Risultati per "Geography"

The state of the nomos in the era of “planetary civil war”. – The structure of the nomos, according to Carl Schmitt, is mobilized as the full immediacy of a juridical force not mediated by laws, whose central problem is not the abolition of war but its limitation or regulation (Schmitt, 2006, pp. 63-65). The solution to the problem lies in the radical spatial separation between an inside and an outside – a boundary, precisely – which establishes the strength of the nomos itself and the immediate imposition of its structure as an order (political, ethical, geographical). This central theme, which has overwritten the Earth and legitimized globalization, is probably the one in which the disconnections, cracks, and farcical tones that disrupt the contemporary and superficial geography of the global are now most evident. If in the era of planetary civil war the categories of globalization no longer function, then it is from the cracks in the superficial geography of the global that it becomes possible to imagine different and unruly geo-political categories.
Ecomuseums, Biodiversity, and Contemporary Art in Europe. – In recent years, the growing dialogue between contemporary art and sustainability has found fertile ground also in ecomuseums. Inspired by international experiences such as Ice Watch by Olafur Eliasson and Minik Rosing, or Aerocene by Tomás Saraceno, art has become a key driver in raising awareness of ecological crises. Creative interventions now resonate in European ecomuseums, particularly those in the Mediterranean area, where context-sensitive installations, and collaborative workshops are reshaping the connections between people, biodiversity, and place. This article explores how, between 2011 and 2024, artistic approaches in 26 case studies from France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal have contributed to a new artistic geography. Artistic languages serve as tools for ecological engagement, blending local knowledge and visual culture. The study proposes a framework in which art and biodiversity converge to foster shared ecological responsibility.
Politics, Education, and Geography in the Early Modern Period: Notes for a Histor-ical Analysis. – This article explores the connection between political au-thority, education, and geography in the early modern period, analyzing how the teaching of geography became a fundamental tool for managing and controlling emerging territories. In a context of fragmented educa-tional systems, the article highlights how geography was used to address the new political, economic, and social needs of European powers. Schools, both secular and religious, particularly those run by orders like the Jesuits, played a key role in transmitting this knowledge, contributing to the creation of new skills essential for colonial expansion. Finally, the article underscores how geography, understood as both a scientific disci-pline and a political tool, became a point of convergence between educa-tion and power, legitimizing the imperial ambitions of European.
Rethinking the places of life and work: the inner areas facing the challenges of syndemics. – After a ten years long debate on the SNAI and the goal of demographic in-version to be pursued with a «reversal of the gaze», or «bringing the margins to the center», we can talk about the controversial process generated by this objective, still ongoing: centering the strategy on a spatial practice (living) has led to a concentration of scientific and policy responsibilities on territorial planning which, while certainly crucial, works if the project is equipped in advance with a strong analysis of the places. This is the basis of the thought on inner areas that must be strengthened so that these places can be freed from intellectual subalternity. In fact, the theory and practice of planning also need to recover a good description of the territory, that ability to interpret the complexity of the relationships between natural space and human action, which is the work of the geographer. The paper aims to reflect on the need to re-think the descriptive investigation as a prerequisite for good planning, due to the urgencies issued by climate change and the pandemic shock, phenomena which, closely connected to each other, have shown how unpredictable and diversified they can be territorial responses to external stresses. The complementarity between description and planning, i.e. the alliance between geographers and architects, will be adopted as a guiding category to be able to read the depopulation of internal areas not as a merely housing issue but, rather, in a holistic vision, as the effect of the limits of a production system based on unsustainable territorial hierarchies.
Beyond the Anthropocene: Industry 5.0 for Territorial Co-Design. – The present proposal, which has its basis on the concept of territorial co-design in connection with the possibilities of the Industry 5.0, aims to understand how this revolution can help geography with new instruments in order to ac-tively take part in the debate about ecology; and re-think the ways we live the territory and in the territory. The context is that of the global challenges that grip us, as climate change and geopolitical transformations. The proposal examines some works of global leaders, such as AVEVA Industrial Software, and of some important authors, like Kate Raworth with her concept of Doughnut Economics. The focus will be on the re-organization of territory in a way that can be sustainable, resilient and human-centric – as the three principles of Industry 5.0 are framed as.
Listening to the nights of Fez a fragmentary narrative. – In how many ways can one listen to a city – or rather the city – that excludes the noise of traffic while preserving the ancestral channelling and sonic configurations of its alleys and of materials belonging to a time discreet yet not immobile? The soundscape of the medina of Fez emerges not only as a visual space, but as a stratified acoustic landscape, oscillating between public, discreet, and sheltered spaces on the one hand, and private, reverberant, and communal ones on the other. The calls to prayer from the minarets, the flight of storks, and both human and non-human voices contribute to the construction of a sonic geography that defines urban spatiality. Architecture itself functions as an acoustic device that amplifies, attenuates, or trans-forms sounds, making Fez one of the most significant “cities of sound” in the world. Nighttime, in particular, discloses the sonic intimacy of the me-dina, transforming it into a natural conservatory of phonetic effects—an intangible heritage belonging not only to history, but also to the daily practices and sensory perceptions of its inhabitants
Climate Change: More Than Just Geography. – The ongoing climate change and its potentially severe consequences concern us as thinking human beings, regardless of whether we are historians, geographers, geologists, urban planners, economists, sociologists, or psychologists. The common endpoint of our reflections – and of the suggestions we offer regarding actions to be taken or avoided – engages us as citizens of the shared good that is the Earth, whose survival we value not only for ourselves today but, above all, for future generations, many of us being parents and grandparents. Naturally, it is both inevitable and important that each of us contributes based on our own disciplinary knowledge – be it historical, geographical, geological, or otherwise. However, in my view, the focus of our reflection should not be on the role each of these sciences can play, but rather on the responsibility that each of us must assume as citizens of the Earth.
Counter-Geographies of Wine: Marginal Viticultural Practices and the Transition To-ward a Post-Alcoholic Enotourism. The Role of Acquata. – This article proposes a critical re-reading of contemporary wine geographies through the notion of counter-geographies, focusing on acquata—a traditional post-fermentative beverage derived from the rehydration of grape pomace—as an epistemic and territorial device capable of reconfiguring the cultural and ecological meanings of wine production. Building on the theoretical framework of post-alcoholic enotourism, the study explores how emerging “NoLo” (no- and low-alcohol) consumption regimes intersect with transformations in rural landscapes, sustainability policies, and socio-symbolic practices of conviviality. Historical and geographical analysis reveals that acquata, far from being a marginal residue of pre-industrial viticulture, embodies a vernacular knowledge system rooted in circular use of resources, social equity, and ecological restraint. Its historical erasure through modern regulatory frameworks reflects broader processes of epistemic and territorial exclusion within capitalist agri-food regimes. By reactivating ac-quata as a cultural and political tool, the paper advances the hypothesis of a regenerative geography of wine, in which residual practices and marginal knowledges serve as generative forces for more inclusive, sustainable, and plural forms of enotourism and territorial identity.
The contract of life: transdisciplinarity and territorial governance in times of polycrisis. – The article, which deals with the problematic nature of territorial planning in times of polycrisis, reflects on some of the questions that the current issue of the journal puts to the attention of researchers, namely: what theoretical apparatus does geography have at its disposal to deal with problems that need to be tackled in an interdisciplinary manner? Can the current debate on climate change lead to a geographical attitude towards transdisciplinarity? Is a transdisciplinary vision aimed at the integration of knowledge capable of co-design as a mental attitude before a research programme? How can geography contribute to the operationalisation of such a scenario? In short, by using geographical analytical skills, one wonders if it is possible to envisage a method of governance that brings out a design suggested by the peculiarities of places and by the knowledge/experience of the inhabitants, who are no longer seen exclusively as recipients of interventions, but as designers and evaluators of the intervention itself.
Gaia’s Return: Reflections on Geography in the Age of the Anthropocene
“Marxism and Geography”. On the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Massimo Quaini’s Volume (Alcide Cervi Institute, Gattatico, October 25-26, 2024)
Semper Kant: thinking space as geography. A permanent seminar on Immanuel Kant on the tricentennial of his birth (Cagliari, October 3-4; Milan, November 14-15; Lecce, December 16-17, 2024).
“No More Nature?”. An Ecocritical Theatre and Drama-Based Research Experience. – The paper presents a site-specific, theatre and drama-based research experience exploring social perceptions of biodiversity loss. Grounded in ecocritical geography, the participatory process activated post-anthropocentric relational practices, highlighting the potential of performative methods in geographical research and in imagining multispecies coexistence.
