J-Reading / N.1 - 2018 by AIIG

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), Vol. 1, Year 7, June, 2018

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Contents Sirpa Tani, Hannele Cantell, Markus Hilander

Powerful disciplinary knowledge and the status of geography in Finnish upper secondary schools: Teachers’ views on recent changes Cristiano Pesaresi, Davide Pavia

Multiphase procedure for landscape reconstruction and their evolution analysis. GIS modelling for areas exposed to high volcanic risk Guy Mercier

Esquisse d’une théorie humaniste du lieu Giorgia Iovino

Urban regeneration strategies in waterfront areas. An interpretative framework Donatella Privitera, Sandro Privitera

Laboratory as experiment in field learning: An application in a touristic city

43 61 77

THE LANGUAGE OF IMAGES (Edited by Elisa Bignante and Marco Maggioli) Cristiano Giorda, Giacomo Pettenati

Visual geographies and mountain psychogeographic drift. The geography workshops of the Childhood and Primary Teachers Education course of the University of Turin

MAPPING SOCIETIES (Edited by Edoardo Boria) Laura Lo Presti

Maps In/Out Of Place. Charting alternative ways of looking and experimenting with cartography and GIS

105

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND (PRACTICAL) CONSIDERATIONS Bruno Ratti

Geographic Knowledge. Paradigm of Society 5.0

123

TEACHINGS FROM THE PAST (Edited by Dino Gavinelli and Davide Papotti) M. Aurousseau

The Geographical Study of Population Groups with comments by Maristella Bergaglio

129

Re-reading The Geographical Study of Population Groups by M. Aurousseau

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 5-16 DOI: 10.4458/0623-01

Powerful disciplinary knowledge and the status of geography in Finnish upper secondary schools: Teachers’ views on recent changes Sirpa Tani, Hannele Cantell, Markus Hilandera a

Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Email: sirpa.tani@helsinki.fi

Received: March 2018 – Accepted: April 2018

Abstract The article examines the status of geography education within Finnish upper secondary schools. During the past few years, there have been many reforms which have affected how much geography ought to be taught and the teaching methods for doing so. In this article, the general aims of the upper secondary geography and content of the compulsory geography course are analysed from the perspective of powerful disciplinary knowledge. The empirical data set was collected through an online survey, which was filled out by 63 Finnish geography teachers in September 2017. The results show that even though the compulsory course in geography was regarded as being important and student-oriented, teachers felt that there were too many geographical phenomena to teach and too many time-consuming digital methods to be used. Teachers highlighted the importance of critical reflection and geographical thinking in the aims of geography curriculum, and they had a positive attitude towards emphasis on current issues in the compulsory course. Many respondents expressed their concern about the fragmented character and the illogical structure of the course. The compulsory course has its focus on global risks and therefore, students have to study the consequences before the causes. The required information on physical and human geography is studied later in optional specialisation courses, which the respondents saw as a major problem. Overall, even when the aims of the curriculum support the ideas of powerful geographical knowledge relatively well, limited time for studies in geography threatens students’ access to powerful knowledge in geography education. Keywords: Curriculum, Geography Education, Geography Teachers, Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge, Upper Secondary School, Finland

1. Introduction What is the role and meaning of geography education for young people? Why do we – geographers and geography educators – think that “geography matters”? How do geography teachCopyright© Nuova Cultura

ers see the status of their subject in this day and age when many complex problems such as climate change need to be solved (or at least reacted to)? Teacher educators have to consider these questions carefully in the process of transform-

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ing their disciplinary knowledge into school education. We have found these questions to be especially relevant in Finland after several major changes which have affected the status of geography in our schools. It has been noted by many researchers how challenging it is to produce a reliable overview on the status of geography in different national settings (e.g. Brooks, Gong and Salinas-Silva, 2017). At the same time, the importance of data- and evidence-based studies of geography education (Bednarz, Heffron and Huynh, 2013) and the need for international comparative research (e.g. van der Schee, 2014) have been highlighted. We hope that our article, even when it is based only on one national context, could open up some ideas for conducting research on the same issues in other countries. In this article, our aim is to shed light on the current situation of geography education in Finland by analysing findings from a survey in which upper secondary geography teachers wrote about their views on what they considered to be the core of their subject. We will analyse the teachers’ ideas from the perspective of powerful disciplinary knowledge. To do that, we start by describing the Finnish educational context and the main changes that have occurred as background to this article. After that, there is a brief overview on the studies of powerful knowledge in geography education, followed by description of the data that have been gathered and the methods used. Results of the survey are then analysed from two perspectives: first, the main aims of the geography curriculum are described and teachers’ evaluations of these aims have been interpreted from the perspective of powerful knowledge and second, teachers’ views on the changes are interpreted from the perspective of the subject itself as well as its effects on teachers and students.

2. Geography education in Finland In Finland, national framework curricula are updated about every tenth year. Before the National Agency for Education starts the curriculum planning process of the curriculum, the Government decides how the lesson hours should be distributed between the range of subCopyright© Nuova Cultura

jects. In the framework curriculum, the value base of the education system and the main objectives and core content of subjects are defined. These are then applied and further developed by education providers, usually local authorities and the schools themselves, which draw up their own local curricula. The Finnish core curricula for basic education (grades 1 to 9) were last defined in 2014 and for general upper secondary schools in 2015. 2.1 General aims of the curriculum The educational aims that provide the base for the national framework curricula are designed to be applied in all school subjects. The relationship between these broader aims and discipline-based subjects has varied from time to time. In the current framework, the curriculum for Finnish upper secondary schools, underlying values that are mentioned include equality, equity, wellbeing and democracy. Students are regarded as active subjects in the learning process; their participation and agency should thus be emphasised (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016, p. 25). Skills and competencies have often been highlighted in education policy documents internationally; for example, in the so-called 21st century skills defined by the OECD, the importance of lifelong education has been stressed. These skills have been reasoned on the grounds of future life; that is, to be able to act effectively both at work and in leisure time, people are thought to need a new kind of flexibility and willingness to develop their capabilities during the course of their life (Ananiadou and Claro, 2008). Therefore, the 21st century skills are seen as important elements in school education. In Finland, recent trends in educational debates have included an emphasis on crosscurricular themes and problem-based learning to enhance students’ active role in constructing knowledge in collaboration with others. In the current framework curriculum for basic education, multidisciplinary learning modules are to be organised at least once a year for all the students, while for upper secondary students, integration is organised in the form of crosscurricular themes that are planned to for impleItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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mentation in school subjects but also in the thematic courses that every school must offer. These themes represent educational aims and challenges that have special social significance. The themes include (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016, p. 89): 

active citizenship, entrepreneurship, and the world of work,



well-being and safety,



sustainable way of life and global responsibility,



knowledge of cultures and internationality,



multiliteracy and the media, and



technology and society.

The majority of school lessons are organised within separate subjects. Some schools have piloted the organisation of their teaching in a cross-disciplinary way (Sahlberg, 2017). This has been noted in the international media: some misunderstandings about the current situation in Finnish schools have been emphasised and repeated. Perhaps it is relevant here to mention that Finnish schools have not scrapped discipline-based subjects (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2016). Nevertheless, the role of the subjects and their relationship to skills and competence are needed to be thought. 2.2 Recent changes in geography curriculum From the viewpoint of geography education, there were two major changes in the new curricula. Firstly, for primary schools, “geography” disappeared from the titles of the subjects: biology and geography had previously been taught as one subject for students in the 5th and 6th grades, while during the first four years, geography had been integrated with biology, physics, chemistry and health education in the subject called “Environmental and Natural Studies” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2004). In the current curriculum, geography has been integrated within the subject “Environmental Studies” during the first six years (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016). In lower secondary schools, geography kept its status as an individual subject. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

Secondly, the most dramatic changes occurred in the core curriculum for the upper secondary education: geography that had previously had two compulsory courses (on physical and human geography, respectively) and two national specialisation courses (one on the geography of global risks and another one on regional study). Now there is only one compulsory course and three national specialisation courses. The specialisation courses are such that every school has to offer them, but they are optional from the students’ perspective. The new compulsory course is entitled “The World in Change”. The main objectives of the course are defined from the student’s perspective: “...the student 

gathers experiences that deepen his or her interest in geography and the geographic way of perceiving and examining the world



recognises areas at risk in the world due to nature, human activities, and the interaction between nature and humans



understands what kind of risks occur in different areas of the world and which factors impact these



is able to compare and assess the susceptibility of different areas to risks and the impacts of the risks from the viewpoint of natural resources and development



knows what kind of solutions can be used in order to mitigate risks or alleviate their impacts, and is familiar with the possibilities for predicting and preparing for risks as well as for acting according to sustainable development



is able to analyse positive development in different areas in the world and the factors affecting it



understands that human activity affects the viability of the globe and the wellbeing of people



is able to use information and communication technology in acquiring, analysing, and presenting data on global issues, and to follow and evaluate criticalItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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ly current regional news in different media” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016, p. 146). The core contents of the compulsory course include 1) “geography as a field of science; 2) key global risk areas related to the system of nature, predicting and preparing for risks; 3) key global risk areas related to natural resources and the environment, mitigating, preparing for, and adapting to the risks; and 4) global risk areas and essential development questions of the humankind” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016). These contents and objectives were evaluated by the geography teachers who participated our study. At the same time as the curriculum reform, the matriculation examination (the national examination in the end of upper general education) has been undergoing a reform process, the aim of which is to digitalise the tests so that a range of materials can be used: video, images and audio with written texts are now included in the tasks and questions (Matriculation Examination Board, s.a.). Geomedia tools and resources are being introduced as a new set of skills for the first time both in the Finnish comprehensive school curriculum and in the Finnish upper secondary school curriculum. In the latter, geomedia are described as follows: “Versatile use of geomedia supports the student in acquiring, analysing, interpreting, and visually presenting geographic information. Geomedia refers to the versatile use of maps, geographical information system, diagrams, images, videos, literacy sources, media, oral presentations as well as other methods of acquiring and presenting geographic data” (Finnish National Board of Education 2015, p. 146). This is to say that in the Finnish context, geomedia is understood in a broader manner than just the geographic information system (GIS). Geography, German language studies and philosophy were the first subjects to change over to the new type of examination in September 2016. All the other subjects will follow, mathematics being the last one to follow the new system in spring 2019. The changes described above have caused considerable confusion among geography teachers in Finnish upper secondary schools. While the status of the subject changed quite drastically Copyright© Nuova Cultura

at the upper secondary level, teachers have been obliged to think again what the core of the subject is, and how they see its role in relation to other subjects and young people’s lives. For this article, we have analysed the feelings and thoughts that geography teachers have about the recent changes. The theoretical background for this analysis has been derived from the ideas of powerful knowledge and its applications in geography education.

3. Powerful knowledge and geography education The idea of “powerful knowledge” for this article is derived from the sociology of education, first introduced by Michael Young (2008; Young and Muller, 2010; 2016; Young et al., 2015), and later applied in other disciplines, such as history (Nordgren, 2017) and geography education (e.g. Lambert et al., 2015; Maude, 2016). In his writings, Young (2008) highlights the need for school education to offer young people knowledge that is beyond their everyday experience. In the context of geography education, powerful disciplinary knowledge has been described by Lambert (see Stoltman et al., 2015) as evidence-based, abstract and theoretical, part of a system of thought, dynamic, evolving and changing — but reliable, testable and open to challenge, sometimes counterintuitive, existing outside the direct experience of the teacher and the learner, and based on disciplinary thinking. It is worth mentioning here though that Young’s distinction between disciplinary and everyday knowledge can also be criticised, Roberts (2014; see also Butt, 2017) has argued that students’ everyday knowledge is an essential element in geography education and therefore their personal experiences should be taken into account. In the context of the GeoCapabilities project, Lambert et al. (2015) have identified three levels of powerful disciplinary knowledge in geography: a descriptive but also deep “world knowledge”; a critical conceptual knowledge that has explanatory power in enhancing relational understanding of some geographical ideas (such as nature/people, physical/social, local/global, etc.); and a propensity to think through alternative social, economic and enviItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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ronmental futures in spatial contexts (Lambert et al., 2015, p. 732). Lambert and his colleagues (e.g. Lambert et al., 2015; Uhlenwinkel et al., 2015) have avoided defining powerful geographical knowledge because, as Lambert (2016) has mentioned response to Slater and Graves (2016), there could be a risk to be applied too literally in designing aims and contents of geography curricula. What is important in Lambert’s conceptualisations of powerful disciplinary knowledge is the idea that all these levels of knowledge are needed to enhance young people’s access to powerful geographical knowledge. Alaric Maude (2016; 2017) approached powerful disciplinary knowledge from a more practical angle when he developed a typology to define powerful knowledge in the context of geography education. He based his typologies on Young’s definitions of powerful knowledge and reflected the above-described three-level description by Lambert and others. These two perspectives of powerful geographical knowledge are presented in Table 1. Maude (2017), after defining his five types of knowledge, then offers an example of how these ideas can be applied in teaching some of the contents defined in the Australian geography curriculum. Maude (2017, pp. 10-11) concludes his work by suggesting: “what the concept of powerful knowledge adds to geographical education is a way for teachers to identify the types of geographical knowledge that most contribute to the development of the intellectual powers, or capabilities, of their students. Furthermore, the concept could be a way of explaining the educational value of geography to non-geographers, including those who make decisions about our subject. This might also be powerful”. Béneker and Palings (2017) have used Maude’s typology to analyse Dutch student teachers’ essays on the role of geographical knowledge in their subject. They had noticed earlier that the Dutch student teachers did not pay much attention to what they would like to teach or what they thought their students should learn when thinking about their ideal geography education in their schools in the near future. Instead, the student teachers were eager to concentrate on pedagogical questions and pondering how to make their other colleagues to follow same types of pedagogical choices. The reason Copyright© Nuova Cultura

for this, according to Béneker and Palings (2017, p. 79) could probably be the strong role of the national curriculum and tests in defining the contents of teaching. In that context, disciplinary knowledge was easily regarded as secondary.

Lambert et al. (2015)

Maude (2016)

Deep & descriptive “world knowledge” (Level A)

Type 1. New ways of thinking about the world; meta-concepts (e.g. place, space, environment) to enhance geographical thinking

Relational understanding (geographical thinking on place/space, nature/ people, local/global, etc.); geographical thinking (Level B)

Type 2. Knowledge that provides students with powerful ways to analyse, explain and understand the world

Propensity to think through alternative social, economic, and environmental futures in specific place and locational contexts; critical thinking (Level C)

Type 3. Knowledge that gives students some power over their own geographical knowledge; how knowledge is developed and tested in the discipline Type 4. Knowledge that enables young people to follow and participate in debates on significant local, national and global issues Type 5. Knowledge of the world

Table 1. Definitions of powerful knowledge in the context of geography education. Source: Lambert et al., 2015 and Maude, 2016.

As the result of their analysis, Béneker and Palings (2017, p. 83) noted that two-thirds of their students mentioned Maude’s type 2 knowledge and half of them mentioned type 4 knowledge as important contents that students in secondary schools should learn in geography. Only one of the teacher students mentioned type 3 in the essay. Also, in Maude’s (2015) own analysis of the Australian curriculum, type 3 ofItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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ten seemed to be missing. He argues that technical skills have been overemphasised at the expense of critical thinking and methodological skills that could enhance young people’s answer to the question “how do you know” (Maude, 2015, p. 23). The earlier studies described above provide valuable material on which we will base our analysis. Even when our viewpoint is on geography teachers’ view of the status and contents of their subject – not in any detailed analysis of national curricula as was in the Australian case nor in teacher students and textbooks as was in the Dutch case – we will reflect our findings on these earlier studies. We believe that these different cases can help us understand the different roles geographical knowledge has in schools.

4. Data and method Material for this study was gathered with an electronic questionnaire, which was targeted at geography teachers working in upper secondary schools in Finland. Survey comprised some background questions and three main themes: first, teachers’ views on the status, role and contents of geography in upper secondary schools; second, their experiences and opinions of the digital matriculation examination; and, third, their ideas about the role and use of different teaching materials. For this article, the first of these themes has been analysed.

cation, the main aim of which is to work as a platform for sharing ideas and teaching materials. The group has about 1,500 members. We posted our request for volunteers to participate in our survey on 1 September 2017 and sent two reminders in the next ten days. A total of 63 teachers participated in our survey. The number is relatively small; there are about 400 upper secondary schools in Finland and many have more than one teacher qualified in geography. Despite this, the number of respondents was regarded as sufficient. There was an interesting mix of respondents considering their experience of teaching. Even though the social media (Facebook) group was used as the source of the data, many teachers with decades of teaching experience were reached: 60% of the respondents had worked as a geography teacher for 15 years or more (Figure 1). Categorisations based on the individual analyses of the data From the perspective of geography; Researcher 1 Teachers’ perspective; Students’ perspective From the perspective of geography; Students’ perspective; Researcher 2 Comparison to other subject and geography courses From the perspective of geography: structure, content; Researcher 3 Practical issues concerning teaching and studying; Students’ perspective Presentation of the results in this article From the perspective of geography Teachers’ perspective

Figure 1. Number of years the respondents had worked as a teacher.

Students’ perspective

General aims of the subject in relation to powerful geographical knowledge and teachers’ valuations of the aims; Teachers’ views on the content of the compulsory course Teachers’ views on the structure of the compulsory course and teaching methods Teachers’ views on how suitable the compulsory course is for first year upper secondary school students

Table 2. Categorisations based on the first round of the analysis; three researchers’ individual findings and the structure for the results presented in this article.

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The questionnaire consisted of both structured and open-ended questions. Investigator triangulation was used to start the analysis of the open-ended responses; that is, three researchers read all the answers, made first observations and first categorisations individually. Three ways to construct themes were found (Table 2), but there was also a remarkable similarity of the issues that had been identified. These were then discussed together by the investigators. In this article, we have described the respondents’ views on the recent changes in the status of geography education. We analysed their ideas about how the changes have touched their work and how students study. The main focus has been placed on their thoughts about the aims and contents of geography.

5. Results In this section, the results will be presented under three sub-themes. These themes consist of perspective of geography as a school subject, perspective of the teachers and perspective of the students. In addition, the section on the perspective of geography is divided into two parts; the general aims of upper secondary geography, and the content of the compulsory geography course. All these themes are based on the teachers’ views on the issue. 5.1 From the perspective of geography In the survey, teachers were asked to write about their views on the changes that geography had gone through in the recent changes to the national framework curriculum. The majority of the respondents (79%) regarded the change from two to one compulsory course as catastrophic; that is, some of them felt that the decision was “the kiss of death” for geography education. Some respondents argued that the decision was an indication of the blurred image of geography as an academic discipline and as a school subject for non-geographers. Next, their views on the general aims of the subject as well as their reactions to the new compulsory course will be analysed.

5.1.1

Teachers’ views on the aims of geography education

In the core curriculum, thirteen aims for the geography teaching and learning are listed. We asked respondents to pick five objectives that they regarded as being the most important. Table 3 (on next page) shows teachers’ answers, and the objectives classified according to the types of knowledge they represent. According to the teachers, the most valued aims expressed in the geography curriculum concerned critical reflection and geographical thinking skills. In addition, the ability to participate actively in society was highlighted quite often. Furthermore, among the five most often mentioned aims was the aim that can be connected to deep and descriptive geographical world knowledge (“Student is able to observe everyday environments as well as describe regional phenomena, structures, and interactions in nature and human activity”). That is, all three of Lambert and his colleagues’ levels of powerful disciplinary knowledge are represented in the first five aims that were mentioned by 48 per cent or more of the respondents. All the types defined by Maude are also included in the most valued aims of the subject. Compared to both Maude’s (2015) and Béneker and Palings’ (2017) findings, it seems that the Finnish curriculum places more emphasis on students’ critical thinking skills. However, some questions still remain concerning the levels and types of powerful disciplinary knowledge in geography education. For instance, do all of the general objectives of Finnish upper secondary geography represent powerful knowledge in the first place? For example, is the versatile use of geomedia to be understood as “deep world knowledge”? In Maude’s typology, the use of geomedia has certainly to do with acquisition and evaluation of geographic data. The same question applies to the aim in which the students are seen to use geographic knowledge and skills in their daily life. The last of the aims in Table 3 is related to Maude’s type 4. This is because the view of participation in society can be extended to knowing where geographers work and how they affect society via their work. Compared to Lambert and his colleagues’ levels, this aim is rather difficult to put Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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The objective of the teaching and learning of geography is that the student… (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016)

Number of teachers mentioning the objective among the 5 most important ones (n = 63)

Type of powerful geographical knowledge (Lambert et al., 2015)

Type of powerful geographical knowledge (Maude, 2016)

...is able to critically reflect on topical events in the world and the factors that affect them

50 (79%)

3: critical reflection; 4: topical events

...develops his or her geographic thinking skills and perceives the world and its diversity

47 (75%)

1: thinking skills; 5: world’s diversity

...acts as an active global citizen who takes a stance on local, regional, and global issues and promotes sustainable development

31 (49%)

4: participation in society

...is able to observe everyday environments as well as describe regional phenomena, structures, and interactions in nature and human activity

30 (48%)

2: regional interactions

...is able to observe and assess the status of natural and built environments, changes occurring in them as well as human well-being locally, regionally, and globally

30 (48%)

2 regional changes; 4 natural and built environments

...develops an interest in geographic data and is motivated to follow current events around the world

29 (46%)

3: geographic data; 4 current events

...understands, interprets, applies, and evaluates geographic data as well as utilises geomedia diversely in acquiring, analysing, and presenting data

28 (44%)

3: acquisition and evaluation of geographic data

...understands the meaning of regional development and is able to consider potential solutions for problems of inequality

27 (43%)

2: regional development; 4: consideration of solutions

...is able to use geographic knowledge and skills in daily life

14 (22%)

3: use of geographic knowledge

...understands the meaning of human rights, and appreciates cultural diversity

12 (19%)

5: cultural diversity

...is familiar with methods of regional planning and is able to participate and be involved in developing his or her immediate environment

8 (13%)

4: participation in society

...understands what is characteristic of geography as a field of science

1 (2%)

3: geography as a discipline

...knows which professions and work duties require geographic competence

1 (2%)

4: participation in society

Table 3. Teachers’ opinions on the importance of the main objectives of upper secondary geography in the Finnish national curriculum and types of powerful knowledge the objectives represent.

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in place. All these questions above have been marked with a question mark in Table 3. 5.1.2 Content of the compulsory geography course The teachers perceived that the current compulsory course is mainly built upon a former specialisation course from the previous curriculum entitled “A World of Hazards” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2003). However, there were differences of opinion about the ideal content of the new compulsory course; some of the respondents were longing for the former course on physical geography while some others would have preferred human geography to be defined as the compulsory course. One respondent was concerned about the similarities between the upper and lower secondary courses. Additionally, one teacher felt that the compulsory course in geography was too reminiscent of the two compulsory courses in biology. The teacher in question thought that the students would not learn thinking skills in natural sciences well enough because the curriculum emphasis was on different sorts of hazards and environmental problems. When considering the new, compulsory geography course entitled “The World in Change” (now the only one), the majority of respondents (69%) perceived its aims and content in general as being well-constructed. The themes of the course were seen as interesting and current for young people, and thus teaching was seen as being easy to plan and to be motivating and student-oriented. For instance, one teacher perceived that “it is a good thing that we can discuss the phenomena that appear in the news and media with the students during the course”. Some teachers also mentioned learning place names and using different geomedia as good perspectives in this course. However, even when the content of the course was seen as being important, many respondents (32%) expressed their concern about the fragmented character and the illogical structure of the course. In addition, some (11%) felt that there were too many topics and geographical phenomena to teach during one course. The teachers commented on this, for instance, as follow: “There are lots of things in one course and Copyright© Nuova Cultura

it may cause an information overload for the students especially when the contents are not taught very deeply”. 5.2

Teachers’ perspective

Because the compulsory course in geography was seen as being filled with many topics and, therefore, fragmented, what easily followed was the view that geographical phenomena are not taught profoundly. Many respondents (43%) underlined that this leads to a situation in which the consequences of geographical phenomena – such as climate change, tropical cyclones, and volcanic eruptions – are taught before their causes. For instance, one of the teachers wrote that “students do not know how rain or wind are generated but they should know how hurricanes affect different places on Earth”. This is also in contrast with the respondents’ most valued aim, that in the particular aim it is stated that students should be aware of geographical events in the world and “the factors that affect them” (Table 3). This can also be seen to affect the learning outcomes if students are not familiar with basic geographical concepts, theories, or causal connections. In addition to the problem of having too many topics, teachers described how a lot of time was spent using and practising with technological apparatus. For instance, some teachers (13%) wrote that making diagrams with computers can be challenging and time consuming. One teacher argued that “students have the impression that studying geography requires a great deal of expertise in statistics and technology”. This view is linked to the fact that the matriculation examination in geography is digitalised. For example, in September 2017, students were asked to draw a climate diagram using a computer based on material given out in the matriculation examination in geography. Some of the respondents compared geography exams to other subjects and argued how geography teachers had turned into ICT teachers who had to concentrate too much on technical issues at the expense of their own subject.

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5.3

Students’ perspective

Despite the many problems that the teachers identified in the present status of upper secondary geography, many of them highlighted motivational aspects of studying current global issues in the compulsory course. Many respondents mentioned that students were interested in the themes of the course. For instance, one teacher wrote: “This interesting course could be a gateway to deeper geography courses”. In addition, some teachers mentioned how the compulsory course offered students the opportunity to learn and study from their own perspective; for them, the learner-centred approach seemed important. Few respondents (3%) were concerned about the possibility that young people could find focus on hazards too heavy and depressing. For example, one of the teachers wrote that “hazard geography is not particularly suitable for 16year-olds because the course focuses on rather negative phenomena without any wider background knowledge”. Some teachers mentioned how the first geography course at the upper secondary school should spark students’ interest and motivate them to continue their studies by selecting voluntary specialisation courses in geography. In addition, some of the respondents (6%) were worried that the students’ geographic thinking skills were not yet at the level of comprehending the complexity and diversity of regional development. One teacher wrote: “Many of the students are not yet mature enough to adopt development issues properly. Their opinions are rather simple and black-and-white. It would be better to look at the diversity of development issues with the second-year students”. Nonetheless, one teacher estimated that the compulsory course in geography is more or less easy to pass and also student-centred.

6. Conclusion: Powerful knowledge in the upper secondary school? In this article, we have described and analysed the changes that Finnish upper secondary school geography has gone through during the past few years. Among other things, these changes include a decrease in the number of Copyright© Nuova Cultura

compulsory geography courses and a digitalisation of the matriculation examination in geography at the end of general upper secondary education. The majority of the teachers perceived the aims and content of the compulsory geography course in general as being well-constructed. In addition, the respondents thought that course to be important and student-oriented. However, the teachers felt that they were not able to teach about geographical phenomena – and especially their causes – deeply enough because of the lack of time. This was due to the reform of the upper secondary geography curriculum to comprise only one compulsory course in geography rather than two mandatory geography courses previously. This reform has naturally had its impact on the content of the current compulsory course. In addition, some teachers thought that the digital methods to be used during the course were too time-consuming. This view is related to the digitalisation of the matriculation examination at the end of the upper secondary school. Based on the respondents’ views, the most valued aims in Finnish upper secondary geography are expressed through students’ critical and geographical thinking skills such as reflecting on current geographical phenomena and the factors that affect them. According to Lambert et al. (2015), this type of powerful geographical knowledge has to do with the “propensity to think through alternative social, economic, and environmental futures in specific place and locational contexts”. This in turn is parallel to Maude’s (2016) typology in which this type of powerful geographical knowledge “enables young people to follow and participate in debates on significant local, national and global issues”. Although the teachers valued this sort of powerful knowledge in the Finnish upper secondary geography education the most, it seems to be challenging to fulfil these aims in practice because many teachers felt that the content of the compulsory course is fragmented and illogical and because of the limited time for studying geography. The data set for this article was gathered only one year after a curriculum change. Until then, Finnish geography teachers had a tradition of teaching upper secondary geography courses in Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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a long-established way: the first course had been on physical geography and the second on human geography. The new curriculum of 2015 and its compulsory course of geography has meant a considerable change in teachers’ thinking about geography as a subject; the change has made them reflect on their own habits of teaching geography. In its mid-term review in 2017, the Government decided to reform the general upper secondary education in Finland. One of the aims is to “enhance the quality of education and learning outcomes”, which will be done by making some changes to the framework curriculum (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2018). The number of the compulsory courses for geography will not be increased, but there is an opportunity to re-think the aims and contents of the subject once again. The atmosphere of change and the strong feeling that geography has been weakened as a subject probably had an influence on the respondents’ answers. It would be important and also interesting to gather new data a few more years after this change: Have the teachers succeeded in planning and implementing the compulsory course to be attractive and solid, and even more importantly, what feedback have students started to give? What knowledge should geography education offer to them? Does geography still matter then?

References 1. Ananiadou K. and Claro M., “21st Century Skills and competences for New Millennium learners in OECD countries”, OECD Education Working Papers, 41, 2008. 2. Bednarz S.W., Heffron S. and Huynh N.T., (Eds.), A Road Map for 21st Century Geography Education: Geography Education Research, Report from the Geography Education Research Committee of the Road Map for 21st Century Geography Education Project, Washington, DC, Association of American Geographers, 2013. 3. Béneker T. and Palings H., “Student teachers’ ideas on (powerful) knowledge in geography education”, Geography, 102, 2, 2017, pp. 79-85.

4. Brooks C., Butt G. and Fargher M. (Eds.), The power of geographical thinking, Cham, Springer, 2017. 5. Brooks C., Gong Q. and Salinas-Silva V., “What next for Geography Education? A perspective from the International Geographical Union – Commission for Geography Education”, Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 6, 1, 2017, pp. 5-15. 6. Butt G., “Debating the place of knowledge within geography education: reinstatement, reclamation or recovery?”, in Brooks C., Butt G. and Fargher M. (Eds.), The power of geographical thinking, Cham, Springer, 2017, pp. 13-26. 7. Finnish National Agency for Education, “Subject teaching in Finnish schools is not being abolished”, 2016, http://www.oph.fi/english/current_issues/10 1/0/subject_teaching_in_finnish_schools_is_ not_being_abolished. 8. Finnish National Board of Education, National core curriculum for general upper secondary schools 2003, Helsinki, Finnish National Board of Education. 9. Finnish National Board of Education, National core curriculum for basic education 2004, Helsinki, Finnish National Board of Education. 10. Finnish National Board of Education, National core curriculum for basic education 2014, Helsinki, Finnish National Board of Education. 11. Finnish National Board of Education, National core curriculum for general upper secondary schools 2015, Helsinki, Finnish National Board of Education. 12. Lambert D., “A response to Graves and Slater”, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 25, 3, 2016, pp. 192-193. 13. Lambert D., Solem M. and Tani S., “Achieving human potential through geography education: a capabilities approach to curriculum making in schools”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105, 4, 2015, pp. 723-735. 14. Matriculation Examination Board, “Digital matriculation examination”, 2018, https://www.ylioppilastutkinto.fi/en/matricul

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15.

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20. 21. 22.

ation-examination/digital-matriculationexamination. Maude A., “What is powerful knowledge and can it be found in the Australian geography curriculum?”, Geographical Education, 28, 2015, pp. 18-26. Maude A., “What might powerful geographical knowledge look like?”, Geography, 101, 2016, pp. 70-76. Maude A., “Geography and powerful knowledge: a contribution to the debate”, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 2017. Ministry of Education and Culture, “Reform of general upper secondary education”, 2018, http://minedu.fi/en/reform-of-generalupper-secondary-education. Nordgren K., “Powerful knowledge, intercultural learning and history education”, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 49, 5, 2017, pp. 663-682. Roberts M., “Powerful knowledge and geographical education”, The Curriculum Journal, 25, 2, 2014, pp. 187-209. Sahlberg P., FinnishED leadership: four big, unexpensive ideas to transform education, Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwing, 2017. Slater F. and Graves N., “Geography and powerful knowledge”, International Re-

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search in Geographical and Environmental Education, 25, 3, 2016, pp. 189-192. Stoltman J., Lidstone J. and Kidman G., “Powerful knowledge in geography: IRGEE editors interview professor David Lambert, London Institute of Education, October 2014”, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 24, 1, 2015, pp. 1-5. van der Schee J., “Looking for an international strategy for geography education”, Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 3, 1, 2014, pp. 9-13. Young M., “From constructivism to realism in the sociology of the curriculum”, Review of Research in Education, 32, 1, 2008, pp. 132. Young M., Lambert D., Roberts C. and Roberts M., Knowledge and the future school: curriculum and social justice, London, Bloomsbury, 2014. Young M. and Muller J., “Three educational scenarios for the future: lessons from the sociology of knowledge”, European Journal of Education, 45, 1, 2010, pp. 11-27. Young M. and Muller J., Curriculum and the specialization of knowledge: studies in the sociology of education, London, Routledge, 2015.

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Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 17-41 DOI: 10.4458/0623-02

Multiphase procedure for landscape reconstruction and their evolution analysis. GIS modelling for areas exposed to high volcanic risk Cristiano Pesaresi, Davide Paviaa

a Dipartimento di Scienze documentarie, linguistico-filologiche e geografiche, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy Email: cristiano.pesaresi@uniroma1.it

Received: April 2018 – Accepted: May 2018

Abstract This paper – focussed on the province of Naples, where many municipalities with a huge demographic and building density are subject to high volcanic risk owing to the presence of the Campi Flegrei (Phlegrean Fields) caldera and the Somma-Vesuvius complex – highlights the methodological-applicative steps leading to the setting up of a multiphase procedure for landscape reconstruction and their evolution analysis. From the operational point of view, the research led to the: (1) digitalisation, georeferencing and comparison of cartographies of different periods of time and recent satellite images; (2) elaboration and publication of a multilayer Story Map; (3) accurate vectorisation of the data of the buildings, for each period of time considered, and the use of kernel density in 2D and 3D; (4) application of the extrusion techniques to the physical aspects and anthropic structures; (5) production of 4D animations and film clips for each period of time considered. A procedure is thus tested made up of preparatory sequences, leading to a GIS modelling aimed at highlighting and quantifying significant problem areas and high exposure situations and at reconstructing the phases which in time have brought about an intense and widespread growth process of the artificial surfaces, considerably altering the features of the landscape and noticeably showing up the risk values. In a context characterised by land use conflicts and anomalous conditions of anthropic congestion, a diagnostic approach through images in 2D, 3D and 4D is used, with the aim to support the prevention and planning of emergencies, process damage scenarios and identify the main intervention orders, raise awareness and educate to risk, making an impact on the collective imagination through the enhancement of specific geotechnological functionalities of great didactic interest. Keywords: 4D Animations, Building Density, Georeferencing, GIS Modelling, Kernel Density, Multilayer Story Map, Multiphase Procedure, Naples Province, Three-dimensional Representations, Volcanic Risk

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1. Aims of the research and features of the study area This work, focussed on the province of Naples – from 1st January 2015 Metropolitan city of Naples, as set down by Act No. 56 of 7th April 2014 – pursues a number of aims which can be summarised in the points below1. - Identify reference periods and highly explanatory cartographic sources to produce, by means of accurate georeferencing, elaborations that make it possible to reconstruct the main physical-morphological and anthropic aspects of different periods of time. - Highlight, with special effects and the overlay of layers, the dynamics leading to the present urban-settlement structure, stressing the risk values and possible losses. - Create a multilayer analysis environment aimed at territorial screening with an interdisciplinary approach, for both provincial and sub-provincial scale analysis whereby to recognise macroaggregates blended together in a one off with no empty spaces, and studies on a local scale to emphasise dynamics and specific cases of singular atypicalness. - Share and circulate the results obtained with web applications and Story Maps that make it possible to reach a vast and mixed range of users and which can be easily consulted, drawing from this for interesting inputs in didactic-educational terms too. - Quantify the differences, with functionalities of spatial and temporal analysis, and recognise the phases of greatest demographic and building growth, returning significant representations of these. - Produce a GIS modelling which by extrusion makes it possible to three-dimensionally represent the contexts in question and to define suitable damage scenarios on the basis of

buildings’ end use, the values of the area and volume and economic parameters. - Apply specific functionalities and overlay of layers to the two-dimensional and threedimensional models to maximise the level of deductible information for rational emergency planning and management. - Produce 4D animations and film clips that make it possible to match the accuracy of the research with a strong aesthetic-figurative impact, also with the purpose of creating a strong active involvement by the population and institutions and to move towards a widespread communication of and awareness to risk. These aims were drawn up in consideration of the specific features of the study area from a number of perspectives regarding for example the following aspects2. 1. The presence of two volcanic systems, two “fires” that grip the city of Naples and expose the population of many municipalities to high risk and potential dramatic consequences should any eruptive activity begin. This refers to: the Campi Flegrei caldera, generated following highly explosive eruptions and characterised by a series of monogenic cones situated in a context of deep collapses; and the Somma-Vesuvius complex, distinguished by the compresence of Monte Somma – older and broken up for the most part – and Vesuvius, conical in shape and partially surrounded by the remains of Monte Somma, giving the peculiar fence aspect. In particular, the Campi Flegrei were the protagonists in two terrifying eruptions, the Campanian Ignimbrite (about 39,000 years ago; VEI=7) and the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (about 15,000 years ago; VEI=6), both responsible for far-reaching land upheavals (Lirer, Luongo and Scandone, 1987; Orsi and Zollo, 2013). In the last 10,000 years, other explosive eruptions from different cones have been recorded, while the last eruption – the only one widely documented in the historical period3 – occurred in 1538 and was a moder-

This work is the result of the activities conducted and the elaborations produced in the context of the Projects “GIS4RISKS. Synergic use of GIS applications for analysing volcanic and seismic risks in the pre and post event” and “3D and 4D Simulations for Landscape Reconstruction and Damage Scenarios. GIS Pilot Applications”, both funded by the Sapienza University of Rome and of which Cristiano Pesaresi is the Scientific Responsible. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

For an in-depth examination of these aspects, see Pesaresi and Pavia, 2017a. 3 The event at the Solfatara in 1198 could be added, which has been defined “at most a minor phreatic exploItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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ate event which led to the formation of Monte Nuovo and marked the beginning of a long phase of quiescence (Bianchi et al., 1987; Del Gaudio et al., 2010; Scandone and Giacomelli, 2013). Since this last eruption, some relevant vertical ground movements have been recorded and the most worrying uplift episodes occurred in 1970-1972 and 19821985, provoking also tangible and questionable building construction works (Gasparini, 2013; Luongo, 2013), always in zones highly exposed to eruptive phenomenologies. The Somma-Vesuvius history has been marked by events considerably different in intensity, heights of the generated columns and typology of emitted products, and in the historical period a large number of eruptions and peculiar cycles occurred (Santacroce et al., 2008; Pesaresi, van der Schee and Pavia, 2017). While the eruption of 79 A.D. has been the strongest of the last 2,000 years (VEI=5-6), the eruption of 1631 (VEI=4) is very important for the interpretation of possible precursory phenomena (Rosi, Principe and Vecci, 1993; Rolandi, Barrella and Borrelli, 1993) also because it is considered the reference scenario in terms of civil protection and organization of possible emergency and evacuation operations. In short, infrequent explosive events happened during the period from 79 A.D. to 1631, which represents the last sub-Plinian event, while from 1631 to 1944, when the last eruption was recorded, Vesuvius was characterised by persistent and peculiar activity with a series of short and mild explosive and longer effusive eruptions (Scandone, Giacomelli and Gasparini, 1993; Scandone, Giacomelli and Fattori Speranza, 2008). 2. The fragility and atypicalness of the settlement condition, owing to the explosive values of demographic density and the impressive and anomalous amount of artificial surfaces. Furthermore, if compared to the other provinces of the Campania region, the Naples province (with a population density of 2,591 inhabitants/Km2 and the highest value in Italy) appears as a peerless “magnet” and along sion” (Scandone, D’Amato and Giacomelli, 2010, p. 202). Copyright© Nuova Cultura

the coastal zone and the hinterland a unique huge offshoot which has its origin in Naples city has developed towards all directions (Pesaresi, van der Schee and Pavia, 2017, pp. 135-136). Above all in the last two decades, signs of demographic re-dimensioning have been seen in some municipalities exposed to high risk in the Vesuvius area, but this has instead not happened in the municipalities more subject to risk in the Phlegrean area. Moreover, this has often just consisted in a phenomenon of redistributing the population towards other nearby municipalities, which have thus been subject to increased exposure values (Pesaresi and Scandone, 2013). Furthermore, the artificial surfaces and building density continue to generally increase, creating situations of exacerbated overcrowding and compression of spaces (Pesaresi and Marta, 2014), significantly altered, damaged and characterised by incumbent environmental issues and inadequate usage and management (Pollice, 2009). Endless rows of buildings, the encroaching of one municipality onto another, astonishing growth of the overall settlement fabric thus connote a context that is increasingly more saturated and chaotic (D’Aponte, 2005; Gasparini, 2005; La Foresta, 2005; Leone, 2013). All this becomes more evident in a province than can boast a first-order historical-cultural-artistic heritage, where the archaeological areas of Pompeii and Herculaneum stand out, where it is possible to dive into the daily life of two millennia ago, which was suddenly interrupted and at the same time preserved by the flows and deposits of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. This increases the levels of risk even more so with respect to the possible losses and leads one to reflect on the imbalances, the conflicts regarding the land use, the frequent situations of neglect that have come about in time and often appear to be unequivocal. 3. The different pieces of research which were carried out to evaluate the exposure and the level of hazard and risk in the area surrounding Vesuvius and the Phlegrean Fields, using various functionalities, numerical simulations and by producing accurate GIS applications, in order to consider the various parameters Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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and to study the territory in its diversified interrelated components. For example, for the Naples province, GIS have been used to assess the volcanic risk integrating the hazard maps with the urbanization maps (Alberico et al., 2002) or with the exposure maps based on the economic value of structures possibly exposed (Alberico, Petrosino and Lirer, 2011), and events with different volcanic explosivity index were considered. GIS have been also used to evaluate the “social risk” due to volcanic eruptions obtained combining the demographic risk per number of inhabitants, the demographic risk per population density, and the infrastructural risk per number of houses (Pesaresi et al., 2008). Moreover, GIS have been used to simulate, in case of eruption, the seismic damage scenario and the buildings collapsed, the damage distribution due to ash fall, the pyroclastic flows impact and the cumulative damage distribution after the pyroclastic flows (Zuccaro et al., 2008). And then GIS models have been defined for volcanic hazard prediction (Renschler, 2005) while numerical simulations – using a 3D flow model based – were applied to represent a possible eruptive column collapse and a consequent pyroclastic density current scenario (Esposti Ongaro et al., 2008) and to provide the 4D dynamics of explosive events and their distribution and evolution (Neri et al., 2007). Other methodological and applicative contributions have used GIS as founding elements to propose interdisciplinary models, in order to harmonize the technical-physics approach with the anthropic-social one in integrated research, and to conduct synoptic and diachronic screening useful for risk management and awareness, for emergency planning and the detection of specific problems (Pesaresi and Lombardi, 2014; Pesaresi, van der Schee and Pavia, 2017).

2. The methodological-applicative steps of the research

conducted with ArcGIS Desktop, and relative extensions (among which first of all ArcGIS 3D Analyst and ArcGIS Spatial Analyst), and ArcGIS Pro. During the different phases, a powerful and integrated geodatabase built as the pivotal part of the system was continuously expanded, updated and integrated. Data and information – quantitative, qualitative, spatial, from geoportals, cartographic, satellite and technical works, Digital Terrain Model (DTM), Digital Surface Model (DSM) etc. – flowed into the geodatabase coming from numerous sources and linked with the same reference systems and geographic coordinates to produce a waterfall of digital elaborations at various geographical scales, in 2D, 3D and 4D, where moreover historical cartography, recent satellite images and ad hoc functionalities hook up together to give back distribution patterns and evolutive trends. The consequentially defined set of steps has made it possible to work with a GIS modelling, making it possible to move as if carrying out territorial diagnostics by images, functionally to the applied research of a geographical-interdisciplinary nature.

2.1 First step: digitalisation, georeferencing and comparison of cartographies of different periods of time and recent satellite images The first step consisted in a series of operations of digitalisation and georeferencing of cartographies of different periods of time and recent satellite images, in visible light and false colours, to then be able to carry out a rigorous overlapping and comparison of the layers. As reference cartographies, the following were selected: the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli Levata per ordine di S.M. Ferdinando I: Re del Regno delle due Sicilie dagli uffiziali dello Stato Maggiore e dagl’ ingegneri topografi negli anni 1817. 1818. 1819.” (updated to the early 1860s)4 and the “Tavolette” of the Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM) dating back to the mid-1950s. With regard to the recent satellite images, reference was made to the or4

Owing to its aesthetic importance and accuracy, such work can in fact be considered a cartographic support of fundamental importance in the research regarding the Bourbon Kingdom during the nineteenth century (Valerio, 1995; Conti, 2005). Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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thorectified images of the Geoportale Nazionale in visible light, along with the ArcGIS basemaps, and images in false colours of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sentinel 2â&#x20AC;?. In this way three ages of reference were identified (nineteenth century, mid-1950s, up until today) supported by cartographies of a high level of quality, contents and geographical information and by high resolution satellite images. The comparative analysis of the layers (Figure 1), in terms of macroaggregates, made it possible to identify four main areas of uncontrolled building development, made up of (1) the coastal zone, (2) the Phlegrean area, (3) the municipalities surrounding the northern side of Monte Somma and (4) the municipalities developed to the north of Naples. In these cases, the levels of building density has exploded like wildfire, creating evident situations of coalescence and connection among neighbouring municipalities. In order to facilitate the combined visualisation of georeferenced materials, the swipe effect was used, applied north-southwards and west-eastwards on different associations of layers, so as to observe the changes that have taken place in a progressive and detailed way. Focussing the attention in particular on the coastal zone facing Vesuvius and on the Phlegrean area, since they are vitally important

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in terms of hazard and volcanic risk, it was possible to recognise specific dynamics and local peculiarities for each single municipality and the level of detail of the reconstruction of the dynamics has increased thus corroborating the information to be gleaned from the layers with the demographic census data (starting from the first data collection, going back to 1861). Therefore, for each municipality four sets of elaborations were produced with the same scale and the same technical features and graphic layout, operating with the interpretation of images and analysis of statistical data (Figure 2). Moreover, the integrated use of cartography and satellite images in a GIS environment makes it possible to develop a powerful synergy among different sources since, for example by using transparency effects, the satellite images are enriched with the symbols and placenames deriving from the cartography and thus become more communicative and easy to interpret. In this way, the information referred to the cartography is automatically transmitted to the satellite images, considerably increasing their explanatory power and it is possible to move towards a very efficient language of images, which are gathered in a geo-informatics dialoguing system.

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Figure 1. Application of the swipe effect onto the coastal zone facing Vesuvius: between the recent satellite images in visible light and the IGM “Tavolette” (above). Application of the swipe effect onto the Phlegrean area: between the recent satellite images in false colours and the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” (below). Source: Authors’ elaboration. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Figure 2. The municipality of Ercolano (Resina until 1969) in the XIX century (above left), in the mid-1950s (above right), to its present state in the satellite images in visible light (below left) and in the satellite images in false colours (below right). Source: Authorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; elaboration.

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Cristiano Pesaresi, Davide Pavia

2.2 Second step: elaboration and publication of a multilayer Story Map The second step consisted in developing and publishing a multilayer Story Map (https://geosapienza.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Story tellingSwipe/index.html?appid=267e4b2118d34 a16978fc03d6578ea53; translated in English at https://geosapienza.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Storytell ingSwipe/index.html?appid=e0598d2af3664414a8 853e3c042fb55a), able to highlight the results obtained and to enhance, in an integrated way, the huge quantity of cartographic and satellite materials used and georeferenced. The Story Maps – constructed according to appropriate modalities, objectives and contents – in fact make it possible to share some themes and results of the research on the web and to attract the attention of a great number of people, above all young people who are otherwise difficult to reach, thus making inroads into their collective imagination by using means and systems congenial to them. As the basic template, spyglass was chosen for this purpose, which makes it possible to move a lens, above the recent satellite images in visible light, that shows the other layer zone by zone, represented by the mosaic of the IGM “Tavolette”, so as to facilitate the tem-

poral comparison and an accurate analysis of the changes and main lines of development over the almost sixty year period intervening (Figure 3A). A link was associated to this main elaboration – which represents the matrix of the multilayer application produced – leading to a second possibility of visualisation. In this case, the swipe effect was used to be able to consult the IGM “Tavolette” superimposing them onto the satellite images in false colours, where the cold shades of the blue and grey emphasise the builtup areas (Figure 3B). In this way integrative information can be gathered in preparation for the territorial screening, to be conducted in a distributive and evolutive way. Moreover, in order to embrace the entire time span and add additional pieces, another link was associated with the main elaboration which leads to a third possibility of consultation. The spyglass was then used once more, this time between the recent satellite images in visible light and the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” (Figure 3C). So, it is possible to observe and evaluate the radical transformations recorded in physical-morphological (considering that Vesuvius was very active) and urbanisticsettlement terms in the long period.

Figure 3. The multilayer Story Map. Here (A), the spyglass makes it possible to move a lens, above the recent satellite images in visible light, that shows the other layer represented by the mosaic of the IGM “Tavolette”. [continued on the next page]

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[continued from the previous page] Above (B), the swipe effect makes it possible to consult the IGM “Tavolette” superimposing them onto the satellite images in false colours. Below (C), the spyglass makes it possible to move a lens, above the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…”, showing the other layer represented by the recent satellite images in visible light. Source: Authors’ elaboration.

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Cristiano Pesaresi, Davide Pavia

2.3 Third step: accurate vectorisation of the data of the buildings, for each period of time considered, and the use of kernel density in 2D and 3D The third step consisted in the accurate vectorisation of the data of the buildings in the three periods of reference and in the application of the kernel density function to translate the visual information into specific data and quantify the transformations. In this way it was possible to pass from a phase of detailed analysis and visual interpretation to a phase of “generation” of numerical data aimed at measuring the entity of the changes. It was calculated that: from the mid1950s onwards the province of Naples more than doubled its building density, while from the period of the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” to the realisation of the Carta Tecnica Regionale (1998)5 – used to obtain the vectoral data of the buildings – such increase was about six-fold. Furthermore, the cartographic result obtained gave significant images which even on a provincial scale make it possible to immediately see the areas of strong concentration and high building density, on the basis of a specific division into classes. These classes were in fact maintained homogenous for each elaboration produced (for the nineteenth century, the mid-1950s, and for the present situation according to the Carta Tecnica Regionale) as far as concerns the number of classes, their extent and relative colours. This step makes it possible to “extrapolate” additional information and quantitative data from the traditional cartography which is turn can be represented in another modality, able to return a highly explicative integrative image, both in contents and aesthetic performance. From a comparative point of view on a temporal scale, significant information can be gathered with this step which would otherwise remain “hidden” and unusable, and furthermore very detailed spatial and temporal analyses can be conducted.

from which it is derived6 and then such elaborations (produced with ArcGIS Desktop) were imported in ArcGIS Pro, so as to be able to use a dual possibility of 2D and 3D visualisation (Figure 4). This considerably increases the quantity of information that can be gathered and the three-dimensional scenario combines a remarkable figurative effect with the accuracy of the research. In environments exposed to high risk, a three-dimensional representation of the physicalmorphological features gives a significant added value to better understand the dynamic of the past eruptions and with a view to pre-event simulations allows the identification of those elements that could facilitate or hinder the spread of flow phenomena.

2.4 Fourth step: application of the extrusion techniques to the physical aspects and anthropic structures for a three-dimensional modelling The fourth step consisted in applying extrusion techniques and modalities first of all to the physical aspects of the ground and then to the anthropic structures, so as to unite the threedimensionality of the morphological features to the three-dimensionality of the buildings (residential, commercial, industrial etc.) actually existing. This phase required the synergy of a number of blended sources to reach, as the product of outputs, a synthetic reconstruction of the building modelled on topographic and orographic features. These elaborations are highly communicative and contain a patrimony of data and information, since for each building it is possible to know the end use and, by means of appropriate queries, the volume, area and perimeter.

Being able to count on a harmonious and interconnected GIS environment, the kernel density function was applied directly above the image 6

At the time of the analysis, the 1998 CTR was the most recent available in vectoral format.

For the image referring to the present situation the kernel density function derived from the Carta Tecnica Regionale was applied above the recent satellite images in visible light to further increase the aesthetic effect and its communication capacity. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Figure 4. Application of the kernel density function – to represent the building density – superimposed onto the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” (above), the IGM “Tavolette” (centre) and the recent satellite images in visible light (below). Source: Authors’ elaboration.

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A three-dimensional modelling is thus achieved for the analysis of the buildings and the socio-economic damage scenarios, which can be loaded onto a basemap that confers further levels of information concerning for example the contour lines (isoipsas), the road practicability and the connections to be used in the case of preventive evacuation, for a summary representation supporting the relational investigations among the numerous components and the different areas (Figure 5). A similar modelling has an important role also from the point of view of the health-epidemiological scenarios, as the involvement and explosion of certain facilities, such as industries with polluting substances, petrol stations, hospitals with dangerous or highly infectious waste, tips etc. could trigger the release of very harmful substances into the atmosphere there and then or in the long term. These elaborations, of great scenographic impact (above all when realised with ArcGIS Pro which increases the aesthetic effect), thus carry out high level functions also in terms of territorial planning, prevention and the management of possible emergencies, and support experimental analyses of interdisciplinary interest and social usefulness.

2.5 Fifth step: production of 4D animations and film clips for each period of time considered The fifth step led to the production of animations and film clips for each period considered, giving a privileged bird’s eye view over the province of Naples. In particular, these 4D animations were set (with the same shrewdness) on the three-dimensional elaborations produced in the third step after importing them in ArcGIS Pro and thus concern: the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” (Bourbon cartography) with the relative kernel density elaboration superimposed (Figure 6); the IGM “Tavolette” with the relative kernel density elaboration superimposed (Figure 7); the recent satellite images in visible light with the kernel density elaboration superimposed, derived from the Carta Tecnica Regionale (Figure 8). This makes it possible – during the flight – to focus the attention on the areas characterised by a Copyright© Nuova Cultura

greater building density, and by repeating the flight for each period of time it is possible to observe the notable transformations recorded in time, recognise the main trajectories and areas of building density and see important details at physical-morphological and settlement level, on the basis of a dynamic and engaging modality. The final result is a meticulous reconstruction of the landscapes and the reproduction of a virtual journey in time, made by means of applications that faithfully retrace everything to be found on the territory. In areas exposed to high volcanic risk similar animations and footage can play a very important role at the level of scientific research, strategic planning and analysis of the critical issues and active didactics, focussed on representation modalities with high educational contents that catch the attention and arouse interest in geotechnological applications and the problems affecting specific contexts.

3. The five steps from a technical point of view The following paragraphs give a brief synthesis of the single operations carried out by this research, examining the tools, the technical aspects and procedures used for every step. The research workflow was designed according to the input availability, its properties and features, along with the accessibility of the application licenses and extensions. Owing to the huge dimension of the study area surface (more than 1.000 Km2), the following geoprocessings were executed in batches with Python scripts.

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3.1 First step: digitalisation, georeferencing and comparison of cartographies of different periods of time and recent satellite images

other areas, enough to transform the image with the “Spline” algorithm, which transforms the source control points exactly to target control points.

Due to the size of the sheets, the historical cartography was scanned with a roller scanner7 at a resolution of 300 dpi, suitable for finding the control points at larger scales in the following georeferencing phase.

Before saving the georeferencing results, the control point links were saved in a text file to memorize their position and root mean square error. Once the images were georeferenced, a mosaic dataset was created for the two historical cartographies, of which the images were clipped to the province of Naples and balanced in brightness and colours.

Depending on the historical cartography characteristics, a different georeferencing method was applied for every period. Thanks to the presence of the vertex coordinates, the IGM’s “Tavolette” were georeferenced by typing the first four control points values: thus, the image shifted to its closely real position, easing the research of the remaining control points on the underlying satellite basemap; every image was georeferenced with 10 control points with a 2nd order polynomial transformation that scaled, rotated and curved the raster dataset. On the contrary, georeferencing the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” posed several problems: while a sheet of the mid-1950s cartography represents an average surface of 96 Km2, the Bourbon one displays three times as much (about 315 Km2); moreover, the landscape changes that occurred over almost two hundred years are so important that the recognition of the control points between the historical and contemporary layer is barely possible. To honour the georeferencing standard of maximum distribution of the control points around the study area, a 30-cell fishnet was thus superimposed on every image in order to focus the research on a smaller area; in some of these cells, the research was concentrated on the few categories that still remain untouched today, such as the noble properties, the ancient hamlets and the churches8. Except for the cells that overlaid natural areas (i.e. sea, woods, mountains, orchards etc.), a control point was placed in the 7

Scanner A0 Colorscan Smart Xpress, property of the GeoCartographic Laboratory (Department of Document studies, Linguistics, Philology and Geography), Sapienza University of Rome. 8 To focus on the topic georeferencing, see i.e. Dainelli et al., 2008, pp. 31-37; Favretto, 2000, pp. 97-101; Fantozzi, 2013; Pesaresi, 2017, pp. 31-32 and 195-234. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

3.2 Second step: elaboration and publication of a multilayer Story Map Furthermore, so as to share the contents of the research with a wider audience (population, people from other places, local institutions etc.), the datasets were published and embedded in some ESRI Story Maps (parts of a same multilayer Story Map), a server-side application that embeds the client contents in a ready-made layout. The main Story Map represents, in a spyglass layout, the IGM “Tavolette” mosaic dataset and the natural colour satellite basemap; for this and all the other related Story Maps, the mosaic datasets were published as a tile layer service to the ArcGIS Online server, caching the data from a display scale of 1:577.790 to one of 1:2.256: these values represent the 10th and the 18th levels of the ArcGIS Online / Bing Maps / Google Maps tiling scheme, which leads the client content to perform a faster overlay with online basemaps. The published service was then added to a new web map, superimposing a natural colour satellite basemap. The swipe Story Map collects three different web maps: the natural colour satellite basemap and the IGM “Tavolette” mosaic ones, together with the one representing the province of Naples with the false colours satellite image, composed of the combination of three “Sentinel 2” bands (8,3,2), resulting in a new multiband raster dataset.

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The last of the three Story Maps represents, in a spyglass layout, many municipalities9 of the Somma-Vesuvius area in: the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” mosaic dataset; the administrative boundaries layer (symbolized in dark red); the natural colour satellite basemap. Before the publishing of the service, the Bourbon cartography mosaic dataset was clipped to the study area with a mask created from the dissolving of the municipalities’ polygons together. Once the web maps were created, the Story Maps were then prepared by adding them as layers in the swipe and spyglass layouts, along with the text (description, tile and summary), logos and custom extents.

3.3 Third step: accurate vectorisation of the data of the buildings, for each period of time considered, and the use of kernel density in 2D and 3D To go beyond the simple visual screening of the study area, one objective of the research was the production of a series of kernel density maps to achieve an arithmetic calculation of the artificial surface growth process: according to the length of the search radius, the kernel algorithm generates a virtual circumference around each inputs, assigning a value of 1 to its centre which decreases to 0 at the edge; the output cell value is given by the sum of the surface values beneath it10. With regard to the kernel tool input type, a fishnet made of 225 sq. m. cells was thus created on the entire province of Naples, with a point created at the centre of each fishnet cell: assuming that a point would represent the space occupied by a single building, the points were thus intersected by three different layers of polygons, representing the building’s base; to guarantee 9

Boscotrecase, Ercolano, Massa di Somma, Naples, Ottaviano, Pollena Trocchia, Portici, San Giorgio a Cremano, San Giuseppe Vesuviano, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Sant’Anastasia, Somma Vesuviana, Terzigno, Torre Annunziata, Torre del Greco, Trecase. 10 A series of case studies of the kernel density application are discussed in Graci et al., 2008, p. 247; Longley et al., 2011, pp. 371-373. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

the whole representation of the buildings, a point was then created at the centroid of the polygons that were too small to be intersected. According to the period, a different method was used to create the buildings’ polygons: for the recent layer, a 1998 vector-based cartography of the Naples province was provided by the Vesuvius Observatory of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), consisting of 402 .dwg files representing natural and human territorial assets, including the buildings. In order to compare the three layers, a Python script was executed to query the attributes and to select the buildings that were mapped all over the three different periods (i.e. churches, residential buildings etc.). The output was then merged and dissolved to be used before the next intersection with the punctual dataset. The process was more complicated for the two historical layers: initially the mosaic datasets were vectorised by the conversion of each cell into a polygon, reporting the value of the red band of the electromagnetic spectrum as an attribute of the new table. Considering that constructions are mapped in black in both the historical cartographies, a range in an 8-bit scale (from 0 to 255) of values was established to select only the polygons that closely represented the dark colours used in the cartographies. The selected polygons were then dissolved in a series of single-part features, carefully supervised to exclude other unwanted objects such as toponyms or natural elements like brushes, orchards etc., all mapped by the same dark colour of the buildings. For every punctual dataset, a 30 meter raster was created to display the density of point features, measuring their magnitude per square kilometre. To enhance the image readability, the outputs were thus symbolized by quantities using eight classes and a red-scale colour, which represents a way to show the concentration and dispersion of a certain phenomenon, highlighting their relationships and enhancing their visual comparison.

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The 2D maps were then superimposed onto a hillshade of the area, created from a surface raster of 10 meter resolution11, while the 3D maps were made in ArcGIS Pro by superimposing the density rasters onto a topographic basemap in a scene.

3.4 Fourth step: application of the extrusion techniques to the physical aspects and anthropic structures for a three-dimensional modelling The three-dimensional modelling of the Naples province offered a different view of the study area, useful to reveal some aspects that could be ignored from a cartographic perspective12. To reconstruct the ground morphology, a single raster dataset was thus created by merging the single surface tiles into a new one, successively clipped to the province boundary and used as the base height of the natural colour satellite image from “Sentinel 2”. The anthropic structure modelling combined the values of both a DTM and a DSM raster dataset: to extrude the buildings polygons by their heights, the cells of both these rasters were converted into points, thus obtaining the values of the building bases and their eaves. To assign these values to the polygons, a spatial join was used between the two different shapes, using a containment criterion where the polygons would have retained the bases and eaves values from the points contained in their perimeter13. The height was then measured by subtracting the base value from the one of the eaves. Finally, the buildings were symbolized by their function by clustering the 1998 vectorbased cartography attributes into four new classes (commercial, industrial, residential, other). For example, by classifying the polygons of the Torre Annunziata municipality into three major classes with the addition of a fourth mixed class, in order to provide a first representative evaluation, the most diffused class was “residential”

(77.9%), followed by the “industrial” (12.9%) and “commercial” (2.4%) ones, with a remaining 6.8% classified as “other” (mixed class). A similar estimate, extended to all the municipalities both in absolute and percentage values, makes it possible to define a general framework of the main use destinations according to the building classification defined.

3.5 Fifth step: production of 4D animations and film clips for each period of time considered Using the ArcGIS Pro animation tools, a clip was made for every research period filming a flight through the three-dimensional scenario. The scene was made by setting the topographic basemap as the base height for the three different mosaic datasets, two representing the historical cartographies, one the natural colour satellite image, all three superimposed by the kernel density maps. The animation was created by setting a series of key-frames located in a position chosen to display the study area in its entirety. The clips were then recorded and exported as new movie clips. Instead of the traditional 3D application of ArcGIS for Desktop (ArcScene), ArcGIS Pro works with 64-bit technology, which makes the 3D scene visualization faster and more responsive. Moreover, the 2D and 3D frames are now embedded in a single software, allowing a faster switching from the cartographic to the scene prospective.

10 meters DTM from INGV (Tarquini et al., 2007, 2012). 12 An example of representative three-dimensional elaboration with a specific building classification is offered by Longley et al., 2011, pp. 340-344. 13 About the characteristics of the spatial join, see i.e. Price, 2016. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Figure 5. Above, three-dimensional representation of the buildings, according to a specific classification, in the municipality of Torre Annunziata and three-dimensional representation of the physical and morphological aspects, where the Somma-Vesuvius complex stands out. Below, a zoom on an area characterised by high building density. Source: Authorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; elaboration.

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Figure 6. Screenshots of the 4D animation produced for the “Carta Topografica ed Idrografica dei contorni di Napoli…” with the relative kernel density elaboration superimposed. Source: Authors’ elaboration.

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Figure 7. Screenshots of the 4D animation produced for the IGM “Tavolette” with the relative kernel density elaboration superimposed. Source: Authors’ elaboration.

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Figure 8. Screenshots of the 4D animation produced for the recent satellite images in visible light with the kernel density elaboration superimposed, derived from the Carta Tecnica Regionale. Source: Authorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; elaboration.

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4. The five steps from an educational point of view As far as the first step is concerned, it is evident how georeferencing can represent a didactic operation of great importance giving significant results. In fact, during the search for the control points one has the possibility to carry out a preliminary analysis of the study area, or rather a first fact-finding investigation. The meticulous search for control points, conducted according to appropriate guidelines, leads one to being catapulted into the past and then to propel oneself into the present reality to find the same elements with which to anchor the two images to be connected together. Once the georeferencing has finished, the comparison of the layers and the use of special effects effectively shows the modifications that have taken place in time and transmits a great sense of personal gratification when the work has been carried out accurately, permitting an overall and detailed analysis opening up to a multitude of interdisciplinary perspectives, especially in areas exposed to geodynamic risks. It thus becomes possible “to create a product with high quality historical-geographical contents and significant aesthetic appeal, which arouses interest and stimulates the production of original works whereby to combine the statistical-quantitative dimension with the visualqualitative one. By marrying the documentary value of historical cartography with the elaborative potential of Geographical Information Systems, by means of georeferencing, interpolation, data processing and the creation of simulated environments, it is possible to obtain virtual models, which ‘bring to light’ the landscapes of decades and centuries ago, in their peculiar features” (Pesaresi, 2017, p. 32). Working on a very large study area, such as the province of Naples, is a complex operation, above all going back far back in time, since a high number of control points is required, their widespread and as far as possible homogenous distribution and the precise work of recognition of the elements to be selected. A thorough georeferencing thus requires solid bases from the methodological and technical point of view and in terms of didactics high-quality skills, well Copyright© Nuova Cultura

defined objectives and a strong motivation are needed to pursue them. The second step, aimed at the elaboration and publication of a (multilayer) Story Map like the one designed for this research, is strictly linked to the first step and the greatest operative difficulties are in fact connected to the previous phase of georeferencing. The creation of a Story Map is in itself quite simple and didactically can represent an excellent means to immediately capture students’ imagination and be used in any school environment, of any type or level, arousing the interest and attention of children and teachers alike. The Story Maps based on swipe and spyglass templates are the most complex to create because, by and large, they require preventive work of georeferencing, but there are many other templates available that one can get the hang of it with the creation of a Story Map much more simply and rapidly. On the contrary, one of the negative aspects is the one linked to the fact that the Story Maps, intuitive in their arrangement and online publication, are often produced to speak about facts and events that have little or nothing to do with geography, going on to fuel a mindless sharing of empty representations from the contents point of view. It is therefore essential to plan Story Maps with a certain criterion, following a guiding principle aimed at enhancing processes and contents, images and findings, also because such an elaboration arouses emotive involvement and fills those working on them, either singly or in groups, with satisfaction. “Today, educators and their students have a wide variety of resources with which to enter the world of web mapping”. Important aspects are defining some crucial aspects and seeking “to model for the instructor how to teach with dynamic web maps. It should be noted that the web maps alone do not transform education from rote memorization to grappling with problems and issues. It is the instructors who are dedicated to inquiry-driven and constructivist methods who accomplish that, modeling lifelong learning for their students. But the web maps are key tools to enable critical and spatial thinking”. For example “Using historical and current maps and imagery, students could answer such questions as the following: What has changed in my community or in other communities, and why has it Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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changed? Were the changes because of natural forces or human-caused forces, or a combination? What will this area look like in 10 years? What will it look like in 100 years? What did the landscape look like when my parents or grandparents were secondary school students? Is the area changing more quickly or more slowly than other parts of my community, or other parts of my country or elsewhere in the world? Why? What is the land use like in my neighborhood? How does it compare to land use elsewhere in the world? What influence does population, climate, proximity to coastlines, or other phenomena have on land use?” (Kerski, 2013, pp. 14, 19-20). The third step – for the accurate vectorisation of the data of the buildings and the use of kernel density in 2D and 3D – and the fourth step – for the application of the extrusion techniques to the physical aspects and anthropic structures – require high level skills, both in terms of the significance of the operations to be undertaken and the functions to adopt, and at the methodological-operative knowledge level. This brings us back in time, to the early 1990s, when it had been pointed out that: without adequately trained people involved in an organic educational project little will be achieved and although the importance of similar planning and initiatives has been put in evidence much must be done to reduce and alleviate the general skill shortage (Maguire, 1991, p. 16). In this case one must reason from the viewpoint of a highly professionalising didactics, which might satisfy the needs that are much in demand in research and institutional contexts14. After all, the need is increasingly felt to experiment innovative and diversified solutions, able to convey specific competences according to ad hoc projects and modalities, aimed at enriching the background and set of skills of those involved (Pesaresi and Pavia, 2017b, p. 111). Working in the three-dimensional perspective, 14

Applying well planned directions and strategies “can lead to a significant reduction of the gap between the technical field of GIS and the academic field of geography: teaching GIS can become the means to form a new generation of [Geographers-] GIScientists, not simply of GIS technicians” (Bertazzon, 2013, p. 72). Copyright© Nuova Cultura

and easily passing from 2D to 3D, then become increasingly important requirements to represent physical and anthropic components, express relational aspects, evaluate the cause and effect links, conduct simulations and envisage scenarios. Three-dimensional representations are very effective to reveal contextual aspects and information, to highlight the presence of areas with high urban density (also according to specific building classification) or with mixed land use, to virtually walk along the streets, to evaluate difficulties in terms of the availability of escape routes, to suppose and understand the effects of different phenomena and processes also in relation to the topographic conditions, and users able to enhance the interaction between 2D and 3D have got strategical application keys (Longley et al., 2015, p. 282). Furthermore, by translating some of the geotechnological results of one’s work into 4D, it is possible to draw the population closer, starting with the young, to issues of great contingency and present day importance by enhancing specific GIS functions that let to propose interactive methods and modalities from a geographicaleducational angle, that are requested and widespread but little used in a meticulous didactic approach, where a compelling scenic rendering and research accuracy blend together. The fifth step, which leads to the production of animations and film clips, represents from the applicative-didactic point of view the crowning of the previous work, the dynamic summary of a long series of sequential developments and acts as a concrete example of 4D that can be produced on the basis of a multiplicity of data, functions, cartographic documents, satellite images of different types, basemaps and other sources used and collected on a performing platform. The GIS modellings in areas subject to high volcanic risk can thus play an important role in highlighting critical situations and in evaluating their dimension. Moreover, they give a valid support in reconstructing the main phases that have led to disjointed phenomena which in time have spread like wildfire, creating imbalances and alarming conditions, radically transforming the features and physiognomy of the landscape. They offer the possibility of critical reflection for decision-making aimed at interrupting dyItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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namics that are harmful for the long term and to identify, by means of scenarios and simulations, the steps to take for a responsible and shared planning, to recognise the areas that are more exposed and to draw up the most important intervention orders. In this way, GIS output often becomes “the pinnacle” of high innovative projects, where layers and information, important for many scientific fields and for an overall perspective, converge in integrated elaborations, which can be used to explore, synthesise, analyse and present/represent spatial and temporal data in order to promote thinking, awareness and knowledge construction (Longley et al., 2011, pp. 298, 326327). Furthermore, in this way, it is possible to promote “cartography/map-making, spatial modelling, geocomputation and database development” together with “geonarratives, qualitative/mixed methods, storytelling and synthesis” in order to “explore new areas of enquiry with greater sensitivities to the social and political dimensions of GIS application” (Sui, 2015, p. 1).

Acknowledgements C. Pesaresi wrote paragraphs 1, 2 (with all its subparagraphs) and 4; D. Pavia wrote paragraph 3 (with all its sub-paragraphs). The multilayer Story Map here presented won the “GEOBSERVATORY 2018” prize conferred by ESRI Italia during the 2018 Conference (Rome, 16-17 May).

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3. Bertazzon S., “Rethinking GIS teaching to bridge the gap between technical skills and geographic knowledge”, Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 2, 2013, pp. 67-72. 4. Bianchi R., Coradini A., Federico C., Giberti G., Lanciano P., Pozzi J.P., Sartoris G. and Scandone R., “Modeling of Surface Deformation in Volcanic Areas. The 1970-1972 and 1982-1984 Crises of Campi Flegrei, Italy”, Journal of Geophysical Research, 92, B13, 1987, pp. 14.139-14.150. 5. Boffi M., Scienza dell’informazione geografica. Introduzione ai GIS, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2004. 6. Carafa P. and D’Alessio M.T., “Pompei: stratigrafia, ricostruzioni e storia della città”, in Ferrandes A.F. and Pardini G. (Eds.), Le regole del gioco. Tracce Archeologi Racconti, Rome, Quasar, 2016, pp. 215-225. 7. Conti Si., “Il fenomeno vulcanico in alcuni scrittori, cartografi e vedutisti dei secoli XVII-XIX”, in D’Aponte T. (Ed.), Terre di vulcani. Miti, linguaggi, paure, rischi, Proceedings of International Congress of Italian and French studies, vol. 2, Rome, Aracne, 2005, pp. 43-61. 8. Dainelli N., Bonechi F., Spagnolo M. and Canessa A., Cartografia numerica. Manuale pratico per l’utilizzo dei GIS, Palermo, Dario Flaccovio, 2008. 9. Dai Prà E. (Ed.), La Cartografia storica da bene patrimoniale a strumento progettuale, Semestrale di Studi e Ricerche di Geografia, 2, 2010. 10. D’Aponte T., “Il ‘rischio vulcanico’ tra approccio scientifico e suggestione artistica”, in D’Aponte T. (Ed.), Terre di vulcani. Miti, linguaggi, paure, rischi, Proceedings of International Congress of Italian and French studies, vol. 2, Rome, Aracne, 2005, pp. 1119. 11. Del Gaudio C., Aquino I., Ricciardi G.P., Ricco C. and Scandone R., “Unrest episodes at Campi Flegrei: A reconstruction of vertical ground movements during 1905–2009”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 195, 2010, pp. 48-56.

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12. Esposti Ongaro T., Neri A., Menconi G., de’ Michieli Vitturi M., Marianelli P., Cavazzoni C., Erbacci G. and Baxter P.J., “Transient 3D numerical simulations of column collapse and pyroclastic density current scenarios at Vesuvius”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 178, 2008, pp. 378-396. 13. Fantozzi P.L., Georeferenziare i dati geografici con ArcGIS. Problemi cartografici e metodi di soluzione tramite l’uso di ArcGIS 10.1, Palermo, Dario Flaccovio, 2013. 14. Favretto A., Nuovi strumenti per l’analisi geografica: i G.I.S., Bologna, Pàtron, 2000. 15. Gasparini M.L., Dinamiche demografiche e tendenze insediative nell’area vesuviana, in D’Aponte T. (Ed.), Terre di vulcani. Miti, linguaggi, paure, rischi, Proceedings of International Congress of Italian and French studies, vol. 2, Rome, Aracne, 2005, pp. 217229. 16. Gasparini P., “Il bradisismo del 1970”, Ambiente Rischio Comunicazione, 5, 2013, pp. 31-35. 17. Giacomelli L. and Scandone R., Vulcani d’Italia, Naples, Liguori, 2006. 18. Gorr W.L., Kurland K.S., GIS Tutorial 1 for ArcGIS Pro. A Platform Workbook, Redlands, Esri Press, 2017. 19. Graci G., Pileri P. and Sedazzari M., GIS e ambiente. Guida all’uso di ArcGIS per l’analisi del territorio e la valutazione ambientale, Palermo, Dario Flaccovio, 2008. 20. Kerski J.J., “Understanding Our Changing World through WebMapping Based Investigations”, Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 2, 2, 2013, pp. 11-26. 21. La Foresta D., “La ‘montagna urbana di fuoco’: vulnerabilità, pianificazione e gestione del rischio”, in D’Aponte T. (Ed.), Terre di vulcani. Miti, linguaggi, paure, rischi, Proceedings of International Congress of Italian and French studies, vol. 2, Rome, Aracne, 2005, pp. 231-258. 22. Leone U., “Mutamenti del paesaggio e politiche dell’ambiente in Campania: i parchi naturali”, Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana, 3, 2001, pp. 457-465.

23. Leone U., “Editoriale”, Ambiente Rischio Comunicazione, 5, 2013, pp. 4-6. 24. Lirer L., Luongo G. and Scandone R., “On the Volcanological Evolution of Campi Flegrei”, Eos, 68, 16, 1987, pp. 226-234. 25. Longley P.A., Goodchild M.F., Maguire D.J. and Rhind D.W., Geographic Information Systems & Science, Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 26. Longley P.A., Goodchild M.F., Maguire D.J. and Rhind D.W., Geographic Information Science and Systems, Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, 2015. 27. Luongo G., “Il bradisismo degli anni Ottanta”, Ambiente Rischio Comunicazione, 5, 2013, pp. 36-45. 28. Maguire D.J., “An Overview and Definition of GIS”, in Maguire D.J., Goodchild M.F. and Rhind D.W. (Eds.), Geographical Information Systems, vol. 1 (Principles), Harlow, Longman Scientific and Technical, Longman Group UK, 1991, pp. 9-20. 29. Maiuri A., Pompei ed Ercolano fra case e abitanti, Florence, Giunti, 1998. 30. Neri A., Esposti Ongaro T., Menconi G., de’ Michieli Vitturi M., Cavazzoni C., Erbacci G. and Baxter P.J., “4D simulation of explosive eruption dynamics at Vesuvius”, Geophysical Research Letters, 34, 2007. 31. Orsi G., Di Vito M.A. and Isaia R., “Volcanic hazard assessment at the restless Campi Flegrei caldera”, Bulletin of Volcanology, 66, 2004, pp. 514-530. 32. Orsi G. and Zollo A., “Struttura e storia dei Campi Flegrei”, Ambiente Rischio Comunicazione, 5, 2013, pp. 18-24. 33. Pesaresi C., Applicazioni GIS. Principi metodologici e linee di ricerca. Esercitazioni ed esemplificazioni guida, Novara, UTET – De Agostini, 2017. 34. Pesaresi C. and Lombardi M., “GIS4RISKS project. Synergic use of GIS applications for analysing volcanic and seismic risks in the pre and post event”, Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 2, 3, 2014, pp. 9-32. 35. Pesaresi C. and Marta M., “Applicazioni GIS per l’analisi dell’urbanizzazione nella provincia di Napoli. Un’analisi multitempoItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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rale in aree esposte a elevato rischio vulcanico”, Bollettino dell’Associazione Italiana di Cartografia, 150/2014, pp. 34-51. 36. Pesaresi C., Marta M., Palagiano C. and Scandone R., “The evaluation of ‘social risk’ due to volcanic eruptions of Vesuvius”, Natural Hazards, 47, 2008, pp. 229-243. 37. Pesaresi C. and Pavia D., Tra Vesuvio e Campi Flegrei, dal XIX secolo a oggi. Modellizzazione cartografica in ambiente GIS, Rome, Nuova Cultura, 2017a. 38. Pesaresi C. and Pavia D., “Progettualità mirate e corsi GIS: per un approccio geografico coinvolgente e professionalizzante”, in Pasquinelli d’Allegra D., Pavia D. and Pesaresi C. (Eds.), Geografia per l’inclusione. Partecipazione attiva contro le disuguaglianze, Milan, Franco Angeli, 2017b, pp. 110-124. 39. Pesaresi C. and Scandone R., “Nuovi scenari di rischio nell’area vesuviana”, in Paratore E. and Morri R. (Eds.), Studi in onore di Cosimo Palagiano, Semestrale di Studi e Ricerche di Geografia, 1, 2013, pp. 225-241. 40. Pesaresi C., van der Schee J. and Pavia D., “3D and 4D Simulations for Landscape Reconstruction and Damage Scenarios: GIS Pilot Applications”, Review of International Geographical Education Online (RIGEO), 2, 7, 2017, pp. 131-153. 41. Pesce A. and Rolandi G., Vesuvio 1944. L’ultima eruzione, S. Sebastiano al Vesuvio, 1994. 42. Petrosino P., Alberico I., Caiazzo S., Dal Piaz A., Lirer L. and Scandone R., “Volcanic risk and evolution of the territorial system in the volcanic areas of Campania”, Acta Vulcanologica, 16, 1-2, 2004, pp. 163-178. 43. Pollice F., “Sotto la cenere. Su alcune tendenze evolutive del tessuto industriale nell’area vesuviana”, in Faccioli M. (Ed.), Processi territoriali e nuove filiere urbane, Milan, Franco Angeli, 2009, pp. 205-219. 44. Price M.H., Mastering ArcGIS, New York, Mc Graw Hill Education, 2016. 45. Renschler C.S., “Scales and uncertainties in volcano hazard prediction-optimizing the use of GIS and models”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 139, 1-2, 2005, pp. 73-87.

46. Rolandi G., Barrella A.M. and Borrelli A., “The 1631 eruption of Vesuvius”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 58, 1993, pp. 183-201. 47. Rosi M., Principe C. and Vecci R., “The 1631 Vesuvius eruption. A reconstruction based on historical and stratigraphical data”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 58, 1993, pp. 151-182. 48. Santacroce R., Cioni R., Marianelli P., Sbrana A., Sulpizio R., Zanchetta G., Donahue D.J. and Joron J.L., “Age and whole rock–glass compositions of proximal pyroclastics from the major explosive eruptions of SommaVesuvius: A review as a tool for distal tephrostratigraphy”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 177, 2008, pp. 1-18. 49. Scandone R., Bartolini S. and Martí J., “A scale for ranking volcanoes by risk”, Bulletin of Volcanology, 78, 2, 2016, pp. 8. 50. Scandone R., D’Amato J. and Giacomelli L., “The relevance of the 1198 eruption of Solfatara in the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei) as revealed by medieval manuscripts and historical sources”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 189, 2010, pp. 202-206. 51. Scandone R. and Giacomelli L., Vulcanologia. Principi fisici e metodi d’indagine, Naples, Liguori, 2004. 52. Scandone R. and Giacomelli L., “Cronache di un’eruzione: la nascita di Monte Nuovo nel 1538”, Ambiente Rischio Comunicazione, 5, 2013, pp. 25-30. 53. Scandone R., Giacomelli L. and Fattori Speranza F., “Persistent activity and violent strombolian eruptions at Vesuvius between 1631 and 1944”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 170, 3-4, 2008, pp. 167-180. 54. Scandone R., Giacomelli L. and Gasparini P., “Mount Vesuvius: 2000 years of volcanological observations”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 58, 1993, pp. 5-25. 55. Sui D., “Emerging GIS themes and the six senses of the new mind: is GIS becoming a liberation technology?”, Annals of GIS, 21, 1, 2015, pp. 1-13.

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56. Tarquini S., Isola I., Favalli M., Mazzarini F., Bisson M., Pareschi M.T. and Boschi E., “TINITALY/01: a new Triangular Irregular Network of Italy”, Annals of Geophysics, 50, 2007, pp. 407-425. 57. Tarquini S., Vinci S., Favalli M., Doumaz F., Fornaciai A. and Nannipieri L., “Release of a 10-m-resolution DEM for the Italian territory: Comparison with global-coverage DEMs and anaglyph-mode exploration via the web”, Computers & Geosciences, 38, 2012, pp. 168-170. 58. Valerio V., “Il Vesuvio immagini e misurazioni”, L’Universo, 2, 1995, pp. 239-252. 59. Zuccaro G., Cacace F., Spence R.J.S. and Baxter P.J., “Impact of explosive eruption scenarios at Vesuvius”, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 178, 2008, pp. 416-453.

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Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 43-60 DOI: 10.4458/0623-03

Esquisse d’une théorie humaniste du lieu Guy Merciera a

Département de géographie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada Email: Guy.Mercier@ggr.ulaval.ca Received: September 2017 – Accepted: February 2018

Abstract (Sketch of a humanistic theory of Place) How can one explain that a thing or a person is there and not elsewhere? Through History, this problem has aroused many debates in geography. Recently, Augustin Berque has renewed this questioning, relying in part on Plato's Timaeus. Posing, like Plato, that everything on Earth is a body occupying a place, he has pointed out the difference between the chora and the topos. In his opinion, the chora is, at once, the state of the bodies that a place has generated, the set that the connection of these bodies constitutes, and the vector of their becoming, while the topos is only a geometrical element, a point or a figure that geodesic measurements are sufficient to establish. Even though the concept of chora is useful for understanding the natural determinants of geographical conditions, it does not explain what in geography is fundamentally human. To remedy this, we sketch a theory of place taking into account the political foundation of humanity, a pillar on which many human specificities are built, especially Law and Justice. It means considering the polis as an institution, in itself different from the natural determinants of human settlements. This institution, which is responsible for the identity and freedom of human beings, is the first condition of all forms of human self-determination. Without it, the possibility of succeeding in being human does not exist. Nor does the possibility of failing to be human. Because the polis, though potentially liberating, is also generating its own determination. Thus, its potentialities are matched only by the constraints it generates. In short, human self-determination is not indeterminacy. This is why we envisage a theory of place focusing on the political determination of the human being in order to recognize the modulation of the potentialities and the constraints that structure it. In our view, this modulation is related to the topological codetermination of the movements of social actors which defines, at the scale of the region, a geographical structure in equilibrium or in transition. In other words, each region as a structure specifically configured by the orientation and the regulation of the movements of social actors. With regard to the orientation, these movements are of four types: entry, exit, non-entry, non-exit. In terms of regulation, they are divided into two categories: either the movement is exoregulated, when the codetermination induces a constraint to movement; either it is endoregulated, when the codetermination facilitates it. It results from the crossing of the categories of orientation and those of the regulation eight types of movements: gathering (endoregulated entry), escape (endoregulated exit), avoidance (endoregulated non-entry), station (endoregulated non-exit), concentration (exoregulated entry), expulsion (exoregulated exit), repelling (exoregulated non-entry), and confinement (non-exoregulated exit). Thusly combined, movements produce in each region a geographical dynamic that holds, apart from natural determinants, a fundamental role in the experience of being human on Earth. Keywords: Place, Space, Region, Territory, Geographical Theory

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There’s not even room enough to be anywhere Bob Dylan, Not dark yet

1. Prologue

“ condition naturelle ” propre (Timée, 53b). Cette singularisation est le résultat de la “ configuration à l’aide de formes et de nombres ” que le lieu rend possible (ibid.).

À quoi tient qu’une chose – une ville par exemple – est ce qu’elle est ? Pour répondre à cette question, Platon, dans Timée (51c-52b), avance que l’existence d’une chose provient d’une idée, qui est sa raison d’être. Or cette raison, éternelle et donnée par une entité supérieure, ne serait accessible que par l’intelligence. C’est pourquoi seul dieu lui-même, qui en est la cause, et l’être humain, lorsqu’il en découvre la cause, connaissent cette raison. Selon Platon, l’idée, raison d’être de chaque chose, est universelle. Dans cette optique, l’idée de ville est le propre de toutes villes. Bien qu’une identité soit ainsi partagée, il reste qu’aucune ville, dans la perspective de Platon, n’est jamais parfaitement semblable à une autre. C’est que l’être d’une chose, d’après lui, réside non seulement dans son idée même, mais aussi dans le corps que cette chose prend. Et ce corps, que les sens perçoivent, n’est pas, pour sa part, éternel : fut un temps où il apparut ; un autre viendra où il disparaitra. Se pose alors la question de sa génération et, dans la foulée, de son évolution et de sa destruction, que Platon relie au lieu. D’après Platon, le lieu n’est pas réductible au corps. Le lieu a plutôt une existence en soi et chaque lieu est particulier. Sa fonction première est de faire naitre des choses et de les ordonner pour qu’elles ne soient pas “ sans proportion ni mesure ” (Timée, 53b). Le lieu constitue par conséquent une matrice où l’idée d’une chose prend corps. Sans le lieu, l’idée ne peut s’unir à la corporéité et accéder au statut de chose. Selon Platon, tout corps porte à la fois l’universalité de l’idée qu’il incarne et la spécificité du lieu qui l’a fait advenir. Or tous les lieux sont différents dans la mesure où chacun d’entre eux module différemment l’action des forces et la combinaison des éléments qui, respectivement, expliquent la génération et la dynamique des corps qui s’y rapportent. Ainsi, les lieux sont au fondement de l’être des choses, puisqu’ils confèrent à chaque corps une

Suivant l’interprétation d’Augustin Berque (2000, pp. 20-30 ; 2003), la théorie platonicienne du lieu permet de distinguer chôra et topos. Relativement à la ville, le topos, selon cette approche, serait le site de la polis, portion de l’espace géographique englobant la ville ellemême et la campagne qui la ceint. La chôra serait pour sa part le caractère propre de l’ensemble des choses composant la polis. Elle tiendrait par conséquent de la relation qui, in situ, se noue entre les choses. Autrement dit, la conjugaison, en un emplacement précis, de l’universalité d’une idée et de la spécificité d’une réalité corporelle relèverait essentiellement de la chôra. Le topos se limiterait à n’être qu’un point dans l’espace ou une figure géométrique qui s’y découpe, point ou figure que des mesures géodésiques suffisent à établir (Berque, 2014, p. 35), tandis que la chôra serait à la fois la réunion des corps en un lieu, la relation qui les unit et les dynamise, et le vecteur de leur avènement et de leur devenir.

affirmation qui, depuis, a suscité maints commentaires : “ la géographie est science des lieux et non des hommes ”.

Au deuxième siècle de notre ère, Ptolémée (2000) confirma cette vocation de la géographie, que Paul Vidal de la Blache (1913), près de deux millénaires plus tard, réitéra avec force en lançant cette

En proposant que rien n’existe sans appartenir à un lieu, Platon donnait du grain à moudre à cette discipline qu’Ératosthène (2010), un siècle plus tard, allait nommer géographie (Cresswell, 2009). Dès son origine, la géographie ambitionna d’être la science des lieux qui composent la Terre, ce que, depuis lors, l’on n’a pas manqué de répéter à l’envi1. La discipline, il est vrai, a entretemps exploré bien d’autres voies. Néanmoins, elle ne s’est jamais départie de son intérêt pour le lieu. Et la conjecture platonicienne à ce titre a toujours conservé une indéniable force d’attraction, puisqu’on ne cesse de l’évoquer – quitte à l’habiller d’un autre vocabulaire – pour expliquer ce qui détermine la réalité géographique. Kant (1999) et Hegel (1965), par exemple, n’hésitèrent pas, à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, à la légitimer philosophiquement. Par la suite, Alexandre von Humboldt (2000), Carl Ritter (1974), Friedrich Ratzel (1896), Paul Vidal de la Blache (1921), William Davis (1909)

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traduit, au sein des sociétés humaines, par cette prétention de sanctionner des normes afin d’ériger ce qu’Hans Kelsen (1934) nommait le devoir être ? En portant l’être humain à croire qu’il est légitime de vouloir contrôler la nature, de voir en elle un pur problème pratique que la technique, la science, l’État et le droit peuvent résoudre, ce désir l’expose au ridicule et au danger de n’être qu’un apprenti sorcier. Or, vu la crise environnementale qui maintenant sévit, il est tentant de condamner cette audace et de prétendre qu’elle n’est qu’une méprisable déviance. Que faire alors de ce vœu, même possiblement illusoire, d’une autodétermination humaine ? (Renaut, 2006). Espérance non seulement d’une technique et d’une science véritablement au service de l’humanité, mais plus encore d’un État de droit et d’un gouvernement actualisant une dignité humaine qui confère à chaque personne une identité inaliénable et irréductible, peu importe le sort que la nature, aveuglément, lui réserve. Une identité spécifique qui s’attache au nom propre et à la volonté de la personne plus encore qu’à son corps, parce qu’elle rend possible le droit – souvent ignoré ou bafoué il est vrai – de chacun de penser par luimême et pour lui-même. L’identité personnelle ainsi érigée ou à tout le moins revendiquée peut bien entendu être pétrie d’égoïsme ou sombrer dans le délire, au point, parfois, de nier à d’autres le statut de personne humaine, voire de nier l’existence même de l’humanité. Pourtant, comment concevoir que chaque personne, même un mort dont la nature a finalement eu raison, sans toutefois, comme le rappelle Pierre Legendre (1983, p. 25), lui arracher son nom propre, puisse acquérir et conserver la liberté d’être absolument elle-même ? Et ce, indifféremment du lieu d’où elle provient et du lieu qu’elle occupe. Voire indifféremment du corps dont elle est pourvue. Cette liberté lui permettant de surcroit d’être ailleurs ou d’espérer y être, tout en demeurant irrémédiablement elle-même. Liberté qui, ultimement, serait de plus être sur Terre, d’en disparaitre, comme si on pouvait être sans corps, sans avoir lieu.

et bien d’autres y virent, au XIXe siècle et un peu après, le fondement d’un renouveau complet de la géographie. Si les premiers proclamaient, sur la base de pures spéculations, que la détermination de toute chose sur Terre appartient, en chaque cas, aux diverses manifestations locales de cette vaste entité que l’on appelle la nature, les seconds, en arrimant leur discipline aux sciences naturelles, voulurent démontrer, par l’étude méthodique et empirique d’une série de cas spécifiques, que le caractère de toute chose relevant de la géographie n’est pas indépendant des conditions propres du lieu qu’elle occupe. Bien que leur géographie soit désormais passée de mode, l’hypothèse platonicienne a su se maintenir, notamment au travers d’une pensée écologique dont la prégnance actuelle découle de sa capacité à expliquer que la présente crise environnementale tient justement à l’insouciance de l’humanité face à sa détermination naturelle2. Il est impossible de nier que le lieu, considéré comme la manière dont se présente la nature en un endroit spécifique, soit un déterminant de toute chose sans exception, y compris toute personne humaine (Hösler, 2011). Mais si l’être humain n’y échappe pas, n’est-il pas nécessaire de se demander pourquoi il ose pourtant faire comme si ce n’était pas le cas ? Qu’il s’agisse d’insouciance, d’oubli, de défiance ou d’ironie, n’est-ce pas là une raison de revisiter le problème philosophique du mythe de Prométhée, problème que déjà en son temps Platon, comme en témoigne son Protagoras, n’avait d’ailleurs pas hésité à aborder. En effet, autant on peut aujourd’hui constater que l’être humain est négligent du lieu qu’il occupe et corolairement de la nature tout entière, autant il est curieux qu’il en soit ainsi. Certes, on peut s’en plaindre et morigéner tous ceux qui agissent aussi dangereusement. Le reproche, après tout, est bien mérité et il urge de redresser la situation. Mais si l’humanité a emprunté une telle avenue, au risque même de sa propre perte, faut-il n’y voir que de l’infatuation ou, au mieux – bien que cela ne soit guère plus avantageux –, de la simple bêtise ? Cela ne serait-il pas plutôt la fâcheuse conséquence d’un désir aussi fou que noble de l’humanité d’échapper, du moins à certains égards, à la détermination naturelle ? Désir qui se

Bien qu’elle puisse paraitre fuyante et parfois contradictoire, cette autodétermination humaine est difficile à nier. On a beau déplorer sa cambrure

La littérature à ce sujet est pléthorique. Signalons simplement, parmi cette masse, l’œuvre pionnière de Pierre Dansereau (1973).

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utopiste et son bilan peu reluisant, elle demeure l’assise même d’une humanité conçue autrement que dans le seul horizon du déterminisme naturel. Au reste, la réalité naturelle et la détermination qu’elle impose ne sont pas incompatibles à priori avec l’aspiration à l’autodétermination humaine. En effet, il n’est pas interdit d’espérer que les deux puissent être conciliées. Encore faut-il que le principe de l’autodétermination humaine soit réitéré, ne serait-ce pour qu’il ne soit pas submergé sous les cris de ceux qui, face aux périls écologiques auxquels l’humanité par sa propre faute s’expose dorénavant, s’abandonnent aux délices morbides de l’imprécation. C’est pourquoi il convient de poursuivre la recherche sur le lieu, car on ne saurait négliger de s’interroger sur le rôle que tient cette part de réalité dans l’expérience humaine. Non pas que la question du lieu concerne l’entièreté de cette expérience, mais elle n’en touche pas moins une des dimensions fondamentales, puisque l’être est, comme le reconnait le sens commun, “ ce qui a lieu ”. D’où l’intérêt d’y consacrer une réflexion théorique.

La théorie du lieu ici esquissée repose sur trois principes. À l’instar d’Yi-Fu Tuan (1977), nous posons d’abord qu’une telle théorie doit être humaniste. À ce titre, considérant la légitime volonté d’autodétermination de l’être humain et suivant la recommandation d’Erwin Panofsky (2015, p. 43 et suiv.), elle doit avant tout cibler ce qui est propre à l’humanité et non pas ce qui est en deçà ou au delà. Ainsi, la théorie du lieu envisagée ne saurait être ni naturaliste ni théologique3. Or, comme on sait, la géographie (pour parler de la discipline dont nous nous revendiquons) l’a surtout rangée du côté des sciences naturelles. Il y a donc là, en suivant l’exemple de quelques-uns, dont Edward Ullman (1980) et Claude Raffestin (1980)4, une rupture à consommer. Non pas pour contester l’intérêt d’une théorie naturaliste du lieu, mais simplement pour répondre à la nécessité d’une théorie qui

rend compte de l’expérience spécifiquement humaine du lieu. Nous assumons ensuite qu’une telle théorie du lieu doit être apte à saisir le fondement politique de l’humanité, pilier auquel se rattachent maintes spécificités humaines, au premier chef le droit et la justice. Cela revient à traiter la polis, l’institution davantage que la réalité matérielle de l’établissement humain sur Terre, non pas comme Platon eût pu le faire dans Timée en dissertant sur la chôra, mais plutôt comme il s’y employa dans Les Lois et dans La république. Cette institution, chargée de l’identité et de la liberté de l’humanité et des personnes qui la composent, est la condition première de toute forme d’autodétermination humaine. Sans elle, la possibilité de réussir à être humain n’existe pas. De même, à l’inverse, la possibilité d’échouer à être humain. Car la polis , quoique potentiellement libératrice, n’en génère pas moins sa propre détermination, où jamais le pire n’est totalement exclu. Ainsi, ses potentialités n’ont d’égales que les contraintes qu’elle génère. Bref, l’autodétermination humaine n’est pas indétermination. C’est pourquoi, enfin, vous envisageons une théorie du lieu qui témoigne de cette détermination proprement politique de l’être humain et qui reconnaisse la modulation des pouvoirs qui la structurent. Notre approche à cet égard consiste à ne pas réduire le topos à sa seule réalité géodésique afin de voir si, à travers lui, l’expérience humaine ne s’accorderait pas à des potentialités et à des contraintes inhérentes au lieu. Dans cette optique, le topos modulerait en un lieu la détermination humaine et y formerait par conséquent le contexte de l’expression de la liberté humaine. C’est en cette qualité que le topos se distinguerait véritablement de la chôra qui, de son côté, y modulerait la détermination naturelle. Pour développer cette idée, nous nous inspirons d’Aristote plutôt que de Platon. Comme son prédécesseur, Aristote soutenait, dans sa Physique, que le lieu est une condition nécessaire de l’être. Cependant, comme le rappelle Cresswell (2009, p. 171), il sut conférer à sa définition de l’être une conception de la

2. Préalable

Rappelons qu’Hans Kelsen expliquait naguère que la nature, revendiquée comme source fondamentale du droit, équivalait à l’autorité divine, puisque son absolutisme peut être opposé de la même manière aux sociétés humaines qui veulent décider elles-mêmes de leur devoir être (Kelsen, 1934, pp. 190 et 198).

Le premier parce qu’il comprit l’association forte entre le caractère de chaque lieu et les déplacements humains qui s’y déroulent, et le second, parce qu’il démontra le rôle central du politique dans la dynamique géographique.

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d y n a mi q u e t o p o l o g i q u e qui élargit avantageusement la théorie du lieu5. C’est à cette dynamique topologique, fondée sur une logique des lieux selon leur ouverture ou leur fermeture (Thibault, 2003), que nous nous attachons tout particulièrement dans le présent texte. Soucieuse d’une compréhension de la structuration des lieux, notre démarche vise à énoncer, un peu comme le fit Allen Pred (1984) il y a quelques décennies, les principes et les modalités de ce qui, dans l’ordre strictement humain, constitue la spécificité des contraintes et des potentialités propres à chaque lieu et aux êtres humains qui y évoluent.

3. Le lieu au regard de la géographie Aborder frontalement la question du lieu oblige à établir une distinction entre différents concepts qui, en géographie comme dans le langage commun, font partie du lexique habituel. En effet, si le lieu mérite une signification propre, cela suppose qu’il n’est pas, à strictement parler, synonyme d’espace, de région, de territoire6. D’où l’intérêt de revisiter ces concepts, non pas pour en retracer l’origine, en offrir une définition exhaustive ou en dégager toutes les acceptions, mais, plus modestement, pour préciser ce qui les différencie tout en les unissant. 3.1 Espace 3.1.1

Forme du plein et du vide

En suivant une longue tradition, nous posons que l’espace est une forme (Lalande, 2002, p. 371 ; Elden, 2009, p. 262). Il est à la fois la forme de chaque chose et la forme de l’ensemble des choses (Charlton, 1995). Comme le précise Aristote dans sa Physique (livre IV, chapitre 1), dans le premier cas, la matière et la forme ne se 5

Cette option n’est pas le signe d’une reconnaissance d’une quelconque supériorité de la physique aristotélicienne. Certes, la physique d’Aristote est un monument de l’intelligence humaine. Plusieurs éminents penseurs, dont Descartes et Spinoza, ne manquèrent d’ailleurs pas de le souligner. Mais la longue et riche histoire de la philosophie et de la science, que Newton, Einstein et d’autres surent aiguiller, montre bien que la physique d’Aristote n’en reste pas moins datée. Aussi, le retour à Aristote, dans la présente démarche, s’inscrit plutôt au registre de Copyright© Nuova Cultura

séparent pas de la chose. En revanche, dans le second cas, la forme n’est plus celle que prend la matière au sein même des choses, mais celle de la position relative des choses, de sorte que l’espace est autant la forme du plein (là où sont les corps) que du vide (là où les corps ne sont pas). Cette double forme, comme le précisait déjà Platon, ordonne les choses selon une configuration qui les individualise et les rend mesurables. Ainsi, l’espace se rapporte autant aux dimensions spécifiques de chacune des choses (hauteur, largeur et profondeur, c’est-à-dire leur format), qu’aux distances qui les séparent, à leur disposition les unes par rapport aux autres et à la stabilité ou à la transformation de cet ordonnancement (Lévy et Lussault, 2003, pp. 327-328 ; Gregory, 1986b, p. 443). On ne doute pas que l’espace comme forme du vide intéresse tout particulièrement la géographie, étant donné qu’elle concerne la disposition des corps. C’est pourquoi on peut soutenir, à l’instar de Panofsky (1975, p. 79), que l’espace, en tant qu’organisation du vide qui lie les corps, crée “ un monde à l’intérieur duquel les corps et les intervalles […] qui les séparent seraient seulement les différenciations ou les modifications d’un continuum d’ordre supérieur ”. 3.1.2

Ce qui meut les corps de l’extérieur

Les choses, bien évidemment, ne se réduisent pas à leur forme. L’être des choses n’est en effet pas indépendant de leurs autres propriétés. Assurément, ces autres propriétés, qui sont inhérentes à leur corps, ont une large part d’explication. Pour reprendre l’expression de Panofsky (1975, p. 79), ces propriétés font que les choses – ce qui comprend, répétons-le, les personnes – sont “ mues de l’intérieur ”. l’analogie, l’intention étant simplement de s’inspirer d’un énoncé aristotélicien pour formuler une proposition essentiellement destinée à poursuivre le débat actuel en géographie humaine autour du concept de lieu, débat que résument bien les dictionnaires spécialisés en ce domaine. À ce sujet, voir notamment : Billinge (1986), Cresswell (2009), Debarbieux (2006), Lévy (2003b), Lussault (2003b). 6 C’est par exemple le même genre d’exercice que Delanay (2009) a fait pour cerner le concept de territoire.

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Toutefois, si l’espace, qui est la forme générale du vide et du plein que les corps constituent, a une raison d’être, il faut supposer que son rôle n’est pas absorbé par les seules propriétés intrinsèques des corps. On peut de surcroit faire l’hypothèse que l’espace – notamment au titre de la disposition des corps – recèle ce qui meut les corps de l’extérieur. 3.1.3

Choséité des personnes et humanité des choses

S’agissant de l’espace auquel s’attache la géographie, les choses en question – excluant les personnes – sont à la fois celles du relief terrestre (montagnes, vallées, plaines, plateaux, terrasses, caps, baies, promontoires, abysses, etc.) et d’autres qui, elles aussi, occupent la surface de la Terre (rivières, lacs, mers, océans, forêts, savanes, prairies, maisons, usines, villages, quartiers, villes, routes, parcs, équipements, etc.) (George et Verger, 2004, p. 158). Or il apparait qu’un grand nombre de ces choses ont été façonnées ou modifiées par des êtres humains. Ainsi, deux conditions ontologiques se combinent au sein de l’espace géographique : d’une part, celle de la chose qui s’impose à la personne, au travers de son propre corps et de l’ensemble des éléments naturels ; d’autre part, celle de la personne qui s’impose ou peut s’imposer à la chose. Autrement dit, l’espace géographique suppose que toute personne est amalgamée – ou littéralement incorporée – à la choséité, alors que toute chose est soumise, du moins potentiellement, à une humanité (Le Breton, 2006). 3.1.4

Espace et temps

Une chose ou une personne pouvant agir sur d’autres, voire les générer ou les détruire, on doit par ailleurs considérer que l’espace est toujours chevillé au temps (Lowe, 1995). Comme les choses et les personnes coexistant à la surface de la Terre n’échappent pas à cette condition, on peut entendre que la géographie et l’histoire sont 7

Dans cette analyse de la composition, de l’organisation et de la dynamique de l’espace terrestre, la géographie doit par ailleurs tenir compte de la détermination croisée des choses et des personnes, ce qui implique notamment que toute chose perçue par une personne suscite une

l’espace et le temps dans leur manifestation la plus concrète (Lussault, 2003a). Ainsi, la géographie, en association avec l’histoire, aurait la tâche d’expliquer l’espace terrestre, autant dans sa composition (les choses et les personnes qui y coexistent), son organisation (les relations entre ces entités) et sa dynamique (ce qui résulte de ces relations) (Bavoux et Chapelon, 2014, pp. 545546)7. 3.2

Région

Dans la perspective qui se dessine, l’espace géographique se conçoit dans sa totalité ou dans ses parties. Les régions, qui en sont les parties, se définissent soit comme des éléments spécifiques qui, parce qu’ils sont liés entre eux, composent l’espace géographique, soit comme le résultat de la division de ce dernier (Gregory, 1986a ; Di Méo, 2003 et 2006 ; Bavoux et Chapelon, 2014, pp. 472-475 ; Staszak, 2006). Si elles n’existent que par le fractionnement de l’espace géographique, il n’est pas exclu que l’arbitraire soit en cause ; si elles ont une existence propre, l’espace géographique ne peut s’expliquer qu’à travers elles, ce qui suppose que les régions s’influencent mutuellement. La géographie a souvent privilégié la seconde option, avançant que, bien qu’intégrées à un ensemble et sujettes à changement, les régions ont tout de même leur caractère propre, ce que la planification aménagiste, au demeurant, devrait prendre en considération (Claval et Merlin, 2010). La spécificité de chaque région se manifesterait donc au travers de la forme, de la nature et de l’évolution des choses et des personnes qui s’y trouvent, de même que par la manière dont ces entités s’y combinent et s’influencent réciproquement. Une fois cela dit, il reste à établir – et c’est là un débat fondamental chez les géographes – comment l’unité régionale peut déterminer et différencier la composition, l’organisation et la dynamique de l’espace géographique (Tomaney, 2009).

image de cette chose, image qui, autant que l’usage qui est fait de la chose, peut infléchir les conditions d’existence de cette dernière. D’où l’intérêt que revêt, en géographie, le paysage, qui est l’image d’une partie de l’espace terrestre (Mercier, 2016). Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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3.3

Territoire

chose est dotée de l’être, car elle est un corps occupant un lieu. Il précise que s’il y a des lieux sans corps, il n’y a pas de corps sans lieu. Car le lieu est là où le corps est ou peut être. C’est aussi ce qui reste quand le corps est ailleurs. Or, se demande le philosophe, ce lieu possède-t-il une puissance spécifique qui peut imprimer un mouvement au corps, une puissance qui n’est pas fondée, du moins pas uniquement, sur les propriétés inhérentes du corps ainsi mis en mouvement ?

Pour qu’une région ait une identité propre, il faut que les choses et les personnes qu’elle regroupe y soient soumises à une régulation plus ou moins poussée (Gregory, 1986a, p. 395 ; Debarbieux, 2003, p. 911 ; Delaney, 2009, pp. 200-202 ; Lévy, 2003a). Nous avançons qu’une telle régulation, qui n’est pas sans lien avec le caractère institutionnel que peut revêtir le territoire (Poirat, 2003 ; Merlin, 2010), opère grâce à la limite qui à la fois sépare la région et l’unit aux autres régions, voisines ou éloignées (Bavoux et Chapelon, 2014, p. 259). Cette limite, qui ne se réduit pas à la frontière tracée ou contrôlée par une institution publique ou étatique, sépare en effet un dehors et un dedans (Lussault, 2003b). De plus, elle fait que des choses et des personnes peuvent, dans le temps, se diriger vers l’intérieur ou vers l’extérieur de la région et que ces mouvements, selon les modalités de la limitation en cause, sont possibles ou non, facilités ou non, voulus ou non. Cette qualité différenciée de la limite correspond à une régulation des mouvements et atteste qu’une puissance est opérante au sein de l’espace géographique. Considérée sous l’angle de sa limite qui conditionne ainsi les entrées et les sorties, la région est plus spécifiquement un territoire (Thibault, 2003, p. 928).

Postulons que le mouvement des corps dans l’espace (leur déplacement) et dans le temps (leur transformation) obéit nécessairement à la puissance des corps eux-mêmes. Distinguons cependant la puissance qu’un corps exerce sur lui-même et sur les autres, de celle qu’un corps subit. L’une est intrinsèque au corps et découle de ses propriétés inhérentes, alors que l’autre est extrinsèque et résulte de sa forme (tout particulièrement de sa disposition, c’est-à-dire de sa position relativement aux autres corps). Il est question, dans les deux cas, de la puissance des corps, mais la puissance intrinsèque d’un corps qui agit sur un autre corps est pour ce dernier une puissance extrinsèque.

4. Lieu et corps

4.3 Conditions de la puissance des corps

En quoi le lieu est-il différent de la région et du territoire, dont nous nous venons d’esquisser la définition ? En quoi est-il un rouage aussi spécifique qu’essentiel de l’espace géographique ? Plus précisément, comment le concept de lieu peut-il ajouter à la compréhension de la régulation régionale des choses et des personnes qu’offre le concept de territoire ? Existerait-il une autre puissance ou une autre forme de la puissance, propre au lieu et non pas au territoire, qui elle aussi contribuerait à cette régulation régionale ?

Cette distinction indique une différence fondamentale entre le territoire et le lieu. En effet, l’emprise qu’un corps exerce, grâce à sa puissance intrinsèque, sur les autres corps définirait le territoire. Autrement dit, un territoire existe quand un corps s’approprie plus ou moins intensément une région en exerçant une puissance sur les corps qui l’occupent. Cette appropriation dénote une union entre le corps et le territoire où s’exerce sa puissance.

4.1 Mouvement des corps Revenons à Aristote qui, dans le chapitre 1 du livre IV de sa Physique, distingue les deux dimensions fondamentales de l’être de toute chose : le lieu et le corps. Pour le Stagirite, une

4.2 Puissance des corps

Quant à l’emprise qu’exercent les autres corps sur ce corps, elle définirait le lieu. Tandis que le territoire existe parce que chaque corps agit plus ou moins fortement sur les autres corps, le lieu existe parce qu’en retour tout corps subit plus ou moins grandement la puissance qu’exercent les autres corps avec lesquelles il coexiste. En d’autres mots, un lieu existe quand un corps, Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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subissant la puissance d’un autre corps, est plus ou moins intensément approprié par ce dernier. Cette appropriation établit une union entre le corps ainsi appropriée et le lieu où cette puissance est subie. La différence entre le territoire et le lieu est donc liée au caractère de la détermination du mouvement des corps (leur déplacement et leur transformation). Il y a détermination directe quand un corps se meut par sa propre puissance. La détermination est toutefois indirecte quand il est mu par la puissance d’un autre corps. Cette détermination indirecte pouvant aussi être appelée une surdétermination.

5. Lieu et géographie humaine L’argument qui vient d’être formulé appelle une théorie générale du lieu. Comme nous nous attachons à une théorie du lieu humain, nous renonçons ici à cette ambition pour explorer comment cette proposition peut être transposée dans le champ de la géographie humaine. Pour ce faire, nous nous inspirons de certaines idées énoncées par Gilles Ritchot (1985, 1991, 1992, 1999 et 2014) et ses collaborateurs (Desmarais, 1992 et 2001 ; Desmarais et Ritchot, 2000 ; Hubert, 1993, 1998 ; Bonin et Hubert, 2014), mais en les adaptant en maint aspect et de notre seule initiative. L’exposé que nous en faisons dans la suite du texte étant avant tout énonciatif, le recours à la littérature en est omis, de sorte que l’accent porte essentiellement sur la présentation des concepts mobilisés et de leur articulation. 5.1 Lieu et territoire Commençons l’exercice en reprenant la distinction entre le territoire et le lieu. Considérant cette distinction, une personne est plus spécifiquement un agent ou un sujet, car elle est directement plongée dans la réalité des contraintes et des potentialités du milieu où elle évolue. Dans ce contexte, elle occupe en effet une position composée à la fois de la sujétion qu’elle impose à d’autres et de celle que d’autres lui imposent. Selon cette perspective, un territoire existe lorsqu’une personne, à titre d’agent, exerce, directement ou par l’entremise des personnes sous son emprise, un quelconque contrôle sur une portion de l’espace géographique. Autrement dit, Copyright© Nuova Cultura

un territoire résulte de la puissance qu’une personne exerce sur une unité spatiale, sur les personnes et les choses que celle-ci regroupe et sur celles de l’extérieur qui voudraient y entrer ou dont on voudrait qu’elles entrent. À l’inverse, un lieu existe lorsqu’une personne, à titre de sujet, subit, par surdétermination, l’influence plus ou moins intense de la puissance d’une autre personne. L’attention portée à la problématique du lieu permet d’écarter d’emblée la question de la puissance intrinsèque des personnes. Cette question n’est évidemment pas anodine. La géographie humaine ne peut en effet négliger de réfléchir sur les motifs et les moyens qu’ont les personnes d’agir, individuellement ou collectivement. Néanmoins, dans le cadre restreint de la présente réflexion sur le lieu, il suffit d’assumer que les personnes ont des motifs (peu importe qu’ils relèvent du besoin, du désir, de l’imitation ou de la fantaisie, de la nécessité ou de la passion) et qu’elles ont des moyens de se mouvoir dans l’espace et dans le temps, c’est-à-dire de se déplacer et de durer. Autrement dit, tout déplacement qu’une personne réalise est la preuve même qu’une puissance intrinsèque existe et agit. Or comme le lieu se rapporte non pas à la puissance intrinsèque, mais à la puissance extrinsèque, il convient, dans cette perspective, de s’intéresser à l’influence réciproque des déplacements. Hypothèse est donc faite que la puissance extrinsèque propre au lieu tient, en géographie humaine, à la combinaison même (c’est-à-dire à la structure) des déplacements des personnes humains – et des choses sous leur emprise – qui coexistent au sein d’une même région. 5.2 Déplacement Pour saisir la combinaison des déplacements dans une région, il importe de définir ce que peut désigner un déplacement exactement et préciser ce qui le caractérise. Dans l’horizon d’une géographie humaine qui ne fait pas l’impasse sur l’instance politique, il s’agit avant tout d’interpréter les déplacements des personnes et des choses sur lesquelles s’exerce une puissance humaine. Ces déplacements se faisant dans l’espace tout en se déployant dans le temps, ils sont de facto spatiotemporels. Le déplacement, qui lie une origine à une destination, est en effet autant affaire de distance et de durée, de limite et Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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de délai. C’est pourquoi un déplacement peut n’avoir qu’une réalité temporelle puisque demeurer à la même place n’en exige pas moins la traversée d’un intervalle. En référence à la physique aristotélicienne, assumons d’emblée qu’une personne, dans son existence terrestre, peut être assimilée à un corps en déplacement. La question étant de savoir si cette personne est disposée à se déplacer, plutôt que de demeurer là où elle est. Dans l’optique de la géographie humaine, l’attention ne porte pas sur le déplacement d’une seule personne. Certes, les êtres humains se déplacent le plus souvent individuellement. Cependant, selon la perspective sociale qu’adopte la géographie humaine, chaque déplacement est saisi en association avec d’autres, similaires ou concomitants, de sorte que l’on retient plutôt les déplacements collectifs. En s’engageant en groupe dans un même déplacement, les personnes constituent alors un agent ou sujet commun – que l’on nommera acteur dans la suite du texte – qui se distingue par l’activité que ce déplacement, à l’échelle de la région, permet de réaliser (industrie, commerce, tourisme, résidence, etc.) et par les choses que commande cette activité (usine, boutique, hôtel, maison, etc.). Chaque agent ou sujet commun, c’est-à-dire chaque acteur, tient dès lors un rôle spécifique dans la vie régionale et en devient un élément significatif. Les déplacements amènent les acteurs soit à habiter une région ou encore à l’occuper pour y faire quelque chose, soit à le quitter. Les déplacements réfèrent aussi, plus largement, aux investissements ou aux désinvestissements de tous ordres réalisés par des acteurs et qui affectent une région en conduisant, par exemple, à l’érection, à la modification ou à la démolition d’édifices ou d’équipements, ou encore à l’installation d’activités dans un lieu ou à leur réinstallation ailleurs.

Le doublement, par l’ajout du négatif, de la nomenclature des catégories de l’orientation – ce que nous prônions déjà en 1998 – diverge de la proposition ritchotienne, qui ne retient que les deux catégories positives, l’entrée et la sortie, ce qui Copyright© Nuova Cultura

6. Nomenclature des déplacements Les déplacements des acteurs, agents ou sujets, et concomitamment ceux des choses sous leur emprise, peuvent être différenciés au plan topologique selon les catégories de l’orientation et les catégories de la régulation. 6.1 Orientation L’orientation se rapporte à la direction des déplacements des acteurs par rapport à la région en question. Les déplacements, au regard de l’orientation, sont de quatre types, chacun défini par une direction différente : entrée, sortie, nonentrée, non-sortie8. On notera que, pour connaitre la direction d’un déplacement, il faut considérer que toute région est nécessairement située dans une région plus vaste et qu’elle coexiste avec d’autres régions. En effet, si un acteur sort ou entre dans une région, c’est qu’il y a une autre région où il va ou d’où il vient. Aussi, l’analyse en géographie humaine commande-t-elle l’étude des relations entre les régions et la prise en compte de la problématique des échelles (Sayre et Di Vittorio, 2009). 6.2 Régulation Comme mentionné auparavant, la régulation correspond au contrôle qu’exerce un acteur sur ses propres déplacements ou sur ceux d’autres acteurs. Évidemment, on peut supposer, du moins dans un grand nombre de sociétés, que la plupart des déplacements résultent d’un libre choix. Sans nier cette idée, on doit considérer que la décision libre de réaliser un déplacement est cependant surdéterminée par une série de contraintes – de l’ordre du politique, c’est-à-dire de la polis –, dont le poids est plus ou moins lourd selon les acteurs et les circonstances. La surdétermination étant un “ processus de détermination multiple selon un certain nombre de facteurs ayant entre eux des liens structurels ” (Larousse), elle n’est pas liée à un contrôle direct de la décision de réduit passablement le potentiel de la théorie quand vient le temps de qualifier, au plan topologique, la position des acteurs, la structure que ces positions composent et la dynamique qui anime cette structure. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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l’acteur de se déplacer ou non. Elle relève plutôt d’un contrôle indirect qui s’exerce par l’entremise de facteurs divers qui sont en relation avec le déplacement sans en être la cause directe et sur lesquels l’acteur a plus ou moins de contrôle. C’est pourquoi il est impossible d’établir des catégories exclusives de la régulation, comme on a pu le faire pour l’orientation. Il n’en demeure pas moins que l’on peut, au regard de la régulation, répartir les déplacements selon deux catégories : soit le déplacement est exorégulé, quand la surdétermination induit une contrainte sur la décision de l’acteur ; soit il est endorégulé, quand la surdétermination induit le renforcement de la liberté de l’acteur. Il reste que tous les déplacements sont à la fois endorégulés et exorégulés. La différence est que, selon le déplacement et selon l’échelle où celui est considéré, l’exorégulation ou l’endorégulation

peut être dominante. Cela tient au fait que la détermination de régulation d’un déplacement est toujours relative à un autre déplacement. Ainsi un déplacement est endorégulé par rapport à celui qu’il exorégule, mais il est nécessairement luimême exorégulé par un autre déplacement, du moins théoriquement. Il résulte du croisement des catégories de l’orientation et de celles de la régulation huit types de déplacements, désignés comme suit (Figure 1) : Rassemblement : Évasion : Évitement : Stationnement : Concentration : Expulsion : Repoussement : Confinement :

Entrée endorégulée Sortie endorégulée Non-entrée endorégulée Non-sortie endorégulée Entrée exorégulée Sortie exorégulée Non-entrée exorégulée Non-sortie exorégulée

Figure 1. Déplacements. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

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6.3

Positions

La caractérisation topologique de tout déplacement selon l’orientation et la régulation permet de qualifier la position qu’occupe un acteur. Sur le plan de l’orientation (Figure 2), la position de l’acteur (là où il est) se définit d’abord en fonction de son origine (là d’où il vient) et de sa destination (là où il va ou voudrait aller). Si la position se confond avec la destination, elle est terminale ; si ce n’est pas le cas, elle est non terminale. Sur le plan de la régulation (Figure 3), une position est bloquée (non terminale) ou forcée (terminale) si elle s’inscrit dans un déplacement exorégulé. S’il s’agit d’un déplacement endorégulé, la position est initiale (non terminale), finale (terminale) ou stable (quand l’origine est aussi la destination).

Figure 3. Positions − Sous l’angle de la régulation. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

Figure 2. Positions − Sous l’angle de l’orientation. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

Notons que le fait qu’une position soit non terminale indique clairement que la raison d’être du déplacement n’appartient pas aux seules catégories de l’orientation et de la régulation. Cela signifie que les déplacements n’échappent pas à une finalité fondée sur une nécessité ou intentionnalité qui en révèle le caractère économique ou culturel. Cependant, aussi importante soit-elle, cette finalité économique ou culturelle se manifeste, dans l’ordre de la surdétermination, sous un jour essentiellement topologique, c’est-à-dire en lien direct avec l’orientation et la régulation des déplacements. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Structure et dynamique 7.1 Codétermination

Les déplacements, au sein d’une région à une époque donnée, se déterminent mutuellement. Ces déplacements sont en effet dans un rapport de codétermination, car l’un est nécessairement i n fl u e n c é – quoique plus ou moins intensément – par les autres. C’est le cas, par exemple, quand un rassemblement industriel dans une région (entrée endorégulée) entraine une concentration (entrée exorégulée) ou un confinement (non-sortie exorégulée) d’ouvriers dans cette même région. Confinement et concentration sont, dans ce contexte, fortement dépendants du rassemblement. Il n’en demeure pas moins que ce dernier ne s’accomplit pleinement que si les deux autres se réalisent également. L’ensemble des codéterminations forme une structure à la fois interne et externe propre à chaque région (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Structure. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

7.2 Stabilité et transition La structure que compose la codétermination des déplacements au sein et autour d’une région est dynamique dans la mesure où elle repose sur des forces en équilibre, mais dont le poids relatif peut se modifier plus ou moins rapidement. Par exemple, une évasion industrielle massive peut interrompre soudainement l’équilibre entre un rassemblement industriel et une concentration ouvrière. Donc, la dynamique qui découle de la codétermination des déplacements soit assure la stabilité de la structure géographique régionale, soit favorise sa Copyright© Nuova Cultura

transformation. D’où l’utilité d’introduire l’idée de succession de phases structurelles pour décrire l’évolution d’une région (Figure 5). 7.3

Compétition et association

La dynamique d’une structure géographique dépend aussi de l’origine, de la destination et de la position des acteurs engagés dans les déplacements en cause. Or la diversité des origines, des destinations et des positions s’organise selon des formes de compétition et des formes d’association. La compétition se rapporte à l’orientation des déplacements. Ainsi, dans une structure géographique, les déplacements ont : soit une origine commune ou distincte ; soit une destination commune ou distincte ; soit une position commune ou distincte. Selon les combinaisons, les conditions de la coexistence des acteurs ne sont pas les mêmes. Selon l’origine et la destination, les déplacements sont convergents (origines distinctes, mais destinations communes), divergents (origines communes, mais destinations distinctes ou origines communes, mais destinations différentes) ou parallèles (origines et destinations communes). Selon que la position de l’un ou l’autre des acteurs est terminale ou non, cette nomenclature se complexifie puisque la convergence, la divergence ou le parallélisme est ou n’est pas accompli (Figure 6). L’association procède de la régulation des déplacements. Comme mentionné plus haut, la régulation correspond au contrôle des déplacements. Sur le plan de la structure géographique, il faut examiner comment la régulation d’un déplacement est associée à la régulation des autres déplacements. Selon les circonstances, les combinaisons de l’association ne sont pas les mêmes. Ainsi la combinaison d’un déplacement endorégulé et d’un autre lui aussi endorégulé est une relation de solidarité. La combinaison d’un déplacement endorégulé et d’un déplacement exorégulé est une relation de dépendance. La combinaison d’un déplacement exorégulé et d’un autre comme lui exorégulé est une relation de complémentarité (Figure 7). Les associations de solidarité ou de dépendance ne sont évidemment pas toutes identiques, puisque chacune d’elles dépend de la nature de la compétition entre les déplacements en cause.

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Figure 5. Codétermination des déplacements et phases structurelles. Exemple : formation et déclin d’un quartier ouvrier. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

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Figure 6. Compétition – exemples. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

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8. Conclusion À l’échelle de la région, la codétermination topologique des déplacements des acteurs, agents ou sujets, définit une structure géographique en équilibre ou en transition. Cette dynamique, qui repose sur la surdétermination de la liberté des acteurs en interaction, ne contient pas toute l’explication des déplacements en cause. Audelà, en deçà ou en travers de cette dynamique proprement régionale agissent évidemment divers facteurs d’ordre économique, politique ou culturel qui ne sont pas uniques à la région, sans compter ceux qui relèvent de la détermination naturelle dont l’humanité ne peut s’extraire, du moins dans son existence corporelle. Il n’en demeure pas moins que tous ces facteurs, même si leur emprise peut s’étendre à tout l’espace géographique, ne se manifestent pas autrement que régionalement. Qu’un facteur agisse globalement, c’est toujours au sein de régions qu’il le fait et selon une modalité propre à chacune. Ce qui suggère que la généralité dont il témoigne n’est jamais qu’une répétition d’effets suffisamment similaires pour que l’abstraction conceptuelle – assimilable à l’idée chez Platon – puisse les associer à la même cause. Quoi qu’il en soit, dans les faits, un facteur général n’échappe jamais aux conditions régionales qui, par la force des choses, l’infléchissent. Or comment opère cette inflexion régionale des faits généraux, voilà ce qu’une théorie du lieu devrait aider à comprendre.

Figure 7. Associations – exemples. Réalisation : Département de géographie, Université Laval, 2018.

Le lieu, du moins tel qu’ici entendu, ne détermine pas fondamentalement ce qui se passe dans la région. Cela relève au premier chef de ce que nous avons appelé la puissance intrinsèque des corps, et en particulier celle des acteurs. Toutefois, la puissance extrinsèque, spécifiquement locale, n’est certainement pas étrangère à l’allure et à la tonalité de ce qui s’y déroule. En effet, si une région se distingue d’une autre, il en tient non seulement aux choses et aux personnes qu’elle regroupe et à leur puissance intrinsèque respective, mais aussi au lieu qu’elle constitue par l’exercice de puissances extrinsèques qui y surdéterminent des personnes et des choses. C’est pourquoi la surdétermination régionale de la mobilité des personnes et des choses mérite, croyons-nous, un développement théorique particulier. Nous espérons avoir contribué, selon une approche humaniste, politique et topologique, à esquisser cette théorie Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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du lieu. Des concepts ont ainsi été définis et mis en relation. Bien qu’une cohérence logique ait été recherchée, l’énoncé demeure, dans sa présente formulation, qu’une hypothèse soumise à la discussion9.

Bibliographie 1. Aristote, Œuvres complètes, Paris, Flammarion, 2014. 2. Bavoux J.-J. et Chapelon L., Dictionnaire d’analyse spatiale, Paris, Armand Colin, 2014. 3. Berque A., Écoumène. Introduction à l’étude des milieux humains, Paris, Belin, 2000. 4. Berque A., “Lieu”, in Lévy J. et Lussault M. (Eds.), Dictionnaire de la géographie et de l’espace des sociétés, Paris, Belin, 2003, pp. 555-556. 5. Berque A., Poétique de la Terre. Histoire naturelle et histoire humaine, essai de mésologie, Paris, Belin, 2014. 6. Billinge M., “Place”, in Johnston R.J., Gregory D. et Smith D.M. (Eds.), The Dictionary of Human Geography, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1986, p. 346. 7. Charlton W., “Space”, in Honderich T. (Ed.), The Oxford Companion to philosophy, Oxford et New York, Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 842-843. 8. Claval P. et Merlin P., “Région”, in Merlin P. et Choay F. (Eds.), Le dictionnaire l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 2010, pp. 662-664. 9. Cresswell T., “Place”, in Kitchin R. et Thrift N. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Oxford, Elsevier, 2009, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/articl e/pii/B9780080449104003102. 9

Nous avons par ailleurs mené, dans le champ des études urbaines, plusieurs recherches empiriques en recourant à la théorie du lieu exposée dans le présent article. Cette théorie nous a été utile pour décortiquer la complexité des relations où sont engagés les protagonistes de différents épisodes de l’urbanisation : croissance et déclin de quartiers anciens, patrimonialisation, embourgeoisement,

10. Bonin O. et Hubert J.-P., “Modélisation morphogénétique de moyen terme des villes : une schématisation du modèle théorique de Ritchot et Desmarais dans le cadre du modèle standard de l’économie urbaine”, Revue d’économie régionale et urbaine, 3, 2014, pp. 471-497. 11. Dansereau P., La terre des hommes et le paysage intérieur, Montréal, Leméac, 1973. 12. Davis W.M., Geographical Essays, Boston, Ginn & Co., 1909. 13. Debarbieux B., “Territoire”, in Lévy J. et Lussault M. (Eds.), Dictionnaire de la géographie et de l’espace des sociétés, Paris, Belin, 2003, pp. 910-912. 14. Debarbieux B., “Lieu”, in Mesure S. et Savidan P. (Eds.), Le dictionnaire des sciences humaines, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 2006, pp. 714-716. 15. Delanay D., “Territory and Territoriality”, in Kitchin R. et Thrift N. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Oxford, Elsevier, 2009, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/B9780080449104008087. 16. Desmarais G., “Des Prémisses de la théorie de la forme urbaine au parcours morphogénétique de l’établissement humain”, Cahiers de géographie du Québec, 36, 98, 1992, pp. 251-273. 17. Desmarais G., “Pour une géographie humaine structurale”, Annales de géographie, 617, 2001, pp. 3-21. 18. Desmarais G. et Ritchot G., La géographie structurale, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2000. 19. Di Méo G., “Région”, in Lévy J. et Lussault M. (Eds.), Dictionnaire de la géographie et de l’espace des sociétés, Paris, Belin, 2003, pp. 776-778. 20. Di Méo G., “Région”, in Mesure S. et Savidan P. (Eds.), Le dictionnaire des périurbanisation, urbanisation diffuse. La qualification de la codétermination des déplacements en termes d’association ou de compétition est tout particulièrement pertinente pour examiner finement les discours de ces protagonistes et les métarécits que leur intrication forme. Voir par exemple Mercier (1998, 2003, 2010a et 2010b).

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Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 61-75 DOI: 10.4458/0623-04

Urban regeneration strategies in waterfront areas. An interpretative framework Giorgia Iovinoa a

Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e della Comunicazione (DiSPSC), University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy Email: giovino@unisa.it

Received: September 2017 – Accepted: January 2018

Abstract In this paper we discuss strategies and practices for regenerating waterfronts, a typology of urban space, exposed more than others to profit-driven urbanization. Following the literature and the academic debate of the last decades, the main elements of two fundamentally different visions of the waterfront and the city in general are identified and investigated. Based on these elements we draw a unified framework to elicit the city vision underlying present regenerative practices and we propose a concise set of criteria to compare case studies. This conceptual and methodological grid can be usefully employed for the framing of the decision-making process at the planning stage by policy makers and practitioners, for the assessment of these policies in the public debate and, more generally, for teaching and empirical research purposes in this field. Keywords: City Visions, Regeneration Strategies, Urban Waterfront

1. Introduction Waterfronts have been places of decisive importance for the history of virtually all cities as we know them. They have been vital for the foundation and existence of the city itself (as a source of freshwater, for example) and for the organization of its economic activities (as industry location sites and nodes of the trade and transport network), for its defense strategies in the case of military attacks. Nowadays, those complex spaces, dense in historic, cultural and economic sedimentations, represent, from the point of view of urban planCopyright© Nuova Cultura

ning, strategic areas with a high positional value in the compact fabric of our high-density cities. The differential urban rent makes the waterfront the place where everyone loves “leaving, working and investing” (Bruttomesso and Moretti, 2010, p. 24). This appeal explains why these fluid spaces, when affected by urban regeneration projects, tend to become more and more the battlefield of diverging interests, values and goals (Bassett et al., 2002). In most cases the restyling strategies, supported by economic and political urban elites in the form of public-private partnerships, pursuing a profit-driven urbanization, produce the growth Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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of socio-spatial inequalities, the erosion of public spaces, the reduction in community service provision and the loss of place identity and community values (Zukin, 1991). Recent dynamics of the global economy and the politico-administrative devolution (particularly, in terms of fiscal responsibility) from the national level to the local level in several countries has further exacerbated the above trends. The result is that many local governments are depleting significant organizational energies and financial resources (running into debts or selling entire pieces of urban land) in the rush to make the city attractive to investors and tourists, starting from the places with the greatest competitive edge. So many waterfronts have been transformed into shopping and loisir, areas, “nonplaces” (Augè, 1992) devised only to promote urban rent and manipulate the (purchasing) paths of the dwellers-consumers” (Governa, 2016, p. 106). Our view is that urban waterfronts, for their symbolic and iconic value and for their ability to promote social identity should rather be rethought and redesigned as commons and hence as “the ‘place’ par excellence of public policies” (Savino, 2010, p. 11). To this aim it is therefore important to investigate the consequences of the different regenerative approaches, in order to identify and undertake alternative routes and new socio-territorial practices, able to take the waterfront away from the logic of speculation and profit-driven urbanization. Starting from such perspective, in this paper we discuss the strategies and regenerative practices implemented in these urban spaces, focussing on the unveiling of the vision of the city that underlies these practices. By identifying a selection of analytical criteria, we provide an interpretative frame and a methodological grid, for their multidimensional evaluation. Our analysis can be usefully employed, at an empirical level, for comparing different case studies, the framing of the decision-making process at the planning stage by policy makers and practitioners, for the assessment of these policies in the public debate and, more generally, for teaching and research purposes in this field1 . 1

For a few case studies, also used as teaching material, the reader is referred to Iovino, 2016a, 2016b and Iovino 2016c. For the teaching material see note 14.

2. Waterfront regeneration practices and competing urban visions In the large majority of US and European cities experiences of waterfront regeneration, which started at the beginning of the 70s, were prompted by the obsolescence of productive settlements and by the total or partial relocation of harbors to areas outside the city, more appropriate to the new forms of organization of maritime trading (Hoyle and Pinder, 1981; Breen and Rigby, 1996; Vallega, 1992; Hoyle, 1996, 2000). Due to these processes vast stretches of land usually located very close to the urban historical center but physically and functionally separated from the rest of the city, have become the “new urban frontier”, following the definition by Peter Hall (1991). The regeneration of these spaces has followed heterogeneous logics and modes of intervention as has been shown in several empirical analyses undertaken on these topics (Bruttomesso, 1993, 2006; Mayer, 1999; Marshall, 2001; Savino, 2010; Giovinazzi, 2007; Hein 2011; Fischer et al., 2004; Smith and Garcia Ferrari, 2012). In several cases the redesign or reterritorialization of the waterfront has pursued goals of pure real estate enhancement, subordinating the interests of the public and the local communities to the private ones, in a profit-maximizing logic. This was the dominant approach in the 1970s and 1980s, with the first two waves of regenerative projects according to the periodization originally proposed by Show (2001)2. The Docklands in London and the Temple Quay in Bristol are the emblematic examples of this period. There are also more recent experiences that, though based on an apparently more participatory approach, have been actually using the same logic, mainly driven by the short run maximization of the rent. In other rare cases the physical revitalization of the waterfront has been integrated with forms of reshaping of the cultural significance of the places, aimed to promote or to strengthen new urban imagery. Prominent examples of this cultural-led approach are the projects undertaken in Barcelona and Bilbao (Gonzales, 2006) in the 1990s and those more recently undertaken in 2

See also Schubert (2011) and Brownill (2013). Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Liverpool, Hamburg (Schubert, 2011) and in some cities in the North Sea (Carley and Garcia Ferrari, 2007). Nevertheless, even in these latter cases gentrification could not be avoided. At the beginning of the new millennium, when the phenomenon became “viral” (Brownill, 2013) the restyling of the waterfront was started in many other cities in all continents. A common element in this phase is that they were mainly based on the blind imitation of projects that had succeeded in other contexts, totally disconnected from the history and culture of the place and the community dwelling in it. Openly incoherent, in a territorial perspective, are in particular those initiatives that, in order to make the cities attractive and “marketable”, aim at the spectacularization of the waterfront, promoting elitist functions or unusually splurging forms of consumption. The most prominent example of this aesthetic and competitive approach is the regeneration of the Dubai waterfront. The new futuristic arborescences (the Palm Islands, two artificial palm-shaped islands) represent a quite prototypical sign of the attempt by emerging cities to escalate the ladder of “the world urban hierarchy and establish itself as the image of the 21st century” (Acuto, 2010, p. 274). In short, a large variety of approaches have been used in the last decades. By adopting a culinary metaphor, we could say that the recipes used were different, as well as the ingredients, and their proportions. For this reason, in the attempt to classify regeneration practices, many criteria have been proposed and they vary according to the analytical dimensions considered, which, as stated by Tallon (2010, p. 5) “can be broadly described as economic, social and cultural, physical and environmental, and governance-related in nature”3. 3

Each of these dimensions can be further refined using a vast spectrum of indicators and variables. Evans and Shaw (2004), for example, set out to assess the social impact of waterfront regeneration, focusing on the level of social capital to be obtained through a series of parameters, such as the change in the perception of the inhabitants, the level of trust and individual aspirations, the ability to express ideas and needs, the involvement in donation or community voluntary work, organizational ability of the local community and so forth. The variables to measure the

Depending on the weight attributed to each dimension in relation to others and on the scale of values used to measure each component, different categories of urban regeneration emerge from the current literature. By focusing on the governance structure and the role of the private interests, a few categories of waterfront regeneration can be distinguished such as market-led regeneration, property-led regeneration, stateled regeneration and community regeneration. By focusing on the functional requalification, other categories emerge, such as business district retail/housing/leisure-led regenerations. Finally, by focusing on the event that triggers the regeneration process, expressions as eventdriven regeneration or cultural-led regeneration have been used to refer to those transformations that are associated with the organization of important sports, cultural or media driven events like the Olympic Games, Expo, America’s Cup, or other less ephemeral cultural activities which act as catalyst of the regeneration process. Each of these categories is the outcome of specific choices made on the basis of the vision that drives the transformation, with reference to the urban functions activated, the nature of the areas involved, the kind of social actors that planning choices aim at attracting or at excluding. In our view, such a variety of urban regeneration practices can be conveniently considered under two fundamental approaches, that ultimately rest on two visions of the cities and two antithetical models of urban development: a market oriented or neoliberal model and a territorialist or place-based model. However, these alternative approaches, rather than binary conflicting models, should be interpreted as the extreme forms or ideal typos on a spectrum made of a continuum where to place the diverse regeneration practices, hardly attributable to the pure model. The market-oriented approach originates from the urban neoliberalism of the 1980s. It refers to the paradigm proposed by Molotoch (1976) of the “city as a growth machine” and its evolution in the “entrepreneurial city” described by Harvey (1989) and other authors committed economic and the environmental impact that have been singled out by these authors are also abundant. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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to providing a critical diagnosis of the urban phenomenon in the present phase of globalization4. The building blocks of the market-oriented approach are the view of the city as a means to foster economic growth, the centrality of market in the assessment of alternative projects, the prominence of private developers and the necessity for an entrepreneurship view in the governance of urban dynamics. The primacy assumed by economic imperatives within the neoliberal approach to public policies, the dismantling of the welfare State and the gradual decentralization of responsibilities from central government to lower levels of the political and territorial administrative hierarchy have prompted many local governments to engage in a variety of “valorization” strategies, aimed at attracting external investment, especially in the tourism sector. The main instruments to achieve these targets have been the creation of cultural attractors, the organization of hallmark events, the development of ambitious urban renovation plans, often arranged in the expectation of thaumaturgical effects. The adoption of an entrepreneurial approach by local governments on the one hand reinforces the ability of the private sector (local and global elites) to heavily influence urban policy platforms and, on the other hand, it increases the share of land and investments (public and private) directed at the real estate and consumer sectors. The primary objective of the “new urban politics” in the advanced phase of neoliberalism5 in fact becomes that of fostering the marketability of urban spaces, in order to transform them into what have been considered (or hoped) to be

The critical literature on the urban effects of neoliberalism is now overwhelmingly wide. On the subject we refer to the effective synthesis proposed by Rossi and Vanolo, 2012. 5 According to Peck and Tickell (2002) neoliberalism has gone through two main phases: the first, in the 1980s, defined as roll-back, marked by a harsh and conservative approach focused on deregulation and the dismantling of the welfare state; the second in the early 1990s, defined as roll-out, led by many progressive parties in the social democratic tradition and characterized by the adoption of more flexible forms of regulation and the apparent inclusion of environmental and social sustainability objectives in urban policies. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

the best productive uses of these resources6. The projects are presented to the public opinion as the ineludible road to revitalize the urban economic base in an age of global competition, the only way to attract resources from outside, in the absence of which exclusion of the city from the global network and decline would be the alternative. The success in this rush to global markets largely depends on how the image of the places of the city is constructed and sold through marketing and branding policies (Lucarelli and Berg, 2011; Kokx and Van Kempen, 2010). Usually seductive and attractive images, along with selective narratives of the history of the city (Holcomb, 2001), have been used to address a specific target of city users and consumers, in order to promote a new urban imaginary. In most cases these operations of urban restyling present a high degree of ambiguity. On the one hand, they aim at enhancing the “distinctiveness” (Airas et al., 2015), namely the personality and uniqueness of places as part of an implicit marketing strategy. On the other hand, they use a limited and homologating repertoire of regenerative strategies, strongly oriented to consumption (of goods, images and land). A contribution to the standardization of regeneration practices comes from the increasing mobility of companies specializing in urban projects. Ward (2011), for example, provides a detailed reconstruction of the ways and mechanisms through which the EDC (Enterprise Development Company) progressively managed to extend its scope from Baltimore to Boston, Sidney, Rotterdam and Barcelona, re-exporting the same model with a different brand. In this process of imitation by more or less aware local decisionmakers a prominent role is played by the socalled archistars (Ponzini, 2014; Gonzales, 2011; Muñoz, 2008). Under the effect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, cities which aim at becoming global (and hence automatically creative and smart) compete for the services of the big shots in the field of architecture for the realiza6

As stated by Brenner and Theodore (2002, p. 19) “the overarching goal of such neoliberal urban policy experiments is to mobilize city space as an arena for both market-oriented economic growth and for elite consumption practices”. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Giorgia Iovino

tion of iconic landmark buildings, symbols of success and catalysts of political consensus, often quite repetitive artifacts, with no links with the context and its historical, political and socioeconomic background7. A direct consequence of the spectacularization of the urban space (Minca, 2005) and its reorganization for consumption is the progressive loss of the historical identity of the places and the value of the community, so effectively described by Zukin (1991) in her book Landscapes of Power. Other consequences emphasized in the critical approaches to urban studies, are the weakening of social cohesion and the fragmentation of its urban structure (Vicar Haddok and Moulaert, 2009). No larger equitable growth has been generated by the cultural approach to urban regeneration policies spurred on in the 1990s in AngloSaxon countries and exported to the rest of Europe (Miles, 2005). This new approach has found support in the so-called theory of the creative city (Florida 2002, 2005; Landry 2000). In the majority of culture-led regeneration programs, culture is only ancillary to market driven planning strategies and it has been used to justify the realization of big buildings and structures for cultural consumption, where the only thing that has been regenerated, and only where the initiative has succeeded, is the market value of the land, with significant effects of gentrification and associated phenomena of social exclusion (Ley, 2003; Zukin, 1995). A typical example is the waterfront renovation of Marseille, transformed in the early 2000s into a great space of entertainment and cultural consumption (Governa, 2016). According to Ley (2003, p. 2542) this trend has led us “to an intensified economic colonization of the cultural realm, to the representation of the creative city not as a means of redemption, but as a means of economic accumulation”. 7

According to some authors (Governa, 2016; Devisme et al., 2007), the transfer of previously “tested” urban models to other contexts has been favored by those programs (and city networks) promoted by the European Union (such as Urban, Urbanact, Eurocities) or by other international organization (such as the UN-Habitat Sustainable Urban Development Network), which stimulate the exchange and dissemination of “good practices”, contributing to the flattening of the urban imagery.

In contrast to the market-oriented model, the territorialist or place-based approach focuses on the territorial heritage of the city, interpreted as a set of tangible and intangible resources locally embedded (environmental, social, cultural, assets, but also skills, know-how, relational goods), which can be used as the engine of an integrated and sustainable urban regeneration strategy. From this viewpoint the economic or exchange-value of the urban space (and more in general of the whole territory) is considered less important than its social value. The recognition of local territorial resources as commons8 (with a use-value, not negotiable or marketable) and the preeminence of the commons and the Common Good9 over private interests are, in fact, the cornerstones of this orientation, matured in Italy thanks to reflections on local development, proposed by the so-called territorialist school10.

Starting from the work of Ostrom (1990), Governing the Commons, an intensive political and cultural debate has developed around this concept. The expression has come to refer to a diverse and disparate range of new commons, global and local, natural and artificial, tangible and intangible (Lessing, 2001; Hess, 2008; Bollier, 2015). With regard to the more restricted sphere of the urban commons, they vary, according to the analytical (and ideological) perspectives adopted, from public spaces (parks, squares, streets, etc.), to urban services (transport, health services, education, etc.), from the environment to safety, up to including the city as a whole (Hardt and Negri, 2009; Salzano, 2009; Harvey, 2012). 9 Common Good is meant here as an ethical principle, connected to the more pragmatic concept of “general interest” or “public utility”. On the deep link and the differences between commons (plural) and Common Good (singular) see Settis (2012). 10 This approach experienced great vigour between the 1990s and the 2000s thanks to the elaboration on the so-called “local project” developed by Magnaghi and his school (1998, 2000; Poli, 2011), to the studies on the processes of territorialization of Raffestin (1981, 1984) and Turco (1988, 2014), to the interpretations of local territorial systems elaborated by Dematteis (1994, 2001; Dematteis and Governa, 2005), just to name a few. For further details, see also the website of the Italian Società dei territorialisti (http://www.societadeiterritorialisti.it/), created in 2004 to support “an integrated vision of the territory as a common good”. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Giorgia Iovino

As a result of the central role assigned to places and their social construction, the placebased approach11 shares some common grounds with the cultural planning, the inclusive strategic planning approach of Anglo-Saxon origin and with other interpretative categories and regenerative practices such as the HUL method proposed by UNESCO or the placemaking proposed by the Project for Public Spaces. A common trait of these more recent approaches is the determined attempt to conciliate objectives of economic competitiveness with social equity and sustainability. In the cultural planning approach (Bianchini, 1993, 1999; Bianchini and Parkinson, 2003; Evans, 2001) a strong emphasis is given to a broad notion of culture which includes all those forms of expression, values, traditions and customs that characterize the social life of a local community and strengthen its territorial identity and roots. A strong link is thus set between the culture produced by the local community and its places or daily living spaces. By so doing, this approach rejects the more elitist vision that interprets culture only as high-profile artistic production (only San Carlo, no tarantella) and, at the same time, it also contrasts the excessively pragmatic view taken by the culture-led practices12, where culture is just another commodity for the masses or even worse “a carnival mask” (Harvey, 1989) behind which increasing social inequalities and conflicts in the contemporary 11 The place-based approach is now widely used also within regional development studies (see the OECD report on the new regional policy paradigm and the EU Territorial Agenda 2020). A significant contribution to the recognition of the territorial dimension of the policies came from Barca (2009; Barca et al., 2012), who also contributed to the notoriety of the term. 12 Evans (2005) identifies three major families of regeneration practices: culture-led regeneration, culture and regeneration and cultural regeneration. The first places cultural activity (infrastructures and/or events) as a catalyst for change. The second concerns small-scale interventions and events promoted from the bottom, often very effective, but not able to characterize the wider regenerative process. Finally, cultural regeneration uses cultural activity as the engine of a wider development strategy: social, economic, and environmental and therefore it tends to satisfy the requirements of cultural planning.

cities are hidden. One of the aims of the cultural planning approach is to integrate planning methods that were previously disconnected, such as social planning, urban planning, arts planning and economic planning (Evans, 2001), to obtain a global view of regeneration processes, with positive repercussions in many areas of urban life. Fundamental issues of this approach are the adoption of “a territorial rather than a sectorial focus” (Garcia, 2004, p. 314) and the use of widely participated planning. The HUL method (Historic Urban Landscape), supported by UNESCO is also sensitive to culture. It rests on a broad definition of the urban historic landscape interpreted “as the result of a historic layering of cultural and natural values and attributes, extending beyond the notion of ‘historic centre’ or ‘ensemble’ to include the broader urban context and its geographical setting” (UNESCO, 2011, p. 3). In this perspective both material and intangible urban assets have to be taken as key elements of urban planning and policies (Bandarin and van Oers, 2012). By adopting a dynamic view to conservation, this method acknowledges the suitability of flexibly designed frameworks that can be reviewed when needed, in order to adapt to unforeseen needs of the local community (Fusco Girard, 2013). It is a people-oriented perspective already adopted in the practice of placemaking by Project for Public Spaces, an American non-profit organization, supported by UN-Habitat (PPS, 2012; UN-Habitat, 2015; Silberberg, 2013; Palermo and Ponzini, 2015). According to its promoters, placemaking is both a planning process and a philosophy. The key idea is to foster collaborative community-based plans to re-imagine and to re-design sites, neighborhoods and cities starting from small scale projects for public spaces such as parks, roads, waterfronts, piazzas, in order to transform them into “livable and sustainable places”. Resting on a robust and rather old intellectual tradition epitomized in the works by Jane Jacobs (1961) and William Whyte (1980), this approach attributes a key role to public urban space as a source of identity, capable of generating “a distinctive sense of place”, promoting civic connections and building social capital (Silberberg, 2013, p. 7).

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All these approaches, even in the presence of more or less marked nuances, suggest the need to look for alternative models to the profitdriven approaches that focus on satisfying individual needs and collective well-being. If environmental and social implications have to be considered in these alternative approaches, a logic and a series of criteria and indicators to assess several dimensions have to be taken into account in the definition of the planning objectives and in their implementation. To this end, a general interpretative frame is proposed in the following section, as well as a discussion of the few analytic dimensions deemed important and a set of corresponding indicators.

3. An interpretive frame to assess waterfront regeneration practices In the light of the above discussion it is evident that different families of regeneration practices emerge from these two antithetical and fundamentally incompatible models. By simplifying a little, we could say that the basis and the stakes in the regeneration process of those areas end up in the confrontation of two opposite alternatives: the commodification of the waterfront and the generation of new active territoriality or urban common13. However, as happens in other matters where a political spectrum of platforms and social preferences crop up, there is actually a continuum of possibilities between these two extreme forms. In the large majority of cases the trade-off between profit-led approaches, based on short run rent maximization, and alternative views gets settled only after complex compromises among a plurality of stakeholders, in all the phases of the decision-making process from planning to implementation.

By taking this view, the two models can, and we think should, be simply considered as archetypes, as ideal benchmarks to provide a measure, a criterion to assess specific, less transparent episodes and contingencies. Understanding these as archetypes or ideal types, we can’t expect a perfect match, but could proceed to discuss the degree of resemblance, searching for differences and similarities across cases. The interpretative frame shown in Figure 1 identifies seven analytical dimensions or criteria useful for the multidimensional evaluation of regenerative processes. In our view, these criteria constitute the key elements that make it possible to clarify the essential features of the choices made in the project and to understand its inspiring principles. The first dimension focuses on the governance structure, with particular reference to the relationship between public and private actors and the involvement of the local community. Formally, in both approaches the undertaking of the project features a public-private partnership. There are significant differences however. In the place-based approach, the public actor plays the role of a director of the whole process, he decides the strategy and its objectives, in order to ensure the public interest hopefully in the long run. Private agents are limited to cofinancing and managing the phase of implementation. The involvement of the local community tends to be ensured by forms of direct democracy. With respect to the measurement of the scale of participation of Arnstein (1969), as reformulated by Turco (2011), the territorial approach in fact uses a conciliatory evaluation paradigm (Figure 2), the only one, among the three basic paradigms proposed, that draws a real path of participation.

As suggested by Dematteis and Governa (2005), the active or positive territoriality “resulting from collective action - territorialized and territorializing undertaken by local actors, who use inclusive and cooperative strategies” (ibidem, p. 26). On the affinity and the relationship between the concept of active territoriality and the concept of commons see Moss (2014); Turco (2014); Gattullo (2015). Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Figure 1. Alternative approaches to waterfront regeneration: an interpretative frame. Source: Authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s elaboration.

The public authority is a primus inter pares in the bargaining process among different stakeholders. In this perspective the emergence of issues at the bottom are promptly taken to the negotiation table and satisfied, if coherent with a long run notion of efficiency, sustainability and equity. Less clear is the role of public actor in the market-led approach to regeneration. In most cases the local government, in order to attract investments, gives up its role as a public decision-maker and becomes a self-interested arbitrator among lobbying activities by conflicting groups (banks, urban developers, trade unions). The self-interest of the public official is quite often aligned with the market forces aimed at maximizing land value, in the expectation that regeneration programs will lead to extra revenues (such as urbanization fees and property taxes). In short, the local government becomes a political entrepreneur that acts to maximize their own profit in terms of revenues, votes, prestige and political endorsement.

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Figure 2. Paradigms for the assessment of participatory processes. Source: Arnstein (1969) as modified by Turco (2011).

The involvement of the local community is negligible, in particular when stakeholders are weak, either in terms of votes, financial resources or capabilities. In most cases, the use of participatory practices is purely instrumental, it serves to create consensus and to formally respect the administrative constraints and regulations, but it does not affect the ability of ordiItalian Association of Geography Teachers

Giorgia Iovino

nary citizens to influence policy choices. By referring to Figure 2 the neoliberal approach thus uses practices that can be traced back to the manipulative or consultative paradigm. At first, the public actor (usually secretly captured by a lobby) decides according to their own self-interest, pretending to adopt seemingly participatory practices (DAD, decide, announce, defend). In the consultative paradigm, the public actor is an arbitrator of a lobbying process where the requests of the (financially) weaker actors are settled by the so-called tokenism: small concessions (direct financial transfers or the fulfillment of specific requests) by the public actor aimed at compensating the stakeholders. The other criteria taken into consideration are related to these different modes of negotiation in the design and implementation of urban policies. Market-oriented regeneration will tend to enforce the projects that are the most remunerative in the short run (dimension 5), usually marked by an intensive use of the soil and a high “floor area ratio” (dimension 2) and by the erosion and privatization of previously public urban space (dimension 3). On the contrary, it will tend to neglect the territorial coherence of the project, i.e. the capacity to contextualize interventions, taking into account the historical, cultural and socio-economic city background (dimension 6). It will also tend to neglect the social impact of the regeneration process (dimension 4), as proved by the introduction of elitist functions or club assets, such as luxury condos and hotel, shopping malls and other exclusive attractions, all functions that inevitably generate an increase in land rent and gentrification processes. Equally weak is the attention paid to the environmental sustainability. Interest in landscape and environmental resources is, in fact, subordinated to their ability to influence the urban imaginary, to increase the waterfront attractiveness and as a consequence to generate economic returns (dimension 7). The place-based approach on the other hand, by focusing less on the real estate and more on the environmental and social sustainability of the project, will tend to limit soil sealing and to promote the reuse of abandoned areas (criterion 2). It also will tend to defend the size and the quality of public space, interpreted as central Copyright© Nuova Cultura

place of urban sociality (criterion 3) and to ensure the affordability of housing and its diversification, in order to favor the social and cultural mixitè (criterion 4). The place-based approach can be weaker in terms of financial and economic sustainability (criterion 5), especially in the short run, since it tends to be mainly financed by public funds. Conversely, by attributing a central role to the local community and its history, this approach will tend to closely scrutinize the territorial coherence of interventions (criterion 6), as well as their impact on the environment and the landscape (criterion 7). In this perspective, natural, cultural and social resources of the waterfront (and the waterfront itself) are seen as “commons”, i.e. as relationship resources whose “real” value cannot be measured by their exchange value, but rather with their usage and existence values, with them being fundamental components of the ecosystem, well-being and quality of life. The translation of this interpretative scheme in operational terms requires that the analytic dimensions investigated are further articulated in a set of variables and indicators we deem useful for empirical analysis in this field (Table 1). Table 1 shows a list that, far from being exhaustive, only takes into account the few variables applicable to most regenerative projects, omitting valuation elements that, even if of primary importance, are more directly related to the specific context of reference (for example, the presence of ports, brownfield or contaminated sites, particularly vulnerable environments, etc.). Many variables are inevitably linked to the stage of advancement of the project. For example, output indicators such as change in property prices, inflows of tourists or the rise of gentrification processes can more properly be evaluated ex post. Conversely other elements, such as the criteria for the selection of the urban planner and the architects involved in the regeneration project, can be evaluated right from the initial stage of the project.

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Dimension

Variable

Indicator/descriptor

Relationship between pub- Role of the promoter and other stakeholders directly involved in the lic and private stakeholders project implementation Sources of funds (public vs private) Contractual modes Selection criteria, skills Direct assignment vs competition and role of urban planner Skills of the planning group coordinator and degree of knowledge of the 1. local context Governance Role of urban planner (and architects) structure Participation levels and Degree of transparency (dedicated website, info point, etc.) local conflict Degree of involvement by the local community (participative, nonparticipatory, pseudo-participative) Oppositional grassroots movements (extension and features, motivations, goals, external projection, etc.) Land use and settlement Built up areas, floor area ratio 2. Degree of soil sealing and land take Physical trans- models Index of compactness and dispersion of the urban fabric formation of the territory Urban functions and ser- Mix of functions introduced for typologies and occupied surface vices Public and private polarities Relevance, use and typolo- Presence of a specific project for the public space 3. Public space by type and in relation to the surface area (before and after Quality and con- gy the regeneration project) formation of pubPrivatization of public space (variations of land use in urban planning lic space tools) Flexibility of use, with the possibility of appropriation and selforganization Accessibility and security Accessibility during the day/week Degree of security in the area (no visible barriers, unlit areas, etc.) Measures to contrast improper use and vandalism Provision of functions and Diversification of residential typologies and affordability of housing 4. services Structures devoted to specific categories of citizens (weak categories or Social elite) Sustainability

5. Economic Sustainability

6. Territorial herence

co-

7. Environmental and landscape quality and sustainability

Effects of gentrification Turnover in housing and social exclusion Citizens who are excluded or disadvantaged by the implementation of the project Local mobilization against the project Economic and financial Presence of an economic-financial plan of the project that estimates sustainability of the project costs, revenues and value of the area before and after intervention Availability of a market survey that allows the expense of the project costs and revenues, the absorption conditions and the expected real estate products Public expenditure for project development and annual management costs Economic impact on local Job offers scale Change in the value of land and real estate Change in number of residents Change in tourist flows Consistency between the Attention to existing landmarks in the area (natural, cultural, etc.) design solutions adopted Continuity (or discontinuity) of design choices in relation to the historiand the milieu cal evolution of the city and its identity Respect for existing environmental and landscape constraints Soil sealing and land take Use of permeable materials and reuse of brownfield and other abandoned areas Accessibility and enjoyment Introduction of elements designed to enhance the landscape of the landscape Introduction of elements perceived as negative (disturbing elements) Attention to the landscape's factors favored or inhibited by the project Attention to soft mobility Creation of pedestrian areas and cycle paths Quality of the environment

Table 1. Dimensions, variables and indicators for the analysis of regenerative projects. Source: Authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s elaboration.

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The list includes both quantitative indicators, from statistical archives, public databases or inferred from the analysis of the projects, and descriptive information, collected through qualitative surveys, such as direct observation, local press reviews, interviews with key local stakeholders, analysis of materials (documents or reports) produced by committees and local associations, questionnaires, etc. It is, indeed, crucial to adopt an integrated methodological approach, i.e. an approach based on the combination of “objective” indicators and qualitative information, in order to grasp the way in which the territory affected by the regeneration project is experienced by the local community and how socio-territorial actions and practices are under way in this context. In our view, the use of a descriptive ethnographic-style approach is particularly relevant to the analysis of some dimensions and variables, such as the perception of different stakeholders of the project or the landmarks (ancient or new) as experienced by the local community, in terms of identity factors or disturbing elements. A qualitative approach is equally important to explore features, motivations and organizational modes of opposition grassroots movements.

4. Conclusions The proposed frame suggests a unifying view to systematize the variety of approaches to waterfront regeneration, not only conceptually, but also in operational terms, as a reference grid for case studies and empirical applications. There is always an intrinsic limitation in the aim of building up a taxonomy and it lies in the arbitrariness of the selected criteria. Our strategy was to identify the main paradigms or city models underlying the policies and regenerative practices in the last decades, following the literature and the academic debate in this field. Some key evaluation criteria were derived from a selection of the conceptual issues as debated in the literature. The main aim was to target the minimum set of indicators, in the application of Ockam’s razor, in order to facilitate the practical implementation. It seems to us that this simple conceptual and methodological grid can be usefully employed Copyright© Nuova Cultura

for the framing of the decision-making process at the planning stage, the assessment of these policies in the public debate and, more generally, for empirical research and teaching purposes in this area. Space constraints prevented us from discussing a few case studies in detail (see Iovino, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c) and other empirical aspects that illustrate the usefulness of this grid for the analysis. Here we highlight that some of these case studies have been used as teaching material14 with undergraduate students in the “Urban Geography” course at the University of Salerno as part of their syllabus in Political Science. In this course the synthetic scheme provided in this paper proved quite useful in the class experience to frame the discussion about a waterfront regeneration plan. A simulation of the main issues arising in the decision-making process in the town of Salerno was proposed and implemented. Students were divided into three groups, a group of (two) developers, a group of politicians (two students, one as a mayor, another as the head of the opposition minority) and the rest of the class (seven students) in the group of dwellers/voters. By using the framework synthesized in section 3, a simulation of a public debate on different proposals was performed, requiring all the parties to provide a plan for waterfront regeneration, where all the seven dimensions in Table 1 had to be discussed, negotiated and voted. Despite the small group bias, the main aspects of real life issues emerged clearly in these sessions with the students. The scheme proved useful as a synthetic tool to focus their attention and participation on the crucial stakes and the steps leading to a collective decision-making in this area. A preliminary project aimed at taking these forms of interactions by the students in the lab is currently under consideration for further developments. Overall, this experience suggests that the conceptual framework proposed can be easily utilized as a teaching device.

The background material can be found at http://docenti.unisa.it/uploads/rescue/385/1637/GUCaso-studio-waterfront-Salerno.pdf. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Giorgia Iovino

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Annaler B. Human Geography, 71, 1, 1989, pp. 3-17. 40. Harvey D., Rebel cities. From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution, New YorkLondon, Verso, 2012. 41. Hein C. (Ed.), Port Cities: Dynamic Landscapes and Global Networks, London and New York, Routledge, 2011. 42. Hess C., Mapping the New Commons, paper presented at 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons, Cheltenham (UK), July 2008, pp. 14-18 (available on digital library of the commons). 43. Holcomb B., “Place Marketing, Using Media to Promote Cities”, in Vale L. and Warner S.B. Jr. (Eds.), Imaging the City, Continuing Struggles and New Directions, New Brunswick (US), Rutgers, 2001, pp. 33-55. 44. Hoyle B.S., Cityports, coastal zones and regional change: International perspectives on planning and management, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1996. 45. Hoyle B.S., “Global and local change on the port-city waterfront”, Geographical Review, 90, 3, 2000, pp. 395-417. 46. Hoyle B.S. and Pinder D.A., Cityport industrialization and regional development. Spatial analysis and planning strategies, Oxford (UK), Pergamon Press, 1981. 47. Iovino G., “La rigenerazione del waterfront nelle città marittimo-portuali. L’esperienza di Salerno”, Bollettino dell’Associazione Italiana di Cartografia, 157, 2016a, pp. 41-52. 48. Iovino G., “Waterfronts as Commons? On the redistribution effects of urban regeneration project. Social practices and local public choice in a case study in Southern Italy”, in Società di studi geografici, Commons/Comune: geografie, luoghi, spazi, città, Memorie geografiche, NS 14, 2016b, pp. 7987. 49. Iovino G., “Spazio pubblico e mobilitazioni locali nei processi di rigenerazione urbana”, in Romagnoli L. (Ed.), Spunti di ricerca per un mondo che cambia, Studi in onore di Emanuele Paratore, Edigeo, Milan, 2016c, pp. 539- 554. 50. Jacobs J., The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York, Random House, 1961.

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51. Jones A.L., “On the Water’s Edge: Developing Cultural Regeneration Paradigms for Urban Waterfronts”, in Smith M.K. (Ed.), Tourism, Culture and Regeneration, Wallingford, CABI Pub., 2007, pp. 143-150. 52. Kokx A. and van Kempen R., “A Fact is a Fact, but Perception is Reality: Stakeholders’ Perceptions and Urban Policies in the Process of Urban Restructuring”, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 28, 2, 2010, pp. 335-348. 53. Landry C., The creative city, A toolkit for urban innovators, London, Earthscan, 2000. 54. Leary M.E. and Mccarthy J. (Eds.), The Routledge Companion To Urban Regeneration, London and New York, Routledge, 2013. 55. Lessig L., The Future of Ideas. The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World, New York, Random House, 2001. 56. Ley D., “Artists, Aestheticisation and the Field of Gentrification”, Urban Studies, 40, 12, 2003, pp. 2527-2544. 57. Lucarelli A. and Berg P.O., “City branding: a state-of-the-art review of the research domain”, Journal of Place Management and Development, 4, 1, 2011, pp. 9-27. 58. Magnaghi A. (Ed.), Il territorio degli abitanti: società locali e sostenibilità, Milan, Dunod, 1998. 59. Magnaghi A., Il progetto locale Verso la coscienza di luogo, Turin, Bollati Boringhieri, 2000. 60. Marshall R. (Ed.), Waterfront in PostIndustrial Cities, London and New York, Spoon Press, 2001. 61. Mayer H., City and port. Transformation of port cities. London, Barcelona, New York, Rotterdam: changing relations between public urban space and large-scale infrastructure, Utrecht, International Books, 1999. 62. Miles M., “Interruptions: Testing the Rhetoric of Culturally Led Urbana Development”, Urban Studies, 42, 5-6, 2005, pp. 889-911. 63. Minca C., Lo spettacolo della città, Padua, Cedam, 2005. 64. Molotch H., “The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place”, American Journal of Sociology, 82, 2, 1976, pp. 309-332.

65. Moss T., “Spatiality of the commons”, International Journal of the Commons, 8, 2, 2014, pp. 457-471. 66. Muñoz F., UrBANALización: paisajes comunes, lugares globales, Barcellona, Gustavo Gili, 2008. 67. Ostrom E., Governing the Commons: the Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990. 68. Palermo P.C. and Ponzini D., Place-making and Urban Development New Challenges for Contemporary Planning, London and New York, Routledge, 2015. 69. Peck J. and Tickell A., “Neoliberalizing Space”, Antipode, 34, 3, 2002, pp. 380-404. 70. Poli D. (Ed.), Contesti – Città Territori Progetti, (Rivista del Dipartimento di urbanistica e pianificazione del territorio dell’Università di Firenze, 2/2010), All’Insegna del Giglio, Florence, 2011. 71. Ponzini D., “The Values of Starchitecture: Commodification of Architectural Design in Contemporary Cities”, Organizational Aesthetics, 3, 1, 2014, pp. 10-18. 72. Project for Public Spaces (PPS), Placemaking and the future of cities, 2012. 73. Raffestin C., Per una geografia del potere, Milan, Unicopli, 1981. 74. Raffestin C., Dalla nostalgia del territorio al desiderio di paesaggio. Elementi per una teoria del paesaggio, Florence, Alinea, 2005. 75. Rossi U. and Vanolo A., Urban Political Geographies A Global Perspective, London, Sage, 2012. 76. Salzano E., La città bene comune, Bologna, Baiesi, 2009. 77. Savino M., Waterfront d’Italia. Piani Politiche Progetti, Milan, Franco Angeli, 2010. 78. Schubert D., “Seaport cities: phases of spatial restructuring and types and dimensions of redevelopment”, in Hein C. (Ed.), Port Cities: Dynamic Landscapes and Global Networks, London and New York, Routledge, 2011, pp. 54-69. 79. Settis S., Azione popolare cittadini per il bene comune, Turin, Einaudi, 2012. 80. Show B., “History at the water’s edge”, in Marshall R. (Ed.), Waterfront in PostIndustrial Cities, London and New York, Spoon Press, pp. 160-172. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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81. Silberberg S. (Ed.), Places in the Making: How placemaking builds places and communities, Cambridge, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The MIT Press, 2013. 82. Smith H. and Garcia Ferrari M.D., Waterfront Regeneration. Experiences in Citybuilding, London and New York, Routledge, 2012. 83. Smith M.K., “Towards a Cultural Planning Approach to Regeneration”, in Smith M.K., (Ed.), Tourism, Culture and regeneration, Wallingford, CAB International, 2007. 84. Tallon A., Urban regeneration in the UK, London and New York, Routledge, 2010. 85. Turco A., Verso una teoria geografica della complessità, Milan, Unicopli, 1988. 86. Turco A., Linee guida per lo svolgimento degli Ateliers Partecipativi. Consultazione e coinvolgimento degli stakeholders, Assergi, Life+Extra/Pngsml and Partners, 2011. 87. Turco A., “La configuratività territoriale come bene comune”, in Turco A. (Ed.), Paesaggio, luogo, ambiente. La configuratività territoriale come bene comune, Milan, Unicopli, 2014, pp. 11-42.

88. Unesco, Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, Paris, Unesco World Heritage Centre, 10 november 2011. 89. UN-Habitat, Global Public Space Toolkit. From Global Principles to Local Policies and Practice, UN-Habitat, 2015. 90. Vallega A., The changing waterfront in the coastal area management, Milan, Franco Angeli, 1992. 91. Vicari Haddok S. and Moulaert F., Rigenerare la città. Pratiche di innovazione sociale nelle città europee, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009. 92. Ward S., “Port Cities and the global exchange of planning ideas”, in Hein C. (Ed.), Port Cities: Dynamic Landscapes and Global Networks, London and New York, Routledge, 2011, pp. 70-85. 93. Whyte W., The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, Washington, Conservation Foundation 1980. 94. Zukin S., Landscapes of Power: from Detroit to Disney World, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1991. 95. Zukin S., The Cultures of Cities, Oxford, Blackwell, 1995.

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Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 77-88 DOI: 10.4458/0623-05

Laboratory as experiment in field learning: An application in a touristic city Donatella Priviteraa, Sandro Priviterab a

Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, University of Catania, Catania, Italy Associazione Regionale Guide Sicilia – AIIG Sicilia, Catania, Italy Email: donatella.privitera@unict.it b

Received: June 2016 – Accepted: February 2018

Abstract In many higher education curricula, pre-structured laboratory exercises in courses in tourism geography are an important part of the training of future tourism operators. This paper explores how the collaboration between university and association can enhance practical competences and skills, while bringing innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of the Geography of Tourism. The aim is to empower students in geographical thinking and doing so by building on their latent skills and knowledge. The observations of the places of tourism must be flexible so as to encourage innovative teaching strategies with applications to reality. Experiences were generally positively received and serve to highlight the potential for new teaching opportunities to use applied geography to share geographical empathy and stories. The result identified the laboratory as a favourite learning activity opening up new possibilities in terms of practical exercises. Keywords: Catania, Discovery Learning, Education, Geography of Tourism, Geoheritage, Urban Geosites

1. Introduction At the basis of territorial education is the idea that the different types of education (citizenship, inter-culture, sustainable development, cultural diversities and health) find their spatial contextualisation in the territory (Dematteis and Giorda, 2013). Learning outside the classroom has long been valued in higher education, especially in geography, where territory is considered central to the discipline. Geography has also a specific role: “to connect the education knowledge, making a link between pedagogy and the territory” (Giorda and Puttilli, 2011, p. 19). Graduates are expected to exhibit greater Copyright© Nuova Cultura

degrees of theory and practise knowledge: that is, they are more likely to gain and maintain employment and to progress in workplaces and build careers (Arrowsmith et al., 2011). The applied learning is a kind of answer to this question. As far as this is concerned from a didactic point of view, interesting inputs have been for example recently provided by De Vecchis (2016) with the focus of the attention on theories, methods, practices and the possible benefits which can derive from a rigorous observation and interpretation of teaching geography.

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Tourism geography has gradually grown into an applied sub-discipline in many geography departments in response to the growing global tourism and recreation industry, and it also plays an important role in training tourism geographers (Han et al., 2015; Ruban, 2015). The essay provides a model of reading and interpreting tourism places in the city through the applied study of connections between geosites, history, social aspects and tourist flows in specific urban places. The authors used the city both as a case to investigate and as a laboratory to experiment which urban geosites offer great potential to promote geotourism, with the integration of the historical and artistic aspects of the city with the petrographic nature of the stone used for construction. A field-learning itinerary can be a powerful pedagogical tool for both directing student attention and complicating pre-existing spatial narrative (McMorran, 2015). We point out the similarities between field learning and forms of cultural tourism, concepts from tourism studies that help frame agenda negotiation in field learning (Herrick, 2010). At the same time, nonacademics are encouraged to participate in the organisation, design and teaching of the formal undergraduate programme. This helps to develop a closer integration of course material and placement experience (Foster et al., 1979). It argues that participatory learning and problemsolving activities are crucial to successful outcomes, and that, as a result, interdisciplinary courses can be instrumental in motivating students to become involved in social practice (Schmelzkopf, 2002). An active laboratory was imagined with group discussions, in the study area of Catania (Sicily), alternating meetings with the community and a series of classroom lectures, starting with the direct knowledge of the tourist places of the local city. The final aim was to involve students in promoting the geological and geomorphological heritage within the city of Catania to build a touristic tour of “Catania, City of Lava”. The idea of developing a specific educational project on the knowledge of a great number of volcanic outcrops within the urban limit of Catania, the largest city in the Mt. Etna region (district), was just born in 1992-1993, from a group of memCopyright© Nuova Cultura

bers of two local tourist cooperatives1. Here, we expand the list of existing experiential techniques by proposing the incorporation of the innovative features of an “itinerary on the field” into a traditional tourism project in a tourism geography class. Primarily, it was studentprofessor-association experiences and involved a geography-fieldwork collaboration between Catania University and the “Centro Turismo Ambientale Sicilia” (CTA) Association. The 22 participants also had the opportunity to share their experiences and best practices in fields such as strategic tourism planning and implementation. The case study took place in March-June 2015. The paper draws on our reflections and students’ field diaries, weekly oral brief sessions, research papers and anonymous online follow-up surveys conducted three months after the completion of activity.

2. Teaching Tourism Geography: Methodological design Geography has been recognised as an educational instrument to understand the world, with the capacity to educate the students from particularisms to the plurality of points of view, to contribute to the education of citizens and to resolve problems linked to the development of the territory and the proper use of natural resources (Dematteis and Giorda, 2013, p. 18). The geography education literature is replete with examples of numerous experiential-learning activities applied to various areas (geography principles, sustainability research, tourism, climate, maps, etc.) in the form of games, integrated-project case studies, a situation analysis, blogging and the Google online geography challenge (Fueller et al., 2014; Guinness, 2012). Every teacher thinks about how to stimulate student learning and how to make geography lessons more interesting. The tasks undertaken by the students before, during and after the fieldwork experience reflect Harper’s (2004) experience of active learning in 1 In particular, since the early 90s of the last century, an environmental education project called “Catania, built on lava” was successfully displayed in several secondary schools within the municipality of Catania.

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fieldwork. Active learning was represented in the preparation phase, which involved problem identification by consensus agreement, collection of information, analysis and synthesis, and in the in-field, presentations to student peers and staff. Furthermore, in both the oral and written post-fieldtrip evaluations, students were given an opportunity to reflect on the processes and learning that occurred, much as Harper (2004, p. 96) described. Our didactical methodology consisted of four steps, in line with Harper but also Pasquinelli d’Allegra (2016, p. 71) advice tools of direct and indirect geography observations because a “significant learning is characterized by its authenticity as expendable in different contexts”. We employed a mixed-method approach, a combination of study and face-to-face interaction with questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, including participatory exercises. Focus group interviews were performed four times with different user groups to obtain an overview of the social and ecological history of the area. We used mapping exercises to understand the distribution and location of natural, social and historic resources, as well as residents and infrastructure and how these were affected by events. The students conducted semi-structured interviews with tour operators and tourist guides to discuss in more detail losses and changes in livelihood strategies as effects of these historic events. Whereas university staff focused on the use of online interaction to produce shared fieldwork material, for the students who used various digital media to communicate and collaborate, the interaction moved beyond the purely academic realm. Materials were shared through Dropbox. One shared a folder in Dropbox with others so that students could collaborate on the same files and folders. Changes to the contents of a shared folder were synced with other members almost instantly. Part of the laboratory consists of conducting applied research, where students are stimulated to present their results in innovative ways. Positive inter and intra-group “learning by doing” took place among peers. The themes explored in the laboratory were developed in four stages from a didactic point of view. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

Stage I: Data collection. The staff first developed understanding of the territory by gathering archival data from external sources. Desk research included books, historical documents, newspapers and reports from the Department of Educational Sciences and libraries of the University of Catania. Careful planning is essential, as are clear explanations of tasks and instructions for students (O’Reilly and McManus, 2015). However, each group of students also shared a more complex picture of its section, which emerged from talking with professors and persons of the Association CTA. Stage II: Data collection (fieldtrip 1) After all the groups had shared their findings, the discussion moved in numerous directions, including students suggesting ways for the town to make the most of its unique qualities of its cultural and natural heritage. During this stage, under the supervision of the University-CTA staff, the students conducted interviews with residents and a handful of tourists, five of which were group interviews, given with three to four people engaged in the conversation. These observations helped us to move backwards and forwards in reflexive attempts to better understand the experiences in the field. We adopted a thematic analysis as a “constructionist method, which examines the ways in which events, realities, meanings, experiences and so on are the effects of a range of discourses operating within society” (Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 81) Stage III: Data collection (fieldtrip 2) Lessons were followed by an exploratory tour that students made in town and in the neighbourhood, with the aim to carry on direct observations of the lava outcrops, placing them on topographic maps and taking pictures of them, with a general and detailed description of what they found out in situ. An aim of this stage was also to train students to promote environmental tourism next to the purely artistic and cultural one and to give a complete picture of tourist resources of the territory. Many students turned their attention away from territory and instead focused on systematic studies concerned with the role of building routes, itineraries, excursions and suggestions for tourism development in a synthesis between historical art and Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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landscape aspects, with the aim to propose it both to local and external tourists and to school groups. In developing the pilot programme, the collaborating staff built on each other’s strengths to enhance the learning opportunities for students. Stage IV: A short video of a city tour The work in the field of a vulcanological city tour, or a “grey way”, was followed by a stage of reworking of the information obtained with a short video, which was presented by different groups of students and then shown and discussed in the classroom. The aims of the final round of analysis were to confirm and/or disconfirm previous findings in the field. From this educational experience was born the idea of offering a vulcanological city tour as a “grey way”, not only to allow them to tackle the enhancement of Roman, Medieval and Baroque monuments in town but also to discover the geoheritage and the geological and vulcanological history of Catania.

3. Presentation of results 3.1 Mt. Etna and Catania volcanic outcrops Mt. Etna is the largest active basaltic stratovolcano in Europe with an elevation of 3345 m a.s.l. The edifice is located on the Ionian coast of Sicily covering an area of 1600 km2, with a diameter of about 40 km and four main vents, in the summit region: the Central, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast Craters (Giacomelli and Scandone, 2007). After being established as a Regional Nature Park in 1987, since 2013 it has been included by UNESCO in the World Heritage List with the “Statement of Outstanding Universal Value affirming that the Mount Etna’s notoriety, scientific importance, cultural and educational value are of global significance”. Following the recent geochronological and stratigraphic data (Branca et al., 2008) its volcanic activity began in the Middle Pleistocene about 500,000 years ago and the most ancient magmatic rocks of the Etnean area consist of submarine pillow lavas and shallow level subCopyright© Nuova Cultura

volcanic masses, mostly tholeiitic basalts in composition, sparsely outcropping in the lower south-eastern slope of Mt. Etna in the coastal area between the villages of Acicastello, Ficarazzi and Acitrezza (Corsaro and Cristofolini, 2000). The present day volcanism belongs to the “Stratovolcano Phase, Mongibello Volcano Unit” (Branca et al. 2011a) whose volcanic products, erupted during the past 15,000 years, have covered about 85% of the whole Etna surface. The current eruptive behavior can be distinguished by a “persistent summit cone” and “flank or radial” activity: the first one is almost continuous, at or in the summit region, from the open vents over the central conduit and it is mainly Strombolian accompanied sometimes by low rate effusion subterminal eruptions lasting generally, days, months or years. Instead, flank eruptions occur frequently, from fissures situated on the different slopes, mainly clustered along the NE, S and W rift zones (Rittmann, 1973) and are of much greater concern to the local inhabitants (Chester et al., 1985). In the last millennia, radial activity has originated several eruptive monogenic apparatus, represented by both cinder cones and ramparts, widely distributed along the volcano slopes in its three major alignments (Favalli et al., 1999). For its almost continuous activity, the “Incendi etnei” (or “Etna’s fires”) have been the subject of interesting accounts written by many scholars and travellers who, from the beginning of 16th century onwards, have been able to describe the volcanic phenomena that were linked to more recent historical, geological and archeometric studies (Tanguy, 1981; Romano and Sturiale, 1982; Chester et al., 1985; Tanguy et al., 2007; Guidoboni et al., 2014; Branca et al., 2015) allowing us to know the age of the flow fields that are cropping out in the area where the present day town of Catania is2. 2

Interesting analysis of images in false colours and radar images of Sicily and volcanoes, useful both at educational level and for a professional future, since it was possible to obtain additional information and data which stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration between students, are viewed in Fea et al., 2013.

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Catania is a coastal town on the lower southeastern slope of the Mt. Etna volcanic complex, about 40 km from the summit craters; it is the second largest metropolitan town in Sicily. The city subsoil on which most of the building foundations rest mainly consists of lava-flow levels of basaltic origin. In fact, during the last thousands of years, in pre-historical and historical times, different lava branches, flowing from NNW to SSE during flank eruption activity, have repeatedly invaded the area that is nowadays occupied by the town and its suburbs. Catania is privileged for its great geological heritage, where the presence of basalt largely outcropping in town, with its typical dark-grey color, can be considered an essential element of the character of the city (Cirelli et al., 2004). Since the XIX century onwards, different authors surveying the geology of the urban territory have tried to correlate historical accounts with lava flow fields outcropping on the volcano slopes by publishing geological maps (Sartorius Von Waltershausen, 1843-1861; Monaco et al., 1999, 2000; Branca et al., 2011a). Moreover, recent studies carried out using radioisotopes (Branca et al., 2015; Tanguy et al., 2007, 2012) and also based on petrographical, geological and archaeological investigations (Branca et al., 2016) allow us to know in detail the age to which the different lava outcrops belong (Giacomelli and Scandone, 2007). In particular, researchers have been able to identify the prehistoric lava fields from the historical ones; it is possible to affirm that, after the 729 BC Greek foundation, the old town has been reached by lava flows only once during the disastrous 1669 AD eruption; according to recent studies, it can be excluded, as it was believed by former authors, that during the 122 BC and 2523 AD eruptions, the lava flows destroyed the urban district. It was affirmed by Coltelli et al. (1998), that in 122 BC the old town was never reached by lava flows because in that year a strong Plinian eruption took place on Mt. Etna, that is still considered as one of the most powerful explosive eruptions of this volcano in historical times. The chronicles reported a lapilli fallout over the ancient town of Catania that caused fires and roofs to collapse and hid the sun behind an ash cloud Copyright© Nuova Cultura

for days. Damage to the inhabitants was so severe that they were exempted from paying taxes to Rome for 10 years. In particular, the old town of Catania is built upon two lava flows named Barriera del Bosco and Larmisi (Branca et al., 2011b). Other basaltic outcrops previously dated back to the 252-3 AD eruption and named “Larmisi” by Romano and Sturiale (1981), have been dated back also to Prehistoric time after the archeomagnetic studies. Tanguy et al. (2007, 2012) highlighted that, following the Greek founding of Catania, no lava flows impacted the city and surrounding area up to the 12th century. During the Medieval Age, only the lava flow that was attributed previously to the 1381 volcanic event, and now dated by means of archaeometric methods to the 1160 AD eruption (Tanguy et al., 2007) reached the sea. In spite of the lava flow of Mount Arsi of St. Mary and the Cavòlo fracture, located on the lower southern slope between 460 and 360 m a.s.l., after reaching a total length of about 8 km, it did not directly impact on the town but spilled out into sea about 2 km NE of Catania, erasing the mouth of the river Longane and filling the ancient Roman port described by Pliny the Elder as the port of Ulysses. One of the largest and most destructive flank eruptions that occurred in historical time was that of 1669 AD. This famous eruption began on the lower southern slope near the old village of Nicolosi, at 800 m a.s.l., and a large and very long lava flow reached and destroyed the Catania west end after traveling for more than 17 km down to the sea. In particular, this eruption began on 11 March 1669 (Tedeschi Paternò, 1669), seriously damaging the lower southern slope, where lava flows caused the destruction of 9 small villages, the burial of large portions of the Spanish walls and the advancement of the coastline by over one km to the south, southeast, in the stretch between the Ursino Castle promontory (15 m a.s.l.) and the old port. The eruption lasted just 122 days and was characterised by an effusive activity with a very high emission rate. The size of the lava-flow field was very impressive, with a surface of 40 sq km and a thickness of 15-20 m, with a lava front width that varied between two Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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and four km (Branca et al., 2013). The intense explosive activity formed the pyroclastic cones, called “Craters of the Ruin”, actually Monti Rossi, clearly visible from the Catania plain. Close to them is the famous Mompilieri Sanctuary, which is an important destination for pilgrims who want to pray before the statue of Our Lady of Grace, which was miraculously found intact under a thick blanket of lava. The engravings published to illustrate the tales of the Grand Tour travellers that visited Catania and Mt. Etna during the XVIII and XIX centuries clearly show the lava flows cropping out around the old town and coastline, where the modern town has been developed in the last century (Figure 1).

Figure 1. XIX century engraving of Catania’s cathedral, with the foreground basaltic 1669 lava outcrops, which today are no longer visible, because they are completely buried by the docks of the Catania harbour. Source: Emile Rouargue, Engraving, Paris 1880.

acterises the cultural identity and the Etnean capital city-scape (Cirelli et al., 2004). In general, these rocky basalt outcrops can be classified as important geomorphosites (Panizza, 2001) or, in this particular case, as urban geosites that can increase the interest in urban geotourism (Bertacchini et al., 2007; Del Lama et al., 2015) and are a geoheritage (Brocx and Semeniuk, 2007) of inestimable scientific, historical and geographical value. In fact, urban geosites, when enhanced, are of great geological and geomorphological interest, also for any kind of tourists. They can be a means to preserve the local geoheritage and to promote its appreciation based on their scientific value, exemplarity, rarity and potential for both education and tourism (Palacio-Prieto, 2015). Many new other examples of urban geotourism have been recently referred to other cities, such as Salvador de Bahía (Liccardo et al., 2012) and Rio de Janeiro (Mansur and Soares da Silva, 2011) in Brazil, and the cities of Segovia (Díez-Herrero and VegasSalamanca, 2011) and Burgos (FernándezMartínez and Castaño-de-Luis, 2013) in Spain, among others. All these works aim to promote the geoheritage within cities from the educational and geoconservation points of view, based on the sites located along specific geological paths. This can be considered a new philosophy for an alternative way to develop and integrate both the cultural tourism and the geotourism in Catania along the Etnean shoreline and on the lower Mt. Etna slope, nowadays densely urbanized. The itinerary with a specific idea of a “grey way” followed by the students is formulated in such a way as to allow:

3.2 The creation of a “Grey way” for the promotion of urban tourism The Etnean town allows visitors not only to enjoy the richness of its architectural latebaroque UNESCO heritage but also to discover the natural patrimony constituted by exposed lava flows of protohistoric and historical epoch cropping out within the city limits. These outcrops are sited at the southern edge of what is fully considered the “Etnean Region”, where the nature of the physical chemistry of soils and their morphologies are natural features that allow its true discovery. The use of basalt stone is the individuality and the “genius loci” that charCopyright© Nuova Cultura

(a) the disclosure of the history of eruptions that, in last the two millennia, have ravaged the city, the southern Etna slope and its inhabitants’ lives; (b) the enhancement of geomorphosites, as well as monuments and/or architectural heritage, to be considered as “natural monuments of lava” with their specific original tourist value; (c) through knowledge of the curious facts that link the town directly to the volcano’s activity, such as the local specific relationship between the cult of Saint Agatha and the historItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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ical Mt. Etna eruptions, like in 1669 AD. The proposed vulcanological city tour developed mainly in the heart of the monumental city centre (Figure 2), between the Norman-Baroque Saint Agatha’s cathedral, the IV century AD Roman baths of “Indirizzo”, the medieval Ursino castle and the Baroque Benedictine monastery, with an extension that unfolds in the most modern area of the city. Instead, the coastal tour develops along the Catania sea-front and northward along the Ionian shoreline, with a short stop in Acicastello to observe the submarine pillow-lava outcropping below the Norman Castle and another one in Acitrezza where to discover the Cyclops Islands, with their impressive sea stacks and columnar jointing similar to the columnar basalt rock formations outcropping along the course of the Alcantara and Simeto Rivers; at the end the last stop is in the town of Acireale. The ideal starting point of the tour is at Catania’s Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Agatha, whose veil, which according to the hagiographic tradition, was wrapped at the time of the burial the body of the paleo-Christian Virgin and martyr, regarded by her fellow devotees as a bulwark against the devastating fury of the Mt. Etna eruptions. Inside the sacristy, it is possible to admire the great fresco by the Sicilian painter, Giacinto Platania (1612-1691), who, as an eyewitness with a bird’s eye perspective, was able to represent in great detail the most dramatic phase of the terrifying eruption of 1669 AD, when, between the 13th and 29th of April (Branca et al., 2013), a huge lava flow hit Catania’s west end by destroying the walls of Charles V, invading the area close to the Benedictine monastery and encircling the Ursino Castle, situated at that time in front of the Ionian Sea. Back on the large Federico II square, built in the era of Frederick II, stands the great mass of the Ursino Castle, totally surrounded and isolated by the sea by the lava flows of 23 April 1669. Today, all along the western side of the wall, a remnant strip of basaltic lava that stretches to the south tower is outcropping. Here, an excavation was recently carried out, removing a large portion of the flow, which allows a clear view of a lava cross section that has a thickness of about ten metres. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

The tour continues towards the Benedictine monastery, where impressive lava outcroppings can be seen; they are clearly visible outside the monastery but, unexpectedly, even inside, in the famous Vaccarini kitchens, built directly on top of the flow after the 1693 earthquake. On 30 April 1669, after burying the garden of the Benedictine monastery, the lava surrounded the building to the West and North but did not destroy it.

Figure 2. Studied itinerary in historic centre of Catania. Source: photo by the students from Google Map, 2015.

The baroque monastery is unique worldwide. In fact, while visiting the kitchens and the subsequent descent into the dungeons, following a special itinerary, tourists can surprisingly admire a magnificent example of a Hawaiian surface morphology lava outcrop, still perfectly preserved, and also a small pressure-ridge in the heart of one of the most important monuments of the city. The second part of the city tour developed outside the old town, along the modern sea-front in the stretch of coast between Europe’s square and Ulysses’ Harbour, where a spectacular rocky cliff of black basalt mainly constitutes a priceless urban geosite, where the relicts of interesting Hawaiian flow field morphology outcrops make up a volcanic coastal scenery of great and incomparable value that could be considered as a great geotouristic attraction, a sort of Open Museum of Volcanology in town, that could contribute to raising awareness to preserve by conItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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crete the remains of hanging arches, pressure ridges, smooth, billowy, undulating or ropy surface lavas, that are still miraculously visible. The proposed vulcanological tour is to be continued in the small village of Ognina, where outcrop lavas of the 1160 AD eruption that filled the ancient Roman port. Two other locations were visited during the field trip. The first was in the immediate surroundings of Acireale, a pretty coastal town 13 km north of Catania and its high rocky shore, locally known as the “Timpa” (a Sicilian word that means cliff), seven km long. The Timpa is an outstanding geosite, with tectonic escarpments that cut an ancient volcanic succession, formed during the Timpe Phase, dating back 220,000 years, (Branca et al., 2011a) formed of interbedded levels of lava and pyroclastic rocks, overlooking the Ionian Sea, with variable height from 100 to 125 metres above sea level, covered by a mantle of exuberant Mediterranean maquis. From the centre of the baroque town of Acireale, it is possible to walk to the path of the “Chiazzette” in a few minutes, a zig-zag stone walkway built to connect Acireale to the sea during the seventeenth-century, in 1687. It leads downhill to the picturesque fishing village of Santa Maria La Scala. The Timpa is one of the most beautiful scenic stretches of basaltic rocky shore of the whole Ionian coast, and the Chiazzette path represents a great attraction for the development of local tourism. In fact, its natural features and volcanic landscape can be included among the routes of the local, sustainable tourism (Figure 3). The second location visited was the Sanctuary of Mompilieri, situated near the Etnean town of Nicolosi on the southern Etna slope. This place has been chosen because it can be considered one of the most significant sites of the last centuries, which, as symbols of the relationship between eruptions and faith, are very dear to the local Christian tradition (Figure 4). The “Madonna of the Sciara” shrine is a place of worship for the inhabitants of Etna. Despite being buried by the massive lava flow of the tremendous eruption of 1669, it miraculously escaped destruction. After countless efforts and thanks to a miraculous dream, the inhabitants found the exact site where the church was located in 1704. A Copyright© Nuova Cultura

new church was then rebuilt 12 m over the former one; it rose in the exact place where the still incredibly intact statue of Our Lady of Grace was found. For this reason, this site can also be considered an attractive place for religious tourism, where the curiosity of the pilgrims is strongly linked to natural phenomena and cultural heritage.

Figure 3. Panoramic view of the Timpa from south to the north. Source: photo by the Authors, 2015.

Figure 4. Panoramic view of the Mompilieri Sanctuary. Source: photo by the Authors, 2015.

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4. Discussion and Conclusions All the participants considered the pilot project a great success, and all recommended that the programme be continued and further enhanced in future years. Overall, student collaboration obliged them to collect, create, compare and discuss data and issues representing national and regional cultural identities, while using digital media. Students were asked what their expectations had been at the start of the pilot, when they were told what the project involved. They were then asked to evaluate what their experience had been. In the anonymous online feedback three months after the course finished, students identified the laboratories as their favourite learning activity. Without exception, every student said that they found the project worthwhile and valuable and that they were glad they had been involved. A 100% positive response rate was thus achieved. Students stated that they had learned a lot and gained insights into their “… own sense of local identity, landscape and different modes of learning”. Regarding overall positivity, students commented: “rewarding and insightful experience… very stimulating and enjoyable” and “I was surprised that I enjoyed the process so much, as at the beginning I hated the thought of undergoing this project”. Regarding the nature of the activity: “something different to conventional assignments… its educational value was extensive” and “I was surprised at the high level of engagement in the collaboration and the interest my own posts generated”. Another student hinted in the following comment: “I liked that the students at certain points were able to think of new ideas and connections through the interactions, the tours and their own observations. I think this is what makes the field studies special, as students are able to give their personal opinions and critical analysis in the entire learning journey”. A final student focused on the itinerary, mentioning the importance of having to “try” on the territory: it really gave a different perspective having stayed one day instead of just passing through, which allowed the group to enjoy the atmosphere. While the impact of this exercise seemed obvious to me, both at the time and upon reflection, other factors could have led to improved student learning. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

The exercise introduced here provides one example of student-led research that empowers students to encounter a destination and develop their own spatial narrative, admittedly with certain limitations. Engaging in research activity in fieldwork is perceived strongly to add value to study for a degree, as well as to stimulate interest in the subject and improve understanding of the methodologies employed. Moreover, the mixing of possibilities provided by methods as focus group and applications for evaluating the modifications recorded in the territory use classes can give considerable didactic and research stimuli, opening up new possibilities in terms of practical exercises and laboratory. Nevertheless, the use of geospatial and geotechnologies is also a relevant tool to connect theoretical content with practical aspects, creating an opportunity for personal hypothesis, reflecting on possible guidelines to support decision-making (Pesaresi, 2016). The project of a vulcanological city tour could be the, conditio sine qua non, required to develop a new original tourist brand that allows tourists and visitors to learn about the geological history and the succession of past eruptions that have buried the area, where today’s city of Catania is situated by changing the urban and geographical aspect of the territory. The proposed vulcanological city tour also aims to stimulate the local ruling class and main public institutions involved in the control of local territory, and to provide them with a new interpretation of existing geological assets within the urban area, to get all the necessary tools to protect the last patches of lava flows still visible downtown and enhance them through a specific geological path or a “grey way”, using a series of special educational signs to be placed in front of or near them. Acknowledgements The paper is the result of the collaboration of the two authors. Donatella Privitera wrote paragraphs 1 and 2; Sandro Privitera wrote paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2; the paragraph 4 is a joint contribution. The Authors thank the CTA Association for its insightful comments and for help with students in fieldtrips. Our sincere thanks go to the students of the Tourism Geography course A.A. 2014-15 for being the driving force behind the work on this pilot project and current paper. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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THE LANGUAGE OF IMAGES Edited by Elisa Bignante and Marco Maggioli

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 91-101 DOI: 10.4458/0623-06

Visual geographies and mountain psychogeographic drift. The geography workshops of the Childhood and Primary Teachers Education course of the University of Turin Cristiano Giordaa, Giacomo Pettenatib a

Dipartimento di Filosofia e Scienze dell’Educazione, University of Turin, Turin, Italy Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società, University of Turin, Turin, Italy Email: giacomo.pettenati@unito.it

Received: May 2018 – Accepted: May 2018

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the theoretical background, the methodological tools and the main findings of the integration of visual methods to psychogeographic drift as a technique of exploration and interpretation of places. The experimentation has been carried out in the last three years during the workshops organized for students of the Childhood and Primary Teachers Education course of the University of Turin. Based on the idea of territorial education as a complex approach to geographic education, the workshops take place in the mountain village of Prali (Western Alps) and their location is fundamental in creating a fruitful learning environment. Visual methodologies are variously used during the workshops and in the last three editions they became part of the “mountain drift” activities, inspired by the psychogeographic “urban drift”, and used as a learning tool with students. Keywords: Geographical Education, Territorial Education, Mountains, Psychogeographic Drift, Didactics, Workshops, Territorial Values, Visual Geographies

1. Introduction This contribution presents the theoretical approach and empirical test of some visual methodologies used in university workshops for future primary school teachers (class of Basics and didactics of geography of the single-cycle master’s degree course in Childhood and Primary Teachers Education of the University of Turin). The main purpose of these activities is the development of geographical and territorial education through the introduction of innovative methodologies in the teaching of geography. The Copyright© Nuova Cultura

fieldwork activities described in this contribution have been developed from 2011 to date by Cristiano Giorda, the professor in charge of the course, and by a group of teachers and researchers who alternately conducted the workshops and experimented new teaching methods. Among them Giacomo Pettenati (University of Turin), who introduced the methodology of psychogeographic drift and the use of images in documentation and representation of the fieldwork experience, and Matteo Puttilli (University of Florence), who developed the idea of territorial education as an experience of active learning Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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based on an understanding of places as learning environments (Giorda and Puttilli, 2011; Giorda, 2014). Widely acknowledged as fundamental tools for teaching geography critically, effectively and creatively (Rose, 1996, 2003; Bignante, 2011), images and visual methodologies are part of this experience from three perspectives: 1) As a tool to document the territory and collect information on landscape, its values and how they are perceived by the subjects who live or enjoy places. During the workshops students and teachers experiment different techniques of visual data collection and use (photographs, videos, drawings, etc.) and do not use professional instruments, but everyday technologies like smartphones and small digital cameras. 2) As a material to narrate and represent the places of research through slide presentations that include a variety of visual and multimedia materials: photos, audios, video recordings, sketched maps, etc. 3) As mediators between places and the knowledge of the subjects that observe, understand, tell and represent them. The aim of this approach is to increase students’ ability to critically understand the potential of images in exploring and knowing places; to recognize and deconstruct the cultural meanings and rhetoric embedded by images; to make room for geographical imagination and to think changes with an ecological thought. that includes the experience of the subjects who live in those places. In this way the teaching of geography gives value to the active role of students, who observe, interpret and critically learn (Bignante, 2010), enriching the best experiences in the geographical education of the past (Bissanti, 1985) with the new tools and knowledge available today (Sidaway, 2010; Garret, 2011; Mavroudi and Jöns, 2011; Anderson, 2013).

2. Teaching geography and territorial education Territorial education is based on the idea that greater experience, knowledge and competence on places leads to the development of a better ability to make decisions for oneself and one's own living space; to a deeper relationship with nature and to a greater ability to understand the relationships between environment and human societies (Giorda and Puttilli, 2011). Its objectives are based on the general considerations expressed in the international documents on geographic education, such as the IGU Rome declaration on Geographical Education in Europe (2013) and the International Charter on Geographical Education (last version was signed in 2016). The core idea is to organize in a coherent unique framework the different principles and objectives of geographical education (from the more “environmental” to the more “social” ones), in order to develop a set of skills based on a common field of application: territory, understood as a system in which human society acts in an organized way transforming the environment and adapting it to the needs of communities and individuals’ lives. Particular emphasis is placed on the concept of territorial value (Dematteis and Giorda, 2013). It is understood as what we can identify as a strength, a resource or as a heritage of the territory. A territorial value can be material, such as a cultural heritage or biodiversity; it can be immaterial, like traditions, ideas, habits recognized as a specific, positive and enriching trait of the territory and its places. The territorial value can be referred to the identity and the sense of the place, but also to an element that connotes an aspect of the environment, the economy, culture, history and society. The concept of territorial value also makes it possible to identify the set of negative characteristics that impoverish the heritage of the territory and are critical factors that worsen the quality of life. To provide students with conceptual and operational tools linked to territorial education (that they have to learn themselves and that they

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will teach their future pupils at school) is the main objective of the workshops organized as part of the class of Basics and didactics of geography of the single-cycle master’s degree course in Childhood and Primary Teachers Education Sciences of the University of Turin, that are described in this paper. The class of the Basics and didactics of geography of the single-cycle master’s degree course in Education Sciences of the University of Turin requires students to take part in 16 mandatory hours of laboratory activity, to supplement the 60 hours of frontal lessons of the course. Starting from these theoretical premises and from the desire to offer students an experience of study and practice of geography alternative to that experienced for most of their scholastic and university career, some residential laboratories are organized during the course, allowing future primary school teachers to “get their feet dirty” (Fremont, 2005), by experimenting fieldwork in geography. Starting from 2011, More than 500 students took part in this territorial education workshop organized at the Agape Ecumenical Cultural Center in Prali, a small mountain village located in the Piedmont Alps, about 1500 meters high. In the following paragraphs we will describe these experiences, focusing in particular on the importance of the location of the workshops as learning environment; and on the experimented methodologies of integration of psychogeographical drift and visual methodologies in the analysis and interpretation of mountain places.

3. The learning environment The location where the workshops take place as learning environment plays a crucial role in their success and is part of the methodological framework used with and provided to students. The theoretical background is the awareness of the importance of experiential learning (Kolb, 2014) and of fieldwork in geography teaching and learning (Kent et al., 1997; Fuller et al., 2006). The choice of the location where the laboratories take place can be explained by considering three scales of analysis and three interrelated dimensions. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

First, the mountain areas are generally identified as useful territorial contexts in which to achieve the objectives of the laboratories. The main reasons for this choice are primarily related to the (relative) ease of reading the mountain landscape, due to the many existing observation points generated by the differences in height. These facility of observation brings the main recognizable elements of the socio-cultural and geomorphological evolution of these places right in front of the eyes of the researcher and the observer. Since the time of the first European Grand Tours and the “discovery” of the mountain landscape by travelers and scholars, it was clear that this was presented as a sort of anatomical theater en plein air, like a large outdoor laboratory, where it is possible to study the phenomena of nature (Giacomoni, 2001). Second, the possibility of empirically deepening the knowledge of a mountain area also represents for students, mostly coming from the urban context of the metropolitan area of Turin, to know and experience the complexity and variety of a typology of place where many of them have been before mainly as tourists and perceived as scarcely complex and as static1. Third, for the majority of students the mountain context is characterized by a sense of spatial otherness, whose understanding, through the passage from “imaginative geography” (Said, 1978, other more recent ref) to a practiced and conscious geography, constitutes one of the objectives of a complex vision of the contemporary teaching of geography (Byram, 1997). Zooming onto the specific territorial context where the workshops are carried out, the village of Prali was also chosen for its cultural otherness, which significantly contributes to the interest and positive judgment that the participants attribute to the laboratory2. The municipality of Prali is in fact in Val Germanasca, one of the 1

This information about the perception of mountain territory by students derives from the brainstorming activities that take place at the beginning of the workshop, aimed at bringing out the different representations that the participants in the workshop have of the mountains. 2 This element emerges recurrently during the feedback activities that are carried out with students at the end of the three days of work. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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three so-called Waldensian Valleys of Italy, together with Val Pellice and part of Val Chisone. They are the only areas in Italy to be mainly populated by Protestants, of the Waldensian cult. The Waldensian Church takes its name from the merchant Peter Waldo, who around 1170 founded the movement of the Poors of Lyon, called “Waldensians” after his death. The medieval Waldensians were paupers, pacifists, with a faith linked to the biblical text, read and disseminated in the vernacular, before the Protestant Reformation. Despite the great persecution by the Catholic Church, the Waldensian movement survived, especially in the western Alpine area. In 1532 the surviving Waldensians joined the Protestant Reformation and in 1559 formed an independent reformed Church. After further persecutions and periods of forced exile (especially in the seventeenth century), the Waldensians were allowed to practice their creed, but limitedly to the so-called “alpine ghetto” of these valleys until 1848 (year of granting civil liberties to Waldensians and Jews by Charles Albert of Savoy). These territories are therefore characterized by a strong cultural specificity, which still today distinguishes them from the surrounding valleys and represents an element of interculturality contributing to building the complex vision of the area that students should explore, understand and learn to teach. In this small section of the western Italian Alps it is also possible to observe some peculiar morphological, hydrographic, climatic, pedological and vegetational characteristics. The third relevant scale of the context where the workshops are held is the punctual scale of the structure hosting the activities: the Agape Ecumenical Center, built in the 50s by the Waldensian Church, upon initiative of the Waldensian pastor Tullio Vinay and starting from a daring architectural project by Leonardo Ricci, in the middle of the larch forest overlooking the Ghigo di Prali hamlet. Since its opening, Agape, owned by the Waldensian Church, but completely secular and run by very young volunteers from all over the world, hosts fields of activity and discussion on various topics related to current political and social issues, gender issues, spirituality, theological debate, training. Every guest, including the students of geography labs, are required to conCopyright© Nuova Cultura

tribute directly to the management of the center during the activities, in particular helping to tidy up the dining room and kitchen after each meal. The international and community dimension that the participants of the laboratories experiment, unexpected for them, contributes to creating disorientation and wonder, functional for the construction of a complex approach to the analysis and understanding of a territory, in line with the objectives of the laboratory.

4. Methodology: the application of visual methods to the psychogeographic drift The program of the workshops’ activities varies according to the teachers involved (usually two for each shift, with a ratio of about one teacher every 15-20 students), the weather conditions and the desire of the coordinators whether to consolidate already used methodologies or to experiment new ones. Over the years the teaching and analytical potential of different methods of territorial analysis have been explored, through their theoretical presentation to students and their practical application through intense fieldwork. Among the main activities carried out during the workshops are (a) brainstorming and (b) mental maps, aimed at stimulating critical reflection on representations and stereotypes of students towards the environment and the mountain territory; (c) the experimentation of different analysis techniques of the mountain landscape, with the dual purpose of providing students with knowledge of the socio-economic and geomorphological evolution of the highlands and skills related to the role of the landscape as an educational tool (Castiglioni, 2011). Since 2016, the experimentation of a hybrid methodology has been started, combining elements of the so-called psychogeographic drift to visual methodologies and to an active approach to observation and knowledge of the territory, considered fundamental for an educational project. Knowing one's own territory is a way to take root and orient oneself in the world. It means to develop knowledge and skills related to living space, citizenship, civil cohabitation and the environment. It also means immersing

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the child in their own culture, bringing them to know the ways in which the community to which they belong has organized the place in which they live (Giorda, 2006). The concept of psychogeography and its practical application, urban drift, was born in the late 1950s, within the International Situationist, a movement of political and artistic avant-garde, of Marxist and anarchist matrix at the same time, mainly active in France and Italy, with the aim of putting into practice a radical critique of the society of the time, through an experimental construction of everyday life and the search for a new interaction between urban planning and social behavior (Coverley, 2012). This is a concept characterized, as recognized by its own main promoter, Guy Debord (1958) by “pleasing vagueness”, which makes it malleable to different interpretations. Psychogeography should be seen as a literary movement or a political strategy? As a set of avant-garde practices or as a new age approach to space? According to Coverley (2012, p. 1), as “all of these things, resisting definitions through a shifting series of interwoven themes and constantly reshaped by its practitioners”. Debord defined psychogeography in the first issue of the Bulletin of the Situationist International (1958), as the study of the specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals. There are evident links with the idea of flanerie, elaborated in the XIX century in Paris and made famous by artists like Baudelaire, who wandered around the city aimlessly observing the details of a literary element (Nuvolati, 2013). A few decades after their theoretical elaboration and their artistic-political application, psychogeography and urban drift began to be used – above all by artists, writers and researchers – as tools for the exploration of places, oriented to the diffusion of the awareness of urban transformations, in search of a new relationship between citizens and urban space and more education to an open and attentive look on human environments (Smith, 2010). One of the best known examples is that of the project by the British writer Iain Sinclair (2002), who in his essay London Orbital recounts his psychogeographic drifts carried out by walking Copyright© Nuova Cultura

around the M25, London’s outer-ring motorway. In Italy, the writer and architect Gianni Biondillo (Biondillo and Monina, 2010) has created a similar project, explicitly inspired by London Orbital, walking with the music critic Michele Monina, along the Milan highway ringroads (tangenziali). The aim of the project was to bring out the complexity of places and territories that are usually just crossed quickly, without looking at them, walking along paths that are not totally random (as it probably should be in more orthodox psychogeography) but through itineraries open to variation, walked along with an approach that is attentive to interstitial spaces and focused on importance of apparently meaningless details. In Italy, Biondillo is one of the main experimenters of the use of psychogeographic drift as a tool for the education to the conscious observation of places and the analysis of the transformation of the territory, both in urban areas (project Sentieri Metropolitani in Milan3) and in extra-urban areas, through the work done since 2013 with the students of the course “Elements of psychogeography and narration of the territory” of the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio (Canton Ticino), collected on the site http://www.psicogeografia.com/. According to Biondillo’s approach (2016), psychogeography is a transdisciplinary practice which conveys various fields of knowledge focused on understanding the territory: sociology, economics, geography, anthropology, urban planning, but also the literature, art, cinema, philosophy, etc. Walking across places, with a psychogeographical approach, means to try to interpret and understand contemporary landscape, out of its commonplaces, giving back dignity and identity to apparently ugly or banal places, through investigation and narration. The purpose is to spread a new awareness of the importance and beauty of everyday ordinary landscapes, as a palimpsest where the meanings and dreams of the populations that have inhabited it and who still live in it are deposited (as declared by the European Landscape Convention signed in 2000 by the Council of Europe).

http://www.sentierimetropolitani.org/. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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The narration of the experience of the psychogeographic exploration of places is a recurrent component of these methodologies and therefore in most applications of methods of exploration and analysis of the territory inspired by flanerie and psychogeography visual methodologies play a central role (Campa, 2015) The representation of the activities, in fact, is often based on photographs or videos collected during the fieldwork, in order to catch and reproduce the key elements of the individual perception of the territory by the subjects involved. During the last editions of the laboratories held in Prali the students were divided into groups of 4-5 and were asked to carry out an “attentive drift” for some hamlets of the surroundings (starting from the central square of Ghigo di Prali). The groups were asked to reach different points in the territory of Prali, without following a defined path, but instead letting themselves be guided by sensations and curiosity, with the aim of collecting useful materials to provide a representation of the territory crossed, starting from details that have attracted the attention of the participants. The materials collected could be of different types: photographs, video, audio, excerpts of interviews with the people encountered, sketches. The choice of these methods is connected to the general objectives of the laboratory activities, which at the same time aim to provide students with analysis techniques and understanding of the territory and methods for geography teaching that will be useful for their future professional activity.

dialectic in the choice of the elements to use in the representation, the comparison between the group members on the interpretation of what was observed. The visual narration of each group is presented on the third day of the workshop, with the support of a Power Point presentation. Despite the diversity of the results, linked to the characteristics of each group, some recurring elements emerge from the analysis of the materials produced in the last four editions of the laboratories (2016 and 2017). The first concerns the difficulty of many groups to really let themselves go adrift, observing the territory explored during the workshops with neutral eyes. In fact, many of the elements photographed and included in the presentations are connected to the (little) information provided to the students during the first day of activity, in relation to the territorial context where the laboratory takes place. For example, there are signs of the coexistence of the Waldensian faith population and the Catholic population in the local cultural landscape, with a clear prevalence of the former, considered probably more connotating the context of Prali (Figures 1 and 2). In the representation of the remarkable elements of the drift of the groups some elements recur, which confirm the representations of the mountain that many of the participants bring with them before starting the workshop. They are mostly linked to the traditional and pleasant elements of the mountain landscape, represented for example by farm animals (Figure 3) or by architectural elements considering them as characteristic (Figure 4).

5. The visual narration of mountain drift The representation of the mountain drift experience is composed of two main parts. First, a visual narration of the drift, where students describe their itinerary to teachers and their colleagues, with the support of the visual material they collected and produced during the fieldwork. The focus should not be so much on the objective elements of the places crossed, but rather on the group’s experience in the territory: the shared choice of the itinerary, the internal

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Figure 4. Presumably traditional architectural elements are often photographed by drifters, in search for “typicity”.

Figures 1 and 2. The two Waldensian temples of Prali photographed by participants to the workshop. The new temple (above), opened in 1962, and the XVI century old temple (below).

In the opposite sense, some groups include elements that have surprised them or that they would not have expected in a mountain context. This may be due to the bias deriving from the instructions given by teachers, who explicitly ask participants to go beyond the traditional mountain representations and the already known. For example, almost all the groups participating in the laboratory noticed and photographed an old community wood oven now re-functionalized as a bookcrossing point (Figure 5).

Figure 5. The bookcrossing point into an old community oven at Ghigo di Prali. Figure 3. Horse farming in Ghigo di Prali as part of the idyllic vision of the mountain economy represented by many groups. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Often, the elements of the ordinary life of a place, like building sites or works in progress, are perceived as disturbing elements in a territorial context to which many of the participants attribute characteristics of “idyll” and “purity”, linked to their habitual fruition of mountain territory during holiday periods and for recreational purposes. Therefore, a construction site for the rearrangement of a section of the Germanasca river is described as a “criticality” of the territory (Figure 6). Figure 7. The map of a group that left the main paved road and explored alternative itineraries to reach the destination.

In most of the maps produced by the participants the articulation of mountain territory into altitudinal bands, characterized by a different relationship between human society and the natural environment, clearly emerges (Figure 8).

Figure 6. Restoration works on the Germanasca river are perceived as a criticality of the place.

The second part of the visual representation of the drift consists in the graphic realization of a hand drawn map of the itinerary followed by each group, enriched with creative elements: drawings, collages with objects collected during the drift, small texts, photographs, etc. The cartographic representation of the route highlights the interaction between the group and the spatial context in which the drift occurred, determining the choice of the route. The instructions are in fact deliberately very vague, and nothing is said about the itinerary to follow, except the destination of arrival, so as to leave as much space as possible for the participants to define an itinerary. From the analysis of the maps, some relevant elements emerge. First, the unwillingness of the groups to leave the paved roads, in favour of the many paths that connect the different hamlets of Prali, with some exceptions, often linked to an active approach to the exercise (Figure 7). Copyright© Nuova Cultura

Figure 8. A map showing the altitudinal organization of the places crossed during the drift.

Many maps are witness to the complex relationship between the imagined mountain landscape that the students already had in their minds before the drift and what they actually meet and notice during their walk. In some cases, they implicitly looked for the “typical” mountain that was part of their imaginary, more than looking at the landscape they were immersed into with neutral eyes (Figure 9).

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This activation of the representation and communication components requires metariflexions and therefore stimulates the use of critical analysis skills and the structuring and organization of knowledge on the basis of the values, symbolic systems and implicit relationships that images convey.

Figure 9. The reproduction of the “typical” mountain landscape in a map made by participants.

6. Concluding remarks In conclusion, regarding the role of the images in the methodologies adopted for territorial education during our workshops, we can distinguish between two types of results: those most related to geographic education and related skills, and those more closely related to the teaching of geography and in particular to changes in the way of learning and how to evaluate learning. One of the goals of territorial education is the development of a geographic education that actively brings the learner back to the centre of the process. The use of images and new technologies thus plays the role of mediator in the process of knowledge that develops between the learner and the space in which the geographic educator develops his or her own educational project. This space coincides with a portion of territory, and develops in a concrete, lived place, where explorations, observations, the collection of information and its re-elaboration take place through representations and narrations. The first relevant information emerging from the analysis of the learning process is students’ activism. We would like to underline that this activism is not limited to the creation of enthusiasm and active participation around the activities, a result that is still awaited and important, but also includes the activation of participatory modalities and individual and group creativity, which is implemented in the re-elaboration of information and in its communication through images.

The activities presented combine different skills concerning orientation, observation, documents and data collection, analysis and inference with other skills related to geographic communication that include the representation of places and phenomena, as well as the integrated use of different languages. The activation of social and relational skills should also be considered, because this kind of work requires collaboration and soft skills. Finally, work includes subjective experience and leads to a reflection on how it connects people and places, involving skills of perception, empathy and reflection on one’s own experience. A complex relationship between professional, geographical, and citizenship competences thus emerges. Implemented in the territory through active participation, they are one of the most important outcomes of geographic education. This observation leads to the didactics of geography. The active methodologies for geographic territorial education, through the use of images and visual methodologies more in general, change the way of learning through the connection of three factors: 1. The close link between observation, collection of images, development of a narrative and a representation of the geographical space. In this way, there is not only a simple analysis of the images, because the subject is called to play an active role in learning in all phases of the process of the construction of knowledge. In all the phases of its process of realization, from the one which requires an implicit idea of the values of the territory to the one that, after their documentation and representation, is constituted by their sharing through a participated narration. 2. The critical attention placed on the instruments of representation, which are explored in their heuristic potential. What emerges is the link between the scientific dimension of Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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geography and the research activity, which necessarily passes through ideas, hypotheses, tests and verifications. 3. The verification of learning, which does not take place as a separate activity but is given by the product itself of the educational path, by the process through which it is realized and by the observation in an active context of the skills mobilized to face the learning scenario developed by the teachers. Going back to the experimental integration of visual methodologies into the psychogeographic drift, it turned out to be a fruitful technique of transmission of tools to students whereby to read the complexity of places and to add new skills to their methods as future geography teachers. Acknowledgements The article is the result of a joint piece of work. However, paragraphs 1, 2 and 6 were written by Cristiano Giorda and paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 were written by Giacomo Pettenati.

References 1. Anderson J., “Active learning through student film: a case study of cultural geography”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 37, 3, 2013, pp. 385-398. 2. Bignante E., “Osservare, interpretare, apprendere: alcuni stimoli per utilizzare le immagini nell’insegnamento della geografia”, Ambiente Società Territorio – Geografia nelle Scuole, 1, 2010, pp. 7-11. 3. Bignante E., Geografia e ricerca visuale, Strumenti e Metodi, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 2011. 4. Biondillo G., “Elementi di psicogeografia”, Abitare, 554, 2016, p. 71. 5. Biondillo G. and Monina M., Tangenziali. Due viandanti ai bordi della città, Milan, Guanda, 2010. 6. Bissanti A., “Un questionario-guida per la lettura di paesaggi raffigurati in fotografia”, La Geografia nelle scuole, 30, 1985, pp. 431-436. 7. Byram M., Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence, Bristol, Copyright© Nuova Cultura

Multilingual Matters, 1997. 8. Campa R., “Flânerie”: perdersi nella metropoli, Rivista di Scienze Sociali, 14, 2015. 9. Castiglioni B., “Il paesaggio, strumento per l’educazione geografica”, in Giorda C. and Puttilli M. (Eds.), Educare al territorio, educare il territorio, Milan, FrancoAngeli, 2011, pp. 182-191. 10. Coverley M., Psychogeography, Harpenden, Oldcastle Books, 2012. 11. Debord G., “Théorie de la derive”, Internationale Situationniste, 2, 1958. 12. Dematteis G. and Giorda C., “Territorial values and geographical education”, Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (JREADING), 1, 2, 2013, pp. 17-32. 13. Fremont A., Aimez-vous la géographie?, Paris, Flammarion, 2005. 14. Fuller I.A.N., Edmondson S., France D., Higgitt D. and Ratinen I., “International perspectives on the effectiveness of geography fieldwork for learning”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30, 1, 2006, pp. 89-101. 15. Garret B.L., “Videographic geographies: Using digital video for geographic research”, Progress in Human Geography, 35, 4, 2011, pp. 521-541. 16. Giacomoni P., Il laboratorio della natura, Milan, FrancoAngeli, 2001. 17. Giorda C., La geografia nella scuola primaria, Contenuti, strumenti, didattica, Rome, Carocci, 2006. 18. Giorda C., Il mio spazio nel mondo. Geografia per la scuola dell’infanzia e primaria, Rome, Carocci, 2014. 19. Giorda C. and Puttilli M. (Eds.), Educare al territorio, educare il territorio, Rome, Carocci, 2011. 20. Kent M., Gilbertson D.D. and Hunt C.O., “Fieldwork in geography teaching: A critical review of the literature and approaches”, Journal of geography in higher education, 2, 3, 1997, pp. 313-332. 21. Kolb D.A., Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development, Upper Saddle River, Pearson Education, 2014. 22. Mavroudi E. and Jöns H., “Video DocumenItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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taries in the Assessment of Human Geography Field Courses”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35, 4, 2011, pp. 579598. Nuvolati G., L’interpretazione dei luoghi: flânerie come esperienza di vita, Florence, Firenze University Press, 2013. Rose G., “Teaching visualised geographies: towards a methodology for the interpretation of visual materials”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 20, 3, 1996, pp. 281294. Rose G., “On the need to ask how, exactly, is geography ‘visual’?”, Antipode, 35, 2, 2003, pp. 212-221. Said E., Orientalism, New York, Pantheon Books, 1978. Sidaway J., “Photography as Geographical Fieldwork”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education”, 26, 1, 2010, pp. 95-103. Sinclair I., London Orbital, London, Penguin, 2002. Smith P., “The contemporary dérive: a partial review of issues concerning the contemporary practice of psychogeography”, Cultural geographies, 17, 1, 2010, pp. 103-122.

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MAPPING SOCIETIES Edited by Edoardo Boria

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 105-119 DOI: 10.4458/0623-07

Maps In/Out Of Place. Charting alternative ways of looking and experimenting with cartography and GIS Laura Lo Prestia a

Dipartimento Culture e Società, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy Email: laura.lopresti03@unipa.it Received: March 2018 – Accepted: March 2018

Abstract Nowadays, new speculative and experimental ferments on analog and digital mapping are variously infusing both “insiders” (geographers, cartographers, urban planners, GIS scientists) and “outsiders” (Art historians and creative practitioners)’ work. To properly evidence and discuss the excitement of mapping that is emerging through a wide range of visual and aesthetical contributions, it is important to contextualize and compare such unconventional practices of map-making in terms of reflexivity and transitivity of geographic knowledge production. This means respectively to distinguish different roles assumed by geographers, cartographers and GIS scientists in the interpretation and application of new theories and practices of mapping, but also to take seriously into consideration the creative mapping culture which is becoming visible outside of their discipline, for example in the artistic domain. In this report, I focus on the “reflexive” stance, by giving a personal, thus not exhaustive, overview of the creative trajectories on mapping currently explored in carto/geography. After emplacing the theory and experimentation on maps and geospatial data within the context of academic geographic production, I discuss three projects where geographers and GIS scientists are at the forefront of the concurrent rethinking of the map as a deforming and multidimensional tool for spatial analysis. Keywords: Creativity, Critical Cartography, Map Studies, Qualitative GIS, Visual Arts

1. (Dis)Placing geography, mapping and creativity The last decade witnessed the resurge of an intense academic debate on the affirmative rethinking of cartographic thought and practices (see Dodge et al., 2009; Rossetto, 2016). This has reached an astonishingly wide audience, far beyond the disciplinarily boundaries of geography, and besides the critical readings promoted Copyright© Nuova Cultura

over cartography during the anti-positivist and postmodernist seasons (Dematteis, 1985; Farinelli, 1992; Harley, 2001; Olsson, 2007). Undoubtedly, previous generations of human geographers have molded a peculiar way of looking at maps that implied an obsessive and suspicious attention to the production and the imagery of map-making. Pointedly, they decreed that the discipline of cartography and its governing tools

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– maps and surveys – constituted an apparatus at the service of power, where it is possible to diagnose, case by case, the validity of the Foucauldian “power-knowledge” nexus. In the geographical imagery, map-makers have been variously unmasked as powerful authors of territorial claims (Harley, 2001), passive reactors (Harley, 1990), mere technicians, and, above all, liars (Monmonier, 1991; Poncet, 2015). Besides political implications, maps have been often blamed for their representational inadequacy due to the “geometry of silence” (Olsson, 1991a, p. 85) inherently pursued and, consequently, they have been condemned for a clear insensitiveness and indifference to the multifarious nuances, turbulence and turmoil of lived spaces. Rephrasing the caustic words of Dematteis, cartography has been foremost unveiled not as much as “the project toward a perfect world, but [as] the history of its degeneration” (my tr. 1985, p. 44)1. Quite recently, the degeneration began to come to terms with a new creative and regenerative stimulus that is informing the world of mapping. Map-making has started to be distanced from its authoritative, political, ideological, technicist and representational attributes, so that nondominant and emergent perspectives have been claimed to have equal dignity of being studied via different approaches, nomenclatures and intersections such as: postrepresentational (Del Casino and Hanna, 2006; Dodge et al., 2009; Pickles, 2004); aesthetic, artistic and creative (Hawkins, 2014; Hawkins and Straughan, 2015; Lo Presti, 2016; 2018); affective and emotional (Aitken and Craine, 2006; Kwan, 2007; Nash, 1998); literary, fictional and narrative (Caquard and Fiset, 2014; Luchetta, 2016; Papotti, 2000; Peterle, 2018; Rossetto, 2014); tactile (Rossetto, forthcoming), among many others. The new speculative and practical ferments have been advocated by several geographers to signal divergent uses, experiments and theorizations of cartography that remained unworthy of attention in previous debates. As a result, schol1

The original version refers to geography rather than cartography and reads: “non il progetto di un mondo perfetto, ma la storia della sua degenerazione” (Dematteis, 1985, p. 44).

ars are, for example, taking more seriously into consideration in their work ordinary and vernacular mapping experiences (Brown and Laurier, 2005; Gerlach, 2014; Rossetto, forthcoming; Wilmott, 2016); additionally, they are observing and participating at various grades to the mapping impulse that is structuring the work of other disciplines, mostly through a visual and aesthetic lens2. Opening to the outside has meant to geography the possibility to displace and revise its relationship with maps in less iconophobic and iconoclastic ways. However, if the tendency to study the micro-cartographies of the everyday against greater master narratives of geopolitics and historical cartography is certainly new, the liaisons between cartography and art do not appear to be that emergent. They have been variously underlined by geographers (Cosgrove, 2005; 2006; Jacob, 1992; Wood, 2010), cartographers (Cartwright et al., 2009; Krygier, 1995) and art historians (Alpers, 1983; Bruno, 2002; Buci-Glucksmann, 1996; Watson, 2009). Overall, the aesthetic production of mapping looks to be often discussed differently in cartography and geography. On one hand, Rees argues that: “the first professional cartographers were pictorial artists who had engaged in the work of copying, decorating, and even compiling maps” (1980, p. 63). In this sense, he underlines the practical commitment of cartographers with the artistry of maps. Yet, the history of cartographic design is usually addressed as the transition from art to science, from the pictorial style to the geometrical rendition (Farinelli, 1992). Regarding this, Arthur Robinson considered the artistic experimentation on maps “somewhat disconcerting” (1952, p. 16). In truth, aesthetics – seen as a general theory of perception – proves to have been always an indissoluble component of the cartographic experimentation, by promoting 2

With the term “visual” I refer to those academic works aimed at exploring the social (and cultural) construction of vision (Jenks, 1995) and the visual construction of society (Mitchell, 1994). For the purpose of this paper, with “aesthetics” I consider a dual nuance of meaning. First, I refer to aesthetics as the art domain; second, I consider aesthetics the ability to feel and perceive, therefore it is the possibility to study both artistic and ordinary images (like maps) through several theories of perception. Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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cognitive and semiotic studies on mapping and geo-visualization (Montello, 2002; Robinson, 1952). In cartography, anyhow, the art discourse looks often mobilized within technical and applied discussions of map-making. In geography otherwise, art has been an inspirational and stimulating source to reflect, from new angulations, on spatial and territorial issues (see Cosgrove, 2008). Thus, geographical analyses are usually framed by a contemplative glance on the object of art rather than providing a real commitment and contribution to the alternative rendering of mapping practices. Notwithstanding this, the artistic dimension of mapmaking highlighted in earlier contributions is instrumental to the extent that it reminds geography of its historical interest in the imaginative, evocative and iconic dimension of the spatial analysis (see Mangani, 2006; Papotti, 2012). However, the established readings of geographers seem still far from achieving the goal foregrounded by the geographer Olsson, that to conceive not so much “social sciences about art, but art about social sciences” (Interview in Abrahamsson and Gren, 2012, p. 182). Considering this, new connections between geography, mapping, art and creativity are required to prompt other and hybrid ways of reading and experimenting with maps. Thanks to the teachings coming from the world of art, today, engaging with the ecology of mapping entails a move from a distant, critical, detached and rational “eye” in favor of an immersive, sensuous and synesthetic disposition. Moreover, the deluge of mapping projects in artistic contexts, more often revised through political and programmatic outcomes (see Marston and De Leeuw, 2013), offers a precious source for a visual-oriented and nonetheless critical geographic research. The resulting theoretical and empirical noise, triggered from the consistent contamination between geography and aesthetics, is today especially felt in the Anglo-American and French domains. It demands a provisional distinction and consequent reflection on the role of different “insiders” – geographers, cartographers and GIS scientists – in the smuggling and application of new transformative theories and practices of mapping. It nonetheless urges an elucidation of the diverse postures that geographers should Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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take to look at and fairly distinguish the creative mapping culture which is becoming visible outside of their discipline. However, such reflections will be discussed in a further intervention. Put differently, we could argue that even if other academic and artistic fields are increasingly partaking of the cartographic language, this does not mean that they may also share the same intent of analysis. In fact, if aesthetics is more likely to present itself as a counter-narrative of excessive scientism, and for this reason it may result appealing for some “undisciplined” geographers, however the inner cartographic examples offered in this paper prove that the utility of maps has not to be necessarily dismissed. What is configured is a sort of “functional aesthetics” which complexifies map’s ontology through methodological and visual experimentation, without nulling its operativity. The exploration of the reflexive (geographic) and the autonomous (artistic) experimentation with mapping is thus aimed to strategically distinguish and then re-converge mapping and creativity in relation to the geographical discourse. In this view, geographers should constantly look both in the mirror and at the window, a way to say they need to confront with their own interpretations and productions of experimental cartography, that is reflexivity, as well as with those crafted and experienced by other actors of mapping – that is transitivity – when not coproduced, due to the increasing collaboration with art historians, artists, designers and activists. Finally, the intervention solicits to open a constructive debate between critical and reflexive analyses of the map and the post-critical idea to address mapping as an open, processual, material, non-textual and creative event. Avoiding accepting the logic of representation as the unique means to analyze mapping performances, there is a crucial need for mixed or “messy” methods that may curve the map towards new horizons of research possibilities.

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2. Ways of looking/ ways of experimenting As already mentioned in the introduction, if we want to measure the appeal of experimental mapping practices in the geographic research, the first consideration to do is recognizing that geography does not present itself as a homogeneous body of work. More neatly, the deconstructive analysis of the map affirmed during the postmodern critique was concomitantly followed by massive technological transformations which have changed and accelerated cartographic techniques, by leaving geographers without the necessary expertise to participate in the cartographic production. Those aspects have materially influenced the relationships between geographers and cartographers, often leading to a separation of the two academic careers (see Boria, 2013; Pickles, 1995), and causing the emergence of “cultures of indifference” (Pickles, 1995, p. 51). Beyond real or presumed communicative arrests, we should not be surprised if, even today, geographers are more comfortable with the theorization and anamnesis of maps rather than with the creation of the same, which remains the prerogative of the technician: the cartographer. Obviously, due to the digitalization of mapping, cartography has been almost entirely poured into the realm of GIS, involving a new category of professionals in the fields of information and communications technology (ICT) and engineering in the practical transformation of the discipline. It is also important not to neglect the fact that mapping has been incorporated into other disciplines such as urban planning, graphical statistics, transport studies, corematic geography, oceanography that offer new advancements, in terms of design capabilities, on geospatial visualizations. Curiously, such sectors often place themselves within the enchanted progressive tale of the history of cartography. Considering what it has been already argued in the introduction, it appears necessary to distinguish a “way of looking” at maps from a “way of experimenting” with maps. In other contexts, those different approaches have been defined respectively as “critical” and “empiricist” (Edney, 2007). In identifying the geographer with the critic, I am stressing the point that geographers are not usually the real designers of the mapping tool, but they take a leading role in

the configuration and interpretation of the cartographic representation. In the literature, critical cartographers are, for instance, human geographers well informed by Marxist and radical analysis. They are also trained in the reading of geographical maps and geospatial data. However, they are not necessarily inclined to use them in their work. In other words, they participate at the theorization of the cartographic knowledge without requiring to be part of the cartography and GIS’ industries. We can then understand the reasons why, very often, geographers’ interests may not coincide with the methodological and technical analyses mobilized by map scientists. The same consideration goes for the issue of creativity. According to cultural, social and political geographers, artistic creativity translates more as the discovery of new ways of looking, ostensibly as the frantic search of theories, images and cases where to think through and imagine alternative cartographic stories and representations. This investigation may presume a radical intervention that geographers, but also cartographers, can attempt to reach only by contesting “the trap of socialization” (Olsson, 1991b) in which they feel to be caught in. In this respect, Olsson assumes that: “Whereas research sometimes can be creative, research training is always conservative…There is a contradiction between creativity and socialization. Just as the overriding aim of the former is the creation of the new, so the overriding aim of the latter is the preservation of the old” (1991b, p. 28). In Olsson’s mind, the geographer can become a “loving artist” only once he will break the conservative chains of the discipline, by starting a solipsistic dialogue with art. The postmodern aspiration to the purity of art is deeply understandable within what that the philosopher Rancière (2006, p. 23) defines “the aesthetic regime of the arts” which “strictly identifies art in the singular and frees it from any specific rule”. Yet, the renewed encounter with humanities, visual studies, media studies and art history is leading towards a much more contingent and varied consideration of the meaning of both creativity and cartography, which demands further clarifications.

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Other ways of looking By intercepting new murmurs and ferments coming from those disciplines that traditionally study images, several geographers have restored with a different sensitivity their attention to the subject of the map (map-maker and map-user) and to the image of the map. By embracing a much more comprehensive way of looking, they embarked on a further journey of cartosphere’ s exploration, taking into consideration not only a representational analysis of the map – thus symbolical and discoursive – but also a genuine look at the emotional, perceptible, sensory, material, organizational and processual aspects of any mapping practice. First, to contrast the withering of mapping interests in geography, there has been a need to rehabilitate the voice of those who were usually considered merely technicians and designers of the cartographic tool, those who would seem to overlook more critical, ethical and emotional issues of their work. This has involved some geographers into an ethnographic rediscovery of cartographers’ subjectivity and activity (see Boria and Rossetto, 2017; Lo Presti, 2016). Depending on the context of their work, contemporary map-makers have been reconsidered not merely in the terms of ideology-makers but mostly as “searching souls” (Aitken and Craine, 2006). In this light, the research and design phases of the cartographer can also be interpreted as creative and positive forces (Olmedo, 2011). This alternative reading is closer to what that critical map designers tend to give of themselves. It suggests that cartographers have nowadays the chance to be represented both as aesthetes and scientists who can critically, reflexively and creatively think about their mapping activity. Those approaches also tell us that experimentation, in geography, becomes a way of looking at the practice of map-making, not uniquely at the representation of specific maps. Better, it assumes “a reﬂective and interpretive style of research focused on the creative processes involved in mapmaking” (Boria and Rossetto, 2017, p. 35), although there is not a peculiar aspiration to create – over than look – differently maps. Geographers have also underlined the importance of the map user in the activation, comCopyright© Nuova Cultura

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pletion, readjustment, perception of any cartographic process, thus avoiding giving an overestimating attention to the creative power of the mapmaker. As Guarrasi was already assuming in the 80’s: “reading completes the map. Without reading, the event of representation cannot happen. Here, the reality is again represented and lived through an unpredictable process” (my tr. 1987, p. 290)3. In this perspective, the current geographic research helps also to think of several potentialities activated by the map user, depending on different contexts, affordances, moods, motivation and skills. Put differently, it comes to the fore the idea that the map, “once it has been set up, remains relatively independent from all that preceded it, and goes beyond the uses for which it was initially intended” (Casti, 2015, p. 27). The flourishing of the geoweb and new spatial media (Crampton, 2009; Elwood and Leszczynski, 2013) has furtherly accelerated the transformation of the map reader into an active co-author of the mapping process. The prospects of completing collectively, no longer individually, the cartographic interface via mashups, volunteered geographic information (VGI) (Goodchild, 2007) and public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) (Craig et al., 2002), avowedly provides new understandings of mapping, where different actors and objects are constantly working to build or dissolve their mutual links. Considering this, we can admit that next to geographers’ traditional analyses which interrogate maps as stable cultural objects, namely as inscriptions and material representations, emerges the idea of analysing the same maps as actions, much more unstable performances of seeing and doing, ongoing processes and, nowadays, complex networks and assemblages of actors, devices, infrastructures, software, hardware which are not even entirely mappable. Yet, in terms of creativity and artistic practice, the map, even in its current transformations, continues to be investigated as a symbolical artefact, a sign of 3

The original version reads: “è la lettura che la completa. Senza la lettura il momento della rappresentazione non ha successo. Qui la realtà viene di nuovo rappresentata e vissuta attraverso un procedimento imprevedibile” (Guarrasi, 1987, p. 45). Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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the world, and a privileged object of sight. However, if the research training remains “conservative”, the risk is to linger in that “preservation of the old” condemned by Olsson (1991b).

Other ways of experimenting The brief overview provided gives us a picture of that what geographers mean for creativity and alternativeness in map theory. However, how do map-makers approach the cartographic experimentation in which they are on the front line involved? Usually, the design of any map is seen by the cartographer as a creative act in itself because is active and constructive (DiBiase et al., 1992, p. 213). Additionally, exploratory visualization normally defines an open-ended process where researchers try to experiment new possibilities of representing the data collected without a clear goal and without knowing the final result. This kind of experimentation would be criticized by critical geographers because it is focused on the idea of making maps persuasively work, while ignoring questions of how and why they manage to have a grip on the world. To respond to this alleged frictionless and superficial consideration of the cartographers’ activity, the corner of the geospatial research known as qualitative GIS (QGIS) has manifested an interest in bridging the dispute between critical and cultural geographic debates and the science of geographic information. The critical strand of QGIS includes radical, feminist and postcolonial academics who are particularly interested in addressing, through and with maps, issues of social justice, housing, unemployment and the inclusion of unrepresented voices. Despite the demonization of the automated cartography for its objectivist and neutral claims, QGIS scientists have instead casted as strengths the possibilities to make explicit the partial and situated position of the cartographer in the process of mapping construction, by acknowledging the opaque character of the technology. Conjointly, they restlessly wonder about how to give back the complexity of the object of their visualizations through experimental solutions. In the realm of feminist GIS, for instance, researchers are reasonably using mapping tools in Copyright© Nuova Cultura

their research, thus they are constantly asked to reflect on the limits, pitfalls, and possibilities of articulating feminist epistemologies – including issues of self-reflexivity, emotion, desire and corporeality – with the potentialities enacted by digital technology. An entourage of scholars (Kwan, 2007; Leszczynski and Elwood, 2015) has fervently discussed and experimented new modes of distorting the layered and geometrical space visualized by the GIS to accommodate the complex sensory, embodied and situated point of view demanded by a feminist spatial understanding of the world. In the recent literature, we can find works that exploit georeferenced information to highlight inequalities and differences experienced by women in daily spatial practices (seen in their intersectionality with gender, class and race, sexuality and desire). For example, in 2008, Mei Po Kwan discussed the impact of anti-Muslim rhetoric on the life of American Muslim women in Columbus (Ohio). She collected data from their oral histories, field diaries and in-depth interviews and then she georeferenced them through the GIS, by visualizing the access and use of public spaces and the risky perception of the urban environment (Kwan, 2008). There is a panoply of projects that today concerns closely the politics and ethics of representation with the aim to bring out a new critical and aesthetic vision of the spatial analysis. Indeed, as Hawkins and Straughan claim: “attending to aesthetics is not to ignore issues of politics and ethics, but rather we can recognize aesthetics as a force through which issues of capitalism, neoliberal agendas, inequality, and exclusion have been brought to fore” (2015, p. 25). Overall, many expectations have been poured into the GIS by different scientists because the GIS database can include information drawn from many different maps and can also present different representations of the same information (Goodchild, 1995). Moreover, as those same projects show, digital maps can now be integrated by images, photographs, field notes, interviews, narratives, video records and audio, usually linked to georeferenced data. In addition, GIS science is constantly offering new tools to embellish and complexify maps such as new layers, aesthetically pleasant distortions and three-dimensional visualizations. Methodologically, new data can be collected Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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using mental and sketch maps, namely cartographic representations of individual or group spatial experiences intended “to capture personal expression of spatial reality” (Boschmann and Cummon, 2014, p. 242). The integration of GIS with methods excerpted from ethnography and psychology has also prompted new discussions on the real possibilities of the system to encode qualitative information such as symbolic and ethnocultural meanings. The problem is that those cultural phenomena are often approached in terms of data exclusion and data scale incompatibility (see Bagheri, 2014). However, the recognition of the peculiar ