Political ecology of borderscapes: the Poland-Belarus border in the BiaÅ‚owieża Forest. – The BiaÅ‚owieża Forest stretches across the Poland-Belarus border and it is considered as one of the most ecologically valuable forests of Europe. The area, which is partly protected for its natural value, has been historically interested by military operations including the recent construction of a fence along the border due to the migrant crisis between Belarus and the EU. Here migrants are used by Belarus as pawns in a game of blackmail with Poland and the other European countries, with serious implications on people’s life also due to the harsh climatic and environmental conditions of the area. The case of BiaÅ‚owieża suggests the potential of a new field of investigation on the militarisation of natural, protected areas in Europe as well as around the world.

The wind farm as a symbolic landscape. – Wind energy has had a remarkable development in Italy in recent years, despite severe criticism on the environmental and social impact of the plants. In particular, numerous studies and research have been conducted on the subject of the visual impact of wind turbines, mostly giving space to those who consider them a territorial realization that disfigures the landscape. The widespread construction of what today in Italy are commonly called wind parks must however lead us to consider that just as many are those who see in the plants not so much an element of visual disturbance but, on the contrary, an element of the landscape with an acceptable aesthetic value, and in some cases even positive. The research focuses on two wind farms – Monte d’Aria in Marche and Cinque Stelle in Liguria – close to established Italian tourist regions with the primary aim of giving a voice to those who, residents or tourists, consider them symbol and flag of a new, correct approach of society towards the natural environment.