A geography for institutional cohesion. The OSAII Interuniversity Center: rebuilding politico-administrative territories through the interweaving of knowledge.
Sound waves. Podcasting and teaching on water geographies. – In a resonant world, the attention to soundscapes of the international geographic community is growing, bringing into hearing ongoing reflections on cohabitation and interspecies alliances in the Anthropocene. At the same time, the use of podcast in academia is growing, to teach and disseminate geography beyond academic boundaries, and thus increase the public impact of research.
In this context, starting from the narration of the recording practices of
two sound artists – Renato Rinaldi and Attila Faravelli – with whom the author has recently collaborated in research on sonic waterscapes, the article question and discuss if and how podcasts can help develop a sensitivity towards water resources.
The geography of the vote in the 2022 elections: comparison with previous rounds and trends of the last months
Food as weapon. Interdiction strategy: benging geography to military needs
Hydric resources as patterns for a community regeneration: the Gleno dam between memory and innovation in Scalve Valley. – Geography offers tools for territorial analysis and planning which, by integrating field research with geographic information technologies, propose innovative approaches to support re-generation processes. This is strategic in mountain contexts where, over time, water resources management has been at the core of a delicate co-evolutionary relationship between humans and non-humans and, sometimes, has caused catastrophic fractures induced by anthropic action, like dam collapsing. The essay presents the case study of the Gleno Dam in the Scalve Valley, province of Bergamo, where, since the collapse centenary (1923-2023), the geographers of the Imago Mundi Lab at the University of Bergamo have been carrying out research aimed at reconstructing the territorial stratification generated over time, focusing on the role of water and the disastrous results of the dam collapse on the entire valley. Many places abandoned after the disaster can today be regenerated through co-design processes using mapping systems and placing water at the centre of new symbolic meanings, cultural functions, and production practices.
In the geography of Plato’s Phaedrus: disclosure of a painted anagram?
A research-action path for the participatory and collaborative management of water bodies: River Contracts in Friuli Venezia Giulia. – Starting from the experience acquired through a research-action which involves the geographers of the University of Udine in the coordination of the Regional Board of River Contracts, in agreement with the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, this contribution analyzes the results and effectiveness of some initiatives implemented for the promotion of participatory and collaborative governance of water bodies. Through participant observation and the analysis of a questionnaire, the facilitation and training role of geography in the process of River Contracts to make participation more effective and aware, will be highlighted.
In the Flood. Circumpolar cultures and global warming. – The imaginaries of water in circumpolar cultures are changing. The erosion of old cosmologies and the accelerated melting of permafrost and continental ice are gener-ating new syncretic narratives that are beginning to be studied by ethnology and cultural geography. In the Arctic, water has become a new concrete threat and the hydrogeological disruptions triggered by rising temperatures and human mechanical alterations are redefining the local way of describing the world and man’s place in the world. By relying on some case studies centered on real and symbolic risks that come from water, this contribution intends to illustrate how the Anthropocene is shaping the concrete and imagined geography of the circumpolar regions.
Ruolo della geografia nella ricerca sull’inquinamento da plastica e implicazioni sociali. – Il presente documento si propone di rivelare come la geografia interagisca con la ricerca sull’inquinamento da plastica e con le attuali sfide sociali, mentre questo flusso emergente di rifiuti pone rischi a una gamma diversificata di ecosistemi, regioni geografiche che coinvolgono livelli multiscala. Le relazioni specifiche tra i principali rami geografici (fisico, umano, ambientale) sono ulteriormente studiate. Pertanto, il presente documento evidenzia come i temi geografici possano essere rappresentati nella ricerca sull’inquinamento da plastica in relazione alle caratteristiche naturali di una particolare area (idrologia, geomorfologia, rischi naturali). La dimensione della geografia umana gioca un ruolo chiave nella generazione, composizione e distribuzione dei flussi di rifiuti plastici da parte di varie fonti di generazione (residenti, imprese, turisti), mentre il ruolo delle disuguaglianze geografiche, delle comunità marginalizzate o remote deve essere integrato nelle future ricerche sulla plastica. Le disparità nel monitoraggio ambientale e nelle infrastrutture di gestione dei rifiuti influenzano i livelli di inquinamento da plastica di origine nazionale, mentre il commercio dei rifiuti di plastica richiede una migliore cooperazione internazionale. Pertanto, diverse geografie e geografi di tutto il mondo devono essere ulteriormente coinvolti nella ricerca sull’inquinamento da plastica per fornire un quadro olistico della ricerca su questa minaccia ambientale e sociale globale.
Olympic territorializations: the case studies of Cortina and Bormio. – The material construction processes of Olympic territoriality have often triggered dialectics, controversies, and conflicts of a rather widespread political, social, and communicative nature, as emerged, also in the case of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, by the chronicles of recent months. These controversies unfold on multiple discursive levels. Firstly, on the legal level, which is the focal point around which revolve all the configurative conflicts of an environmental and landscape nature. Secondly, on the economic level through strategies of appropriation and access to territorial resources. Finally, on the political level in the dual dialectic of contrasts and different positions within administrations and between administrations and civil society. The study aims to investigate some of the outcomes of the projects and territorial transformations produced by the organization of the Milan-Cortina 2026 mega Olympic event, focusing in particular on the analysis of two case studies related to two infrastructures designed in mountain municipalities with a strong tourist characterization such as Cortina and Bormio. In this context, more specifically, controversies arising from the design of the bob track in Cortina and the so-called “Alute” bypass road in Bormio will also be considered.
Dantesque Geography as a genre of the Italian geography between nineteenth and twentieth centuries. – In Italian geography between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries developed the “dantesque geography” which appears to be not a mere research topic, but a real genre that shared to characterize the history of the discipline in that period. It is circumscribed nearly by the two sixth centenaries of the Dante’s birth and death or more precisely between the Italian unification and the coming of fascism. The essay reconstruct its origin and development from Covino (1865) to Revelli (1922). The “dantesque geography” dealt with the Dante’s cosmology, geographical and cartographical knowledges, also for the contributions, among others, of Dalla Vedova, Bertacchi, Mori, Magnaghi. Its main purpose, however, is to shape an image of Italy as a natural and linguistic region that present itself as a prophecy and historical legitimation of contemporary Italy and its territorial aspirations and so it produced also some maps of “dantesque Italy”. The theme of the Italian boundaries according Dante, particularly the northeastern border, is therefore central.
Literaly journey in the Tuscia of Divine Comedy. – In the field of Odeporic geography, many scholars have commented on the theme of the journey linked to the name of Dante Alighieri (Cavalieri, 2015; Ferroni, 2015) and as Ferroni (2015) claims we might consider conferring on Dante the competence of geographer. In fact, it is sufficient to read the descriptions of the various Italian places (which he directly or indirectly knows) and their physical-geographical aspects to understand, through a real journey in the Dantesque era, the characteristics of the landscape within which the Comedy is narrated. Through an in-depth reading of the cantos, the goal of this paper is to propose a Dantean itinerary in Tuscia, tracing places, symbols and images. The methodological analysis also included an online survey to verify the existence of similar proposals and a search to examine the feasibility of the itinerary. To achieve this result, ISTAT data (2019-2021) on the tourist movement in the area were also collected. The stages of the proposed itinerary, therefore, concern the historic center of Viterbo and the Urban Park of Bullicame, Bolsena and Bagnoregio.
Natural images of Dante’s underworld. – Dante Alighieri’s ability to represent the reality of the afterlife is known. The effectiveness of this representation is entrusted by the author to the use of similitudes. The main goal of this research is to underline how the similitudes used by Dante refer mostly to the natural world and how the author constructs the infernal geography through physical and concrete data of an experiential world to which every man can refer to. This attitude of Dante to “speak in images” (visibil parlare), then, is investigated as the main cause that has allowed and inspired so many successive transcodes from literature to the visual arts.
“Paese guasto” and “il bel paese”. Italian places of the divine comedy and Revelli’s Dante. – The places of the Commedia are dressed of a meaning physical and symbolic at the same time, and, the echo of this description, appears strongly detailed in Dante’s verses. The evocative power of the places can be measured from an effective comparison with Eliot’s poem which, with clear evidence, is inextricably linked to Dante’s Commedia; the dead country, as Dante defines it, can definitely be compared to the adjective waste used by Eliot. This evocative connection allows Dante to still live as a fundamental reference point for modern Twentieth-century society. As it is customary in the stream of Italian intellectuals operating in the early Twentieth century, we cannot ignore the fascination of Dante’s exegesis; Paolo Revelli, geographer as well as “dantista”, brings to fulfilment the intellectual custom we have spoken of. Dante and Italy are two indissoluble names and Revelli understands and emphasizes Dante’s role in the geography of Italy.
Comics, rusty stones and resilient hearts. Graphic novels and practices of spatial re-significance in roman peripheries at night. – This paper is the first result of a wider research project dedicated to the depiction of peripherical and marginal areas in comic books and graphic novels. As such, the contribution is consistent with the perspective of critical geopolitics and focused on the analysis of three graphic novels that, beyond their stylistic and narratives differences, are all set in the same “chronotope”: the Roman periphery at night. Thus, the paper draws from night-studies, socio-geographical theo-ries of space-production, and previous literature dedicated to comics geography. The three works are then presented as divergent narratives that stands against the negative depiction of periphery in mainstream media and their demonization of alternative and conflictual social practices, such as rave parties, graffiti, and house squatting.
What the history of geography is about? Academic and widespread geographic knowledge during the First World War. – The First World War influenced the spread of culture, both in form and content. This phenomenon no less affects geography, with the alteration of the traditional balance between academic and widespread knowledge. Diversification of the protagonists and the heterogeneity of expressive forms becomes the characteristic of a radically transformed geographic landscape relative to the full, largely static and approved, picture of prior times.
By adopting an inductive research methodology that takes its cue from the empirical evidence of the profound structural changes that occurred in geographical production in Italy during the Great War, this article questions the protagonists of the discipline, reaching conclusions that could perhaps also be extended to the analysis of other historical periods: the need to overcome the narrow conception of the history of the discipline, which is focused upon the internal affairs of academia, in favour of a view which acknowledges the articulated complexity and plurality of geographical knowledge.
The enclave of Melilla: an urban area on the edge of the Mediterranean. – The Autonomous City of Melilla as well as that of Ceuta, located on the edge of the Mediterranean, represents the only two land borders between Africa and Europe. Given the particular geographical position that covers the enclave, Melilla is considered as a peripheral territory of the European Union (Sánchez, 2022). The Spatial, cultural and linguistic conflicts are reflected in the urban geography of the enclave and in the division of the city’s neighborhoods. In districts I and II, located in the center of the city, the Spanish language and the Catholic religion are pre-dominant, while the presence of Muslims and the use of the Tamazight language, mainly characterized the peripheral districts of the cities belonging to districts III, IV and V; “Language is also a place of struggle” (hooks, 1998, p. 64). The aim of this work is to analyze the marginal role that the enclave plays between urban, linguistic and religious conflicts.
Paesaggi transumanti: a variable geometry approach to interpreting the relational flows of nomadic transhumant pastoralism in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. – For centuries, a particular type of entrepreneur has been traversing the countryside of Friuli Venezia Giulia, climbing up the valleys and reaching the mountain pastures: they are the nomadic transhumant shepherds. The shepherds do not only make a vertical oscillatory journey that connects the mountains to the plains, but move with perpetual horizontal motion, which sees the herds make daily movements covering an area that affects the green spaces of almost the entire territory of the region, including protected areas, bringing out management and relational conflicts that deserve to be investigated. Despite urbanization, infrastructure and industrialization, transhumant pastoralism continues to exist and stands as an interesting example - complex and full of ambiguity - of resilience and sustaina-bility. “Paesaggi transumanti” is a research project that integrates disciplines of geography, ethnography and contemporary art. The article pre-sents a mapping updated to 2023 of transhumant shepherds in Friuli Ve-nezia Giulia and a proposal for the interpretation of the regional landscape according to their specific point of view.
V. Zelensky, J. Biden and the geography of body politics. – How does the body enter the media fabrication of the event? Does body politics have to do with the emotional characteristics of place? How can transcalarity, as the geographical foundation of geopolitics, be conceived not only in quantitative and dimensional terms, but also in qualitative and symbolic terms? To answer these kinds of questions, the essay analyzes the public profile of the corporality of Presidents V. Zelensky and J. Biden, on background of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis intertwined with the upcoming US presidential elections.
Sicani-telling: small stories from Sicily’s margins. – This article tells some stories from the Sicani inner area, in Sicily. Drawing on the considerable debate that in recent years – particularly after the National Strategy for Inner Areas, launched in 2012 – has flourished, this article aims to contribute to the deconstruction of the aestheticizing visions that invest these territories. In particular, the narcotized image of the bourg is critically considered: a discursive and political tendency that underlies selective and pacified imaginaries. Following the idea that small stories produce the world, the article describes some narratives collected during an experiential guided tour through walking research methods. This storytelling is analyzed asking what discourse is produced on these marginal places. As a result, the small stories are a mode of the geographic discourse: a method in doing geography with an embodied and affective approach.
Animal cities. Mediated experiences and collective narratives for unnatural geography of the wild. – The clear separation – conceptual, ethical, spatial – between man and wildlife (Whatmore, 2002) remains to this day one of the most fascinating topics of reflection around our relationship with the environment. The cultural history of the wild, especially in its North American roots, hinges on the preservation of territories marked by the absence of appreciable anthropic traces, an exotic, ahistorical nature, in open contrast to urban and peri-urban areas, understood in an Enlightenment sense as spaces of civilization, themselves purged of the presence of the non-human. A binary biogeography that unequivocally identifies the right space for the human, placed at the centre, and the non-human, at the margin. Yet, this stark contrast has been brought to the centre of both scientific debate and public interest, especially during the historic 2020 lockdown, when images and multimedia content have extensively documented the fragility of this strict division of space. Starting from a reconstruction of contemporary mass media discourse, the contribution, therefore, aims to document how the emergence and circulation of grand narratives such as that of ‘nature spaces’ or the ‘awakening of nature’ can reveal epistemological dynamics common to different socio-economic contexts, but also substantially different responses to the various phenomenologies of the wild. The very notion of the margin as a dividing border between man and nature is discussed in relation to the descriptions and representations mobilized by newspapers and social media, to explore the possibilities and potentialities of a reunion between human and non-human, even in non-domesticated forms, in anthropized environments such as those of cities.
The border as operational space: ‘black spaces’ and border infrastructures. – How can one make sense of territorial borders in a context characterized by increasingly dislocated and widespread migration and border management policies? What policies emerge from the intersection between different types of mobility? And what contribution can geography make to understanding these intersections? Adopting a terminology of borders-as-infrastructures, this essay promotes a topological perspective that focuses on the productive tensions inherent in the very functioning and spatial reach of borders. With a focus on the territorial control mechanisms adopted to channel and filter mobile agricultural labour in the region of Basilicata in 2014-2019, the article moves beyond an understanding of borders as mere territorial divisions or technological devices. The argument advanced here is that border infrastructures involve significant socio-material entanglements – interactions between physical and social forces – that continue to channel and direct our relationship with the territorial state.
Marginal Narratives from a “Undisciplined” Excursion to the Architecture Biennale 2021. – If Neil Smith and David Harvey find space at the Arsenale, if at the Giardini the exercise is to dis-explore the Earth, it is because the Biennale is about surveying the crisis space of globalisation: it forces us to interrogate the geopolitical map of contemporaneity between the Anthropocene, techno-capitalism, encroachments and adaptations. This is why we thought of sharing a visit to the Biennale with those geographers for whom the exercise proposed by Architects is essential to our theoretical, disciplinary, ethical, civil and very human present of being geographers.
Our notes in the margin depend on this invitation to investigate the potential of the object of marginality starting from the concept of “hole in the plot - which - nourishes the other plots” (Negarestani, 2021, p. 106). Hole or absence that stands for the missed encounter between Geography (the material on display) and geographical discipline to imagine plots, narratives and “undisciplined” alliances to come.
Reasons and topics of a conference. – The introductory text illustrates the project of the Conference within the framework of the celebrations for the seventh centenary of Dante Alighieri’s death and it underlines its interdisciplinary nature. The debate between Geographers and Italianists, focused on the reinterpretation of Paolo Revelli’s work – L’Italia nella Divina Commedia – has deepened the topic of geographic realism in the poem, the author’s political vision, the current tourist interest for the places of Dante. It is thus led a cross-reading of the essays that compose the Proceedings of the conference.
Itineraries in the Rome of immaterial art: between sidewalk, traffic lights and interstitial spaces. – The interest of geography for the urban art (street or public art) has increased in recent years. Not all the arts that take shape in the city leave a tangible mark in the urban space that can produce new rela-tionships and territoriality (Brighenti e Reghellin, 2007). There are also extemporaneous performances – which can be admired only when they are realized – and immaterial performances – which do not mark the ter-ritory with the localization of a semi-permanent product. Precisely because these forms of art are immaterial and not constantly visible, they are fluid and “elusive” even in the eyes of those who wish to investigate them. Therefore: marginal is considered the artist who practices them (Caccamo, 2005); marginal are defined some urban spaces frequented by artists and geographies that investigate these forms of art. In this contribution some itineraries will be presented, built in three years of field research in Rome, that connect the urban spaces of immaterial art.
The geography of the Divine Comedy: some remarks. – The geography of the Divine Comedy, although it is supplied with a dimension of proximity, defines a space basically symbolic which is by analogy to temporal synchrony, here action and space merge into a single reality that give substance to the Theatrum.
Dante’s sources of knowledge and geographical perception can be traced back to the observation of the “man of culture” and to his wanderings as exiled as well as to an apparatus of readings typical of the Florentine cul-ture on the threshold of Humanism.
New mountain people, new activities, and new forms of transhumance: adapting traditional patterns in val Aupa, Friuli Venezia Giulia. – The study is part of the broader topic of the transition to modernity, and the passage to post-modernity, in the rural and mountain peripheries of the Eastern Alps. A passage, which took place starting from the mid-1900s, which often means a catastrophic impact on society and territories, in particular of certain areas, such as some valleys of Friuli, which involves the well-known phenomena of crisis and depopulation, to the point of creating situations of real human desertification, and the abandonment of entire valleys. It is therefore a question of understanding how the premises can be created for such re-conversions, and for the acceptation of changes, to take place without trauma, to create situations in which modernist and post-modernist innovation (today connected with globalization, and with the various digital transitions, ecological and of various kinds) can be usefully combined to avoid dramatic ruptures. It is the question, first, of rural economies, of agriculture and livestock, possibly connected to transhumance, in its various expressions, to be repurposed and adapted in appropriate way.
Edgar Degas: from public space to landscape. For a configurative geography of the Belle époque. – Edgar Degas geographer. The artist “does” geography, that is, he gives territorial meanings to the spaces that he crosses and that he represents. The impressionist painter participates in artialisation, which is an essential cultural ingredient in the construction of emotional territoriality. And he also contributed to the strengthening of the spirit of the Belle époque, thanks to the landscaping that the society of the time equipped itself with. Once again proposing geography as the outcome and condition of the territorialization process, in its triple articulation: constitutive, configurative and ontological.
Cambiamenti socio-spaziali ed economici nel paesaggio rurale del Brasile e Italia. – The present work aims to understand, through qualitative research, the socio-spatial and economic changes in the rural landscape of Brazil and Italy, observing rural tourism as a very strong potential of the rural landscape in the two countries studied. In this sense, the role of landscape is analyzed as a structuring element in rural space which, through its marks left in space, tells the story of different areas over time and contributes to adding material and symbolic value to the development of rural tourism. Therefore, as it is a process that has been occurring worldwide in recent decades, we will identify in a comparative way the different aspects related to rural tourism and landscape in Brazil and Italy. In this sense, in the face of historical-geographical research, we will analyze the main elements of the landscape for Geography and how rural tourism appropriates them for its development, relating it to the socio-spatial and economic aspects of each country.
The Geography of Dante explained to children. – During the 7th century since Dante’s death, a broad reflection on the character and his work has developed, particularly on the value the text retains in the present day.
This contribution has focused on the didactic potential that the text and the illustrations of the places of the Divine Comedy can have in order to introduce children to an understanding of the symbolic and paradigmatic value of the landscape.
The geopolitics of Dante. A novel reading of Monarchia. – If Dante has been studied from different angles, and in particular in his political assumptions and also in his geographical references, no studies have been conducted on the geopolitical dimension of his works. Nevertheless, from a novel interpretation mostly of Monarchia, some very interesting and innovative geopolitical readings can emerge, standing on a comparison with some relevant definitions of this branch of geography. In Monarchia, indeed, the global reflection on the world destiny, on the international asset of world politics as well as of the humankind seem to be read also from this point of view, which has to be implemented with other studies.
Literary Geography: The Europe Of The Nineteenth Century In Dante’s Footsteps. – When in 1922 Paolo Revelli published L’Italia nella Divina Commedia, affirming how much Dante and Italy are indissoluble traditions and names, volumes of European scholars and authors had already appeared: they described their direct personal experience in Italy in search of Dante’s genius loci. In fact, starting from the first half of the nineteenth century, we witness the creation of what we can define as a Dante itinerary, or a journey to the places made eternal by Dante in his most famous work: the Divina Commedia. It is a new itinerary, but also a new approach to the study of the Poem through what we can call “literary geography”.
Eighteenth century is known as a period of great historical changes. It is also the century of Dante. From 1830s to 1920s, we witness the production of volumes, studies, contributions and geographical maps of absolute interest. Among these we also find this itinerary on Dante’s footsteps. The main works are those of Jean-Jacques Ampère, Alfred Bassermann and a series of geographical works containing special maps of Dante’s Italy.
Exploring the margin to make a revolution with geography: DGEI in Detroit. –The contribution presents the geographical experience of the DGEI - still little known in the Italian academia-lead by Bunge and Warren, in which theory and practice were applied questioning “the geography of the status quo” in a Detroit poor neighborhood, Fitzgerald. The DGEI was certainly
unconventional in research methods and topics for the time, but relevant today for all those who deal with inequality, social injustice and the right to the city and are in search of new research directions and methodologies.
Why Geography? – This paper underlines the great importance that geographical data have in Dante’s Comedy: the poem is entirely interwoven with references to the space of the earth, in a continuous relationship between the imagination of the places of the otherworld and the perception and geographical projection of the real world. The author considers and distinguishes in this regard three perspectives of study: a historical-philological line, a structural line, an epistemological-hermeneutic line; and shows how today the focus on Dante’s geography directly calls into question the urgency of the environmental question.
Geography of Souls in the Comedy. – The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how the geographical dimension is very important in a work like the Commedia, despite it being set in an ‘aldilà’ with a totally fantastic topography. Among the many geographical references that can be traced back, particularly significant are those connected and provided directly by the souls that Dante meets, so much so that it is possible to speak of a real ‘geography of souls’ in the Comedy.
Geographers and cartographers from Sicily between the 16th and 19th centuries. – The study aims to analyze the development of geo-cartographic culture in Sicily between the 16th and 19th centuries in relation to the evolution of geographical studies in Europe induced by the progress of scientific knowledge and the discovery of new territories, the result of great geographical explorations.
After a brief examination of the affirmation of Geography between the Renaissance and the modern age in the various European countries and in Italy, the study will proceed in the delineation of the development of geo-cartographic culture in Sicily through the examination of the production of Sicilian geographers and cartographers, certainly minors and often misunderstood, active on the island between the 16th and 19th centuries, trying to grasp the most significant aspects in relation to the various events which, over time, have conditioned the island’s culture.
They are often exponents of the local aristocracy and of the clerical class open to culture and relationships with scholars from other countries who, acknowledging scientific progress, devoted themselves to geographical studies and elaborated cartographic surveys no less significant than those produced outside the Isola, certainly stimulated by the desire to know the peculiarities of the island in different historical moments, but sometimes by the need to study and graphically represent the changes induced on the land structure by natural events, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and plagues, or by episodes of war that exploded between the various political forces which tended to impose their power on the island.
From transhumant to sedentary and “return”: the case of small pastoral activities in the Gulf of Augusta. – The processes of territorialisation and de-territorialisation that have taken place in the Gulf of Augusta are the result of an ‘oil culture’ that has long favoured economic growth and employment to the detriment of the territorial context and the original productive uses. It thus happens that, within the district formed by the four municipalities of Au-gusta, Melilli, Priolo Gargallo and Syracuse, Sicily, very different forms of economic activity coexist, some inherited from a late industrialism based on the petrochemical industry, others on more ancient agricultural and breeding practices. In this case study, the focus of the research was the observation of a small group of transhumant sheep and goat breeders, originating from an area north of Etna but who, for economic reasons, have become settled in areas that are close to industrial activities and, for the same reasons, transhumate in the small territory of the province of Syracuse. However, dairy products are sold to Etna’s dairies, potentially creating an information gap with the place of production. Between the chemical industry and agriculture, between different livestock farms, the area lives with forced coexistence that can hardly ever be considered an added value for one another, and the reason for this is easy to guess. The aim of the research is to understand these cohabitations and what drove the farmers to leave their territory of origin and settle in the Priolo Gargallo area with its controversial dynamics. To do this, documentation techniques typical of geography and visual research and interview techniques used in anthropological research were used.

Geography as Imagination. Between the Pleasure of Discovery and the Search for Possible Futures

Informal Work: Proposing a Dialogue between Development Studies and Labour Geography. The Case of East and Southeast Asia. – The paper brings into dialogue selected streams of critical analysis on the ILO concept of informal labour – especially from the fields of political economy and development studies – with some major insights on labour and its transformations from labour geography. Focusing on the case of East and Southeast Asia, and resorting to the multiscalar notion of “labour regime”, the pa-per details crucial actors and devices that underlie specific ways of organ-izing work, its exploitation – and its informalization – in key export industries such as garment and electronics. More specifically, informalization processes are analyzed at the intersection between international capital mobility, the state and labor organizations, and in relation to the capacity of international capital to exploit pre-existing context-specific differentials, especially along the gender and rural-urban axes. Overall, the paper discloses key labour dynamics characterizing pivotal areas of the so-called “global factory”, while more generally highlighting the co-constitutive role that spatial, territorial and scalar configurations play in the processes of labour informalisation.
"The secular city, the religious city (1870-1915); The Shadow of the Capital: the impact of the capital's relocation on the geography of Rome and Italy 150 years later; From Rome Capital to the G-20. Identity, protection and conservation of the archaeological and architectural heritage"
The use of force in interstate relations: theory and evolutions in geo-political practice. – The use of force in relations between states and other players on the world stage: theory, practice and developments in political geography. Based on the experiences of the twentieth century (world wars, genocides, ideological-totalitarian degenerations, decolonization processes), the geopolitical thought of late modernity, starting from the 1960s, essentially develops in a “critical” sense. Then it assumes, among its favorite themes, the discussion on the essence of power (whether or not it is intrinsically “bad”), of the state and of politics (if they inevitably have to rely on the use of force); then it starts the development of a method targeted to regulation and prevention of conflicts, based on a process of deconstruction of alleged “false” ideas of power, to prevent the effects of escalation that have led the whole of humanity to the risk of destruction and self-destruction. These needs are translated operationally into the search for the so-called “insider” factors, that is, those that, in a certain scenario, beyond an immanent and self-evident “casus belli”, cause effects of permanent and out of control conflict, to the point of making war an element that justifies itself (an end, rather than a means). Effects that confuse any causal chain, which make it difficult to identify links and motivations, and therefore the search for a solution, and with it the pacification of crisis scenarios (which in fact tend to perpetuate themselves in areas of “endemic” conflictuality. All this proceeding on the basis of a neo-Enlightenment (possibly neo-liberal) assumption, which almost deterministically assumes the affirmation of an open society, refractory to violence, and the assimilation of “evil” to the mechanisms of democratization, to open market and capitalist prosperity. All this in a context of multilateral policy development, the establishment of international organizations, and the consolidation of a trans-national geo-economic apparatus, of civil society as an “answer to war”, with the aim of progressively limiting, up to cancel the same occasions of conflict; and this to the point that an idea of war as something obsolete spreads (perhaps in an illusory way). The latest events, however, and recent developments, seem to contradict this trend, re-proposing themes and tensions that ge-ographic-political theory seemed to have abandoned for some time. A fact made even more evident by the current invasion of Ukraine, which leaves you dismayed, like aggression to troglodytic times, when the invasion did not need to have a justification; it seems to cause deliberate violence and destruction on a large scale, so much so as to question the entire “critical” paradigm. Putin 24th February discourse deliberately denies the right of Ukraine to survive as a national human community. Evolutions that make it necessary to rethink the practices of limitation and regulation, of the intervention and prevention devices of war, and of the same method of study of the scenarios; perhaps a return to models that, just until a few months ago, were considered outdated.

The Middle Mountains. A New Geography

Landscape education as a practice of geographical mediation in the processes of resignification of places and reduction of conflicts in San Lorenzo district in Rome. – San Lorenzo district has a marked historical-identity component which, however, has not managed to safeguard the neighbourhood from phenomena of deterritorialization and gentrification. The main cause of the recent condition of degradation and conflict has to be found in the urban layout which has triggered a series of interferences in the identity of the place, for example the external pressures exerted by the university. In this case, therefore, the “configurative profile” (Turco, 2010), made up of relationships, emotions and feelings, has been impoverished and has been transformed.
In this context are inserted the landscape education practices (Turco, 2020) promoted by geographers of Sapienza University of Rome, which propose themselves as cultural mediators in the process of re-signification of places and spaces. The presence in the field and the response to the cultural requests from the immediate surroundings of the University have been translated into events open to the public such as the International Night of Geography or the Roman Summer in San Lorenzo which combine the presence of institutions with activities of Public geography. The territory as a common good is such only if the community is the architect of its definition and recognizes the anthropological value of the space. In this direction, landscape education, strongly characterized on an emotional and cognitive level, contributes to implementing those reterritorialization processes which are the privileged tool of geography for the resolution of the impoverishment phenomena caused by situations of conflict and violence.

Strabo and the Theatre. The Dramatic Library of Geography

Journey through the Italy of the Anthropocene. The Visionary Geography of our Future

Waste: the contribution of Zero Waste and geography to the implementation of the PNRR. – Waste is a central problem of global society, capable of deeply undermining the future of the planet. The consumerist mentality and practices are know for guaranteeing productions capable of responding to a growing demand that is ever more diversified. However, less concern has been given to the so-called final ring of the economic system, the one related to waste management. This lack of attention has ensured that a solution to the issue of waste cannot be longer postponed, but has to be considered the starting point for reconsidering the entire process, investing with energy and foresight on the cultural, even before economic, value of circularity, as an alternative to the short-sighted and no long-er sustainable linear model. And it is precisely within this framework, theoretical and practical at the same time, that the PNRR policies must depart and try to be effective, capable of taking up the challenge proposed by Zero Waste: overturn the metaphor of the pyramid and insert in the broad apex a new design of the entire production and consumption chain, at the corporate and domestic, collective and individual, local and global levels. This desirable renewed direction of thought will benefit from the help of geographical reflection, able to propose, thanks to its gaze capable of keeping together different elements and various plans, important concepts and functional criteria to undertake a definitive change of course, towards an effective sustainability.
Emerging urban mobility. Critical evaluation of micromobility, e-bikes and e-scooters, between individuality, public and private. – In recent years, shared mobility has grown in many cities around the world. The term micromobility was coined to refer to low-speed shared vehicles like bicycles and scooter (moped and kick-style) that have recently drawn more attention. It offers a flexible transport option capable of avoiding road congestion encouraging intermodality. This paper aims to identify the main factors that individuals affect to adopt electric e-micromobility. Following systematic literature, we observed the reported influence of several functional and non-functional factors over the decision on whether to use an e-micromobility mode of transport in Italian cities. Cities have to provide better conditions for walking, cycling and emerging micromobilities and thereby at the same time contribute to a more sustainable and equitable urban transport system.
Aviation, airports and territory. – Transport geography deals with the movement of freight, people and information, seeking to link the spatial constraints and attributes with the origin, destination, extent, nature and purpose of movements
Within this view, the paper analyses the cross-relationships between territories and transport, identifying how transports influence territories.
In this paper, particular attention is paid to aviation, an element that contributes to shaping interactions in geographical spaces.
Methodologically, the first part highlights the development and charac-teristics of air transport, emphasizing the relationship between transport and economic systems.
Then the analysis focuses on the topic of accessibility and airport struc-tures, outlining the distinctive features that characterize transport, i.e. di- stances and territories, since the purpose of transport is to overcome space, which is limited by human and physical constraints such as dis-tance, time, administrative divisions and territory.
The Mission Tourism and Culture in the PNRR: Unrepeatable Opportunity for the Sustainability of Italian Tourist Development. – The pandemic Covid19 has brought down tourism and the Italian Government, thanks to the funds made available by the European Union through the NextGenerationEU programme, has given to this sector a strong boost in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), granting a series of investments and financing useful for a new restarting, included in the culture and tourism mission. The article, therefore, will analyze the main guidelines on which this mission is based, trying to outline the future scenarios, highlighting the costs and benefits for Italy as a whole and for inland areas and old towns, which are currently very compromised due to the sharp demographic decrease and the ageing of the population. The funds available in the PNRR could be used to launch a different phase in Italy’s tourism development, completely overturning the geography of flows that until now have been concentrated on two main routes, namely cities of art and seaside tourism, with consequent environmental and social impacts. In conclusion, the PNRR may constitute a major turning point in this sector, allowing for a spread of tourist flows, easing the impact on the now traditional destinations, but also giving development opportunities to the marginal areas of our country, expanding tourist products vertically and innovating the entire system in a sustainable manner.

Campi Flegrei: nature and culture. Landscape, risk and everyday life. – The Campi Flegrei are an area of volcanic origin, located north of Naples, where geological events and eruptions have upset the geography of this territory/physical-chemical laboratory. The area has been a favorite place for anthropic settlement since ancient times: the strong presence of sulfur and nitrogen have made the Phlegraean soil very fertile and the presence of the sea makes the climate mild. The Phlegraean territory has welcomed famous Greek colonies and Roman centers of primary importance, such as Cuma, Dicearchia / Puteoli, Baia, Miseno and large modern manufacturing settlements. I intend to analyze the landscape results that have been created and perceived, trying to investigate the particular relationship between physical geography and human geography that has been formed in this territory, together with the considerations that emerge in relation to the risk that the Phlegraean community experiences daily and social vulnerability and environmental peculiar to the area. 

Hyper-places. The new geography of globalization

Anthropocene and geography. – The concept of Anthropocene is used today in many disciplinary sectors to thematize the issues concerning the enormous and growing impact of human activities on nature. His introduction in the field of geographic studies has placed at the center the reflection on the heart of geographic epistemology: the relationships between human societies and the environment, their ecological consequences, the interpretation of the landscape, the analysis and the critical deconstruction of representations, the relationship between physical and human geography in scientific investigation. The article discusses the contribution of geographers to research on the Anthropocene and presents some ideas on the role that geography can play in scientific research on the Anthropocene. On the one hand, geography can support the critical reading of the ways in which the Anthropocene has also become a concept widely used by the media, contextualizing and deconstructing narratives. On the other hand, also by using the potential of thematic cartography in visualizing data and allowing reflections and analyzes at different scales, helping to territorialize the Anthropocene narrative, highlighting the changes and processes in the different regions of the planet.

“Geography of beloved places” by Maria Pina La Marca

“Geography and Anthropocene. Man, environment, education” ed. Cristiano Giorda

Calabrian ways: religious itinerary for Geography’s path. – In recent years, historical, religious, food and wine and cultural itineraries have become increas-ingly important for the discovery of Italian villages and landscapes: in constant growth is the interest in these tools of knowledge of the history and heritage of Italy.
This work proposes the creation of geo-itineraries based on historical studies concerning the life of two Calabrian monks. The creation of these itineraries, through Gis technology, would lead to the enhancement of still little-known villages, belonging to the internal areas of Calabria, and, at the same time, the rediscovery of the relationship between the tourist and the landscape.

A public geography note. Not exactly encouraging signs on ecological transition in Italy. – There is quite a lot of narrative around ecological transition (ET) these days, especially with reference to the post-covid 19 economic recovery. In Italy, within the Draghi’s gov, a special Ministry has been established to that purpose. We shall clarify, however, that the ET approach is not only a sequence of actions to fix what was damaged on the territory, or a number of punctual works here and there. It’s rather a wide prospect with multiple sub-sets that will evolve in the long term through a coher-ent set of transcalar measures.
Two events oppose this ET idea, both happening in Italy during the course of May 2021: i) the return of the “nuclear discourse”; ii) the re-duction of the Sirente-Velino Regional Park size.
We will discuss about this shortly, looking at it from a public geography perspective. In addition, we will summarize some of those critical ele-ments of the ET ongoing implemented practices.

Geography and geographers in Italy from Unity to the First World War

Public Geography practices. A year with the Italian Touring Club to the rediscovery of geography

Cohesion. The New Geography of Social Pacts; General Problems of Geo-jurisprudence

Some “precedents” of Covid-19 amidst geography, history, diffusion, and contain-ment. – The epidemics which throughout history have caused the deaths of thousands of people always find a common denominator in the travelling and moving about of people and goods. The contrasting actions re-call consolidated procedures, the memory of which has since been lost. Covid-19 has shed light on these aspects, related here to two historical cases: the plague of 1348 that from Asia reached Italy and Europe, and the one that spread to Alghero in 1582, relevant for the way in which the containment measures adopted – a sort of compulsory quarantine, similar to our red zones and lockdowns but applied with greater severity – succeeded in preventing the spread of the contagion beyond the city walls. By re-interpreting the data in geographical terms, this work aims to contribute to the analysis of the plagues from a geo-historic perspective, with the intention of verifying whether the spread, development and ef-fects of these phenomena have common trends, while taking into ac-count the different socio-economic and territorial aspects that characterize the various contexts.
In the smaller world of Covid-19, we shall come back to Geography

Safe and non-safe space: an investigation on new dwelling strategies in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. – The experience of Covid-19 gave us the need to rethink organisational methods of contemporary society, particularly public and domestic spaces. Our research used the pandemic struggle to examine current ways of looking at the safe and unsafe, entailing new practises of social action.
This research was structured in two different stages. First we investigated a series of behaviours and perceptions within public and domestic spaces. Second we examined the strategies through which the subjects reorient the spaces and define new habitus and practices of dwelling. In both cases we focused on hygiene procedures and alternative measures undertaken to diminish the risk of contagion.
The case studies are grouped by three different ranges of contagion in northern, central and southern Italy. They are discussed with reference to theoretical and methodological debates within social geography and cultural anthropology.

Geography under “full sails”: territorial analysis and reflexive cartography on Covid-19 in Italy. – The paper exposes the theoretical and methodological ap-proaches adopted to conduct an analysis on the contagion trend of Covid-19, in relation to the specificities of the territories. After a study of the geographical settings adopted for research purposes, the focus is set on the problematic nature of the data available inherently to the infection. This paper also reflects on the tools and sources of information (such as, for example, collective databases, scientific blogs, or online platforms) adopted during the analysis. Finally, through the exemplification of the evolution of the contagion at national and Lombard level, the contribution exposes the relevance assumed by the reflective maps and by the cybercartography which, underlining the territorial importance of Covid-19, contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon in its complexity.
The tourist attractivity of Italy in post covid-19 scenario. – The current world scenario, with the declared pandemic by Covid-19, is characterized by unprecedented crisis in all economic activities and in particular in tour-ism. After the pandemic, when the science finds a medicine with which the contagion will not be so widespread – vaccine or other “medicine” that cures it –, travel will resume inevitably but slowly in different ways from those we all know. Imagining new scenarios of international tour-ism and redesigning the geography of tourist flows will not be easy, es-pecially in Italy where the reasons of beauty probably will not be the only ones to attract millions of tourists. Therefore, tourism activities must be reconsidered with respect to the “new normality” and the limitations to tourism by health authorities and the results of the economic crisis in-duced by social distancing measures. The paper, therefore, after a careful assessment of the forecasts already made by international organizations at different levels of scale post Covid-19, will verify how the Covid-19 phenomenon will affect per-ceived geographies, in relation to markets. To this end, the results of a survey will be used both to monitor the travel “sentiment” of Italians, in relation to the forecasts for the summer of 2020 and in the coming years, and to outline the future behavior of all travelers – Italian and foreign –. It is assumed, in fact, that the reputation of the Italian territory, due to the need to have new models related to health security in the different Italian locations, will change, requiring a very complex time.

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.

The Space of absence: geography and mass distance teaching. – The sudden change to a mass distance teaching because of Covid-19 pandemy highlights different kinds of absence in relation to several levels of territorial inequalities. The paper proposes a retrospective view in order to represent relationships between lack of literacy's skills, technological infrastructure inequal diffusion, socioeconomic diversities and distance teaching performance's limits in Italy.

From “Italia dei barconi” to “Italia dei balconi”. National identity at the time of Covid-19. - This work is part of the debate known as «Media Geography» (Zimmermann, 2007; dell‟Agnese, 2011) and it aims to critically investi-gate the collective processes of identity narratives produced by the crisis developed by the Covid-19 emergency in Italy. These processes are identified in the media mainstream narratives of the sense of a common belonging and representation (Foucault, 1980; Schwartz, 2008). The survey takes into consideration the period February-April 2020 and it has identified a chronology of “Us”, structured as follows: “Us and Them”, “Us”, “Us and us”, through a semiotic and visual approach, a structure that encourages us to reflect on the contrast between local and global. Finally, the close link between politics and identity narration is highlighted: through the media, it tends to build images that activate and orient collective narration, confirming that «the ideological mobilization of identity concerns the images of identity rather than identity itself» (Pollice, 2005).



Geographies of Covid-19. – A first analysis of the scenario occurred as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic puts in evidence the changes in the way people deal with the spatial-time dimension, in the human rela-tions and in the consequent socio-territorial configurations.
Since the first moments of the pandemic geography gave an important contribution in the study of the phenomenon and in the analysis of its territorial consequences, useful to elaborate solutions from the global to the local scales.
In this path, the reflections made in the field of geography, and in partic-ular in this issue, regard on one side the global modifications on interna-tional assets, travels and mobility, globalization and borders, on the other side the changes in the daily way of living, furnishing tools useful to con-trast the pandemic and models for a sustainable development.

Territorial Reorganisation and Differentiated Autonomy: A Matter to be discussed in light of the Plague. – The arrangement of local self-government is one of the elements that the management of Covid-19 has involved most. During this period people saw many difficulties of the Italian administrative structure and it had consequences on the efficiency of the institutions and markets too. The arrival of Covid-19 has called into question many aspects of internal life in the country and the gained experience pushes for the revision of some aspects of Italian political affairs. This contribu-tion aims to underline – through two case studies – some themes of political geography raised by the new condition and to indicate the new opportunities they open up. To do this, the authors discuss, on the one hand, the reorganization of the state administration after Law 56 of 2014, the new hierarchy of administrative powers and the launch of the Metropolitan Cities. On the other hand, they address the debate on the request for Autonomia differenziata (differentiated autonomy) presented by three regions – Veneto, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna – in order to in-crease their spaces of power, and the consequences for the rest of the country.

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.

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.

Towards a Configurative Geography of the Gilets Jaunes: Weak Values and the New Social Pacts. – This article will focus on the territorial dimension of the Gilets Jaunes, taking as their geographic formation par excellence that of the roundabout. A community, political, emotional space of solidarity. But also a political space, in its own way original and surprising. Why do the “jaunes” create topoi? Why is their geography configurative and emotional, one which cannot be simply mapped? What in the last resort, do the GJ want by occupying the limelight so persistently? Why do they do so and what are they aiming at?

Geography of the sacred: mystical literature as a source of knowledge. – The paper addresses the question whether mystical visions can offer a contribution to the knowledge of territories with regard to historical geography. The attention is limited to Christian mysticism, on which a rich literature is available, accompanied by in-depth critical analysis.
In several cases the authors provide us with significant details about the environment that is the background to episodes of sacred history, that is the geography of the Holy Land at the beginning of the 1st century. Without discussing the theological problems, the paper investigates the writings from two mystics almost a century apart, the German Anne Catherine Emmerick, a blessed nun of the 19th century and the Italian Maria Valtorta (died in 1961). These are examined in order to ascertain the validity of the geographical information contained therein and their originality with respect to the knowledge to their time.

La Geografia e il nuovo. – La Geografia, “condannata” all’oggi, al presente, da uno statuto disciplinare che la vorrebbe impegnata nella lettura del mondo qual è, mentre il mondo si restringe, si rattrappisce o, addirittura, si barrica nell’angustia dell’hic et nunc, si presta ad interpretarne le modificazioni. Mentre il mondo appare sempre più come la dilatazione del presente e come tale viene letto e interpretato, con la distanza annullata e l’altrove dismesso, la Geografia può, a buon diritto, rivendicare di essere il sapere più attrezzato per dare profondità di conoscenza all’incontro con il nuovo. Il presente contributo intende mostrare come, in particolare, la Geografia culturale sembri connettere bene il notum al novum, il mundus notus al mundus novus, a dar conseguenza, cioè, alla brama di sfondare il muro del tempo.

Per me la geografia è quella dei fiumi, della graduatoria dei più lunghi, dal Po all’Adige al Tevere. E i laghi, i più grandi: Garda, Verbano, Lario, Trasimeno...La geografia umana è un’altra cosa. Eppure la parola chiave è geo. Terra. La terra madre, Gea.

Abandonment, doubling, musealization: A Geography of the Grecanic Area from the 18th century to today. – The Grecanic Area occupies the most remote strip of the Ionian coast in Calabria. Since the beginning of the contemporary age, it has undergone a deep and steady process of depopulation which has led the original villages to different destinies. In this article, we investigate the case of Pentedattilo, a small village which after a permanent abandonment is now moving along a path of musealization, and two cases of “doubling”: Bova-Bova Marina and Africo-Africo Nuovo. While the first case concerns two villages still extant and playing a significant role for the entire area, the latter is a case in which the ancient village has disappeared. These three cases give us a spectrum of types within which we can include most other villages in the area. Specific focuses are then dedicated to the development of communication routes; to the main aspect of the Area’s identity, the Greko language; and to its most prestigious economic production, the bergamot.

A Political Geography of post-Ebola Guinea. – Alpha Condè has been elected on November 2010, in the second round of the first free elections of the Republic of Guinea and actually on his second term. The President face a structurally complex situation. He took power after dictatorial regimes of Sèkou Tourè and Lansana Contè, lasted half a century. During his first term, the terrible disaster of the outbreak of Ebola prevents him to meet his program. At the present stage, Condè gives a firm geographical orientation to the government action, both internally giving a decisive importance to the reification of the territory (chantiers), and internationally, pushing the opportunities offered by a globalitarian globalisation on the geopolitical plan.

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 Great War of Geography. – The First World War has been considered a turning point in the evolution of Italian geography. Following an unusual perspective this paper does not focus on the internal events of the discipline, but especially presents the implications of the very political and social transformations on it. Significant factors of the analyzed decisive historical period are therefore highlighted: the politicization of the discipline, the self-perception geographers had of their role, their relationship with ruling classes and with the public.

Geography of International Trade: An Empirical Analysis. – The development of economic relations between Italy and Egypt has ancient origins. However, recently researchers have focused their attention on opportunities and risks that have to face Italian firms operating in Egypt. This article is based on an empirical analysis of direct experience of Italian actors involved in internationalization strategies. The article, therefore, offers an original perspective on geography of trade between Italy and Egypt.

“Genuine” representations: an opportunity for geography or a new form of reductionism? – The increasing production of multiple and informal representations generated by large amount of available data and from several new kind of sources, it is the occasion to argue the relationships between the construction process of legitimacy and shared memory. It is underlined the role of geographical knowledge (both from cultural and neurological point of view) and the importance of geographer in order to distinguish different importance of individual representations from shared and common ones.
Regional development policies and spatial planning in Campania. Some reflections. – The article reconstructs just under half a century of studies, proposals and programs of the so-called policy of rebalancing, which is a set of policy decisions and actions, including successes and failures often, which marked the public intervention for development of the Campania‟s region in the establishment of the first regional government in 1971 until today. The first part is devoted to a comparison between the vision that the various planning documents give of regional planning regional and geographical reading of these same processes in their territorial dimension, proposing also part of the literature on the geography of urban development of the southern regions and, in particular, of Campania. The second part tries to give indications on the nature and causes of the regional gap and on which roads can be traveled to attempt, if not overcome, at least a reduction in the logic of policy of re-balancing.

Social organization in space: a case of scientific neighbourliness. – Sociology, as a general science of social relations and interactions, shares with geography a call to work as an accepted consolidation pivot for contributions coming from different fields.

After showing how space as a topic is seen from the micro- and macro-sociological perspectives, the paper is mostly devoted to the Author’s studies on regional small industry development in so-called “third Italy”.

The research methodology includes references to different disciplinary fields, the unifying perspective being the combination of four regulation mechanisms for local economy: market, organization, reciprocity, political exchange.

The same methodology is then applied to Torino, an industrial city undergoing deep transformation. This kind of analysis has proved itself useful when private and public actors were engaged in strategic planning for the city.

In the course of the time, the concept of «uncertainty» has been investigated from different points of view. The aim of this article is to provide an interpretational key of present territorial process – first of all starting off by the example of Rome town in the real estate market, to make a comparison with other Italian cities – basing on the idea of «geography of uncertainty». Such a conceptual formulation will be associated with uneven developments and oscillatory movements of modern occidental economy.

From Botero’s times until now every international system has always developed a geographical
knowledge, used in every nation or empire with different aims. Why? Because the geographical morphologies have been used in different ways through the History. This was the Reclus’ thought, taken from the Nouvelle géographie universelle. In that conviction he was keeping in mind both historical and technological evolution of the world. Geopolitics was born from each part of it, substituting the political geography in the last thirty years.