the 18th century by Venice, during the plague. Indeed, Venice may be considered an archetype of global powers dealing with risk management issues and struggling to harmonize public health policies with the „needs‟ of trade. After offering an overview of the most common containment measures put in place by the countries affected by Covid-19, we will see how some of the measures implemented by the Venetians are showing their effectiveness today, and we will assess the extent to which the space recovered in this process is likely to transform the idea of globalization as it was known up until very recently.

The impact of Covid-19 on air transport and tourism: possible evolving scenarios. – This study aims to provide a critical reflection on the current and potential impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on air transport and tourism, with particular attention to the effects on a global, European and Italian scale.

The Missed Europe

Banks and Brexit. The “revenge” of territorial issues – The exit of United Kingdom from European Union will cause deep changes that will involve companies, investments and the entire productive structure of Great Britain. UK, indeed, will lose his position of comparative advantage because of belonging to European market. The aim of this work is to outline how the banking and financial sector will be affected by Brexit especially in light of the choices of economic operators and the reasons that are driving many financial groups to move to other EU countries. We will demonstrate that these choices will have a huge impact in the overall picture of redesigning the new European financial geography.

Migrate from Europe to Syria: From Foreign Fighter to Returner. – The theme dealt with in this paper concerns the migration flows of european foreign fighters to territories controlled by jihadist organizations in Syria and repatriations. Ffs were analyzed both with reference to the recruitment phase and in relation to the quantification of flows and the identification of the geographic arteries undertaken to reach Syria. Also through the direct testimony of the ffs it was possible to outline the profile of men, women and children and their role within the Islamic State. This also made it possible to analyze the relationships between IS, Syria and Turkey with reference to illicit trafficking and to analyze the relationship between the shari’a finance and jihadist groups. Finally, the flows of returnees were examined with reference to their quantification and to the problems related to their reintegration in Europe.

Perceived Risk Effect and Nimby Syndrome. Analysis of the "No-Tap" Conflict in Puglia. – In the first half of 2017, a series of protests and clashes in the Salento region of Puglia attracted media attention. At the origin of such clashes, there is a desire to counter an infrastructure project with an international scope for environmental, landscaping, economic and social reasons. This is the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which involves the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the Shah Denizinin fields in Azerbaijan to the Italian coast, and then distributed to Europe. Beyond the underlying motivations of mobilization, what emerges as relevant is the phenomenon associated with the environmental conflict, defined in literature as NIMBY syndrome.
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the nature of environmental conflicts, how they emerge, what characteristics they assume and how they can be managed and contained. To this end, will be addressed the issue of risk, perceived risk and probabilistic statistic risk, clarifying the difference, as it is closely related to the theme of environmental conflicts. A review of the literature on the NIMBY and LULU phenomena will be presented, and finally, the case-study of the NO TAP movement in Puglia will be treated.

Where the past meets the future: the contribution of universities and research centers in Europe.

The Importance of the Mediterranean for a Different Centrality in the European Union – The Eu needs a cultural political design that goes back to enhancing the fundamental aspects of the Ventotene Manifesto. The Mediterranean macro region is experiencing ever increasing difficulties which would deserve joint intervention policies and, if these had no positive effects, which could undermine the foundations of the same European mechanism. This article aims to trigger a reflection on the future of the Eu that lies in the ability to give life to a new order of centrality, giving back to the     Mediterranean the role that geography has always assigned to it.

The Geographic Approach to the Analysis of the Consequences of “Brexit”. Who will Benefit? – The outcome of the referendum on the Brexit opened an era of uncertainty, questioning the relationship between UK and European Union, making it difficult to define future paths. The aim of this work is to analyse the possible consequences of Brexit through a geoeconomic approach which, focusing on foreign trade, will explore the different issues at international, national and regional levels. Aknowledging that from now on the British decisions will be crucial in defining the outcomes, the purpose of this study is not to achieve an indisputable conclusion but rather to present arguments to feed and enrich the debate on the matter within the scientific community of geographers.

 

“Metamorphosis of the city”: Resilience and Interculturality. – With the advent of urban sprawl, the places have changed its physical structure by influencing the social and urban fabric. New Urbanism is a decisive movement for America and Europe, through it was possible to draw new planning visions. A current that would currently shooting for the operation, which has been show to improve the livability of neighborhoods and cities.
The methodology of resilience thinking and participation tools could improve the strategic planning and management of change and transformation of the social and urban systems, helping the administration to manage the urban policies.

Il proposito di regolare il corso del fiume Adige nella contea austriaca del Tirolo risale alla seconda metà del XVIII secolo. Diversi progetti si susseguirono nel corso del tempo e i lavori furono finalmente conclusi entro la fine del XIX secolo.
Nello stesso periodo molti altri fiumi europei - come il Reno in Germania - furono interessati da progetti similari. Le aree paludose non erano soggette a misure catastali, eludendo la tassazione. La loro presenza, poi, ostacolava i movimenti delle truppe e rendeva difficile la costruzione di fortificazioni stabili, perciò pregiudicando l’ordine disciplinato che era necessario per stabilire un moderno stato territoriale. Sin dal Rinascimento lo sviluppo delle tecniche cartografiche assieme al progresso delle inchieste statistiche permise l’attuazione di un nuovo ordine territoriale. Mappe e dati statistici non erano soltanto il mezzo per la realizzazione dei progetti ma divennero lo strumento archetipico di una radicale trasformazione del territorio. Strade e canali rettilinei, terre bonificate divennero la manifestazione materiale delle linee disegnate sulle carte. Non fu un caso che la rettificazione dell’Adige si legò alla costruzione della Brennerbahn, il collegamento ferroviario fra Verona e Innsbruck.
Lo stesso processo riguardò i confini proprietari, amministrativi e politici: lo stato territoriale moderno, infatti, concepì allo stesso modo le grandi opere di bonifica, l’appropriazione del suolo e la determinazione dei confini. Questo articolo esamina i diversi progetti di sistemazione dell’Adige con la relativa cartografia che, nel corso di un secolo, trasfor-marono radicalmente la geografia della Val d’Adige.

Ambitions and cultural exploitations in response to the crisis. Discourses and urban metamorphosis in Cagliari. – This contribution reflects on how the cultural dimension is embedded in the "narrative" on the city (Cagliari) as a pos-sible answer to the problems of the current economic and social crisis. Our hypothesis is that the use of "miraculous" values of culture is the 'Trojan Horse' to legitimize neoliberal policies and actions on the city, where almost get confused public interventions of actual value but also speculative interests of private individuals. This hypothesis is argued by analyzing the speeches and achievements of some projects based on ex-plicit cultural and symbolic values, ambitions and/or exploitations. These also involve the ambition of a projection of the city on the international scene: from "Cagliari capital of the Mediterranean" to "Cagliari Europe-an Capital of Culture".

Abstract. – I droni si stanno diffondendo rapidamente sul mercato gene-ralista. Gli hardware e i software attualmente disponibili divengono sem-pre più economici e questo accresce le potenzialità applicative di questi strumenti. Parallelamente al numero degli operatori commerciali, cresce anche quello dei gruppi di lavoro scientifici interessati all’uso di questi mezzi per lo studio delle condizioni materiali e dello status complessivo del paesaggio, del territorio e dei suoi beni storici e culturali. La tecnolo-gia si adegua rapidamente a diverse necessità operative; nel frattempo, in vari paesi europei iniziano a svilupparsi normative sull’impiego di questa nuova peculiare tipologia di aeromobile. Se è vero che sistemi e sensori di alta sofisticazione si rendono necessari in alcuni casi, l’esperienza tut-tavia insegna che, in altre circostanze, anche prodotti meno avanzati for-niscono una grande quantità di dati e contribuiscono all’acquisizione di conoscenza significativa sui fenomeni osservati. La possibilità, per un maggior numero di gruppi di lavoro, di avere accesso a queste tecnologie innovative grazie ad un’opportuna convergenza di approcci “open” e “low-tech” permetterà nei prossimi anni un più completo ed utile studio dei beni materiali del nostro “cultural heritage”. Tale concetto generale è stato sottoposto a verifica, fra il 2010 e il 2015 dal Geographic Research and Application Laboratory (GREAL) dell’Università Europea di Roma, in collaborazione con altri partner di rilievo fra cui l’Istituto per le Tec-nologie Applicate ai Beni Culturali (ITABC-CNR) e l’LT-TEKNEHUB dell’Università di Ferrara. Questo lavoro presenta alcune delle più signifi-cative applicazioni sottoposte a verifica e riassume le conclusioni tratte da tali esperienze.

La questione del confine nazionale italiano, dall'unificazione al primo dopoguerra, si intreccia, dentro e fuori l'accademia, con il progresso delle scienze geografiche e della rappresentazione cartografica.

L'articolo muove dalle definizioni di territorio, regione e confine, elaborate da Giovanni (1846-1900) e Olinto (1876-1926) Marinelli al giro del secolo XX e discute il contributo delle loro idee al disegno del confine nord-orientale dell'Italia. La disputa interessava le aree mistilingue o storicamente legate all'influenza culturale italiana che erano rimaste al di fuori dei confini nazionali dopo il 1866. In primo luogo Trento, l'Istria e Trieste, ma oggetto del contendere erano anche i territori di Bolzano e Merano, a nord della chiusa di Salorno, e la Dalmazia, da Fiume a Spalato.

Punto centrale è l'analisi del concetto di linea di spartiacque, che esula dalla mera lettura geo-morfologica, per indagarne gli aspetti sociali e culturali che si legano ad un discorso scientifico europeo e transnazionale. Lo sforzo della geografia di superare l'idea di confine areale, delineato da Friedrich Ratzel, per giungere a demarcare linee precise e cartografabili, si relaziona al processo politico e militare, attuato dallo Stato, per stabilire confini sicuri e comprendenti aree il più possibile omogenee dal punto di vista culturale. In questo contesto la cartografia svolge un duplice ruolo: da un lato, archetipo che condiziona e uniforma le scienze geografiche, dall'altro, strumento mediatico e di propaganda per la diffusione di concetti spaziali e politici. Oltre all'esame delle opere geografiche, questo articolo svolge uno studio critico della produzione cartografica coeva, attuando anche un paragone con le coeve teorie prodotte dalla geografia nel mondo tedesco.

Il paradigma geografico e i processi territoriali che ne conseguono contribuiscono così alla definizione e all'affermazione di un'identità nazionale.

Ennio Flaiano, The discontented traveler. – Ennio Flaiano appears to have had an adverse relationship with travel. In much of his work he was often skeptical and not interested in the idea of travel, but, in contrast he was a tireless traveler who has visited Europe, America and Asia and, towards the end of his life, he wrote and starred in a documentary search for the secrets of Canada. Rediscovering this person is a way to learn more about one of the most subtle and forgotten intellectuals that Italy has produced.

Rural Development Index (RDI). Hypothesis for a synthetic indicator of rural development. – This paper contains proposals contributing to the compo-sition of a synthetic macroeconomic indicator able to measure/assess on a European, national and regional scale the effectiveness of rural development policies up to now implemented by the EU. Since Agenda 2000, the rural development program is the “second pillar” of the CAP and it aims to maintain the competitiveness of rural areas through a quality policy, promotion of employment (in particular for young people) as well as environmental and rural protection; the measure’s central theme is the search for synergies between productive activities and those based on the territory and the traditions of the rural environment. The contents of this research refers almost exclusively to rural Europe, because the framework of these reflections is the Common Agricultural Policy, but some hints can be generally considered for development assessment relating to rural areas outside Europe.

This paper intends to consider a epochmaking experience for the west European society, caused by the discovery of the New World: the crossing over the borders of the consolidated knowledge and of the domesticated spaces of Mediterranean Europe, and then the projection onto the reconfiguration and the refoundation of a new vision of the world. A new vision that is constructed on this triple dynamism – travelling, discovering, knowing – from then on part of the European historic consciousness and its cultural memory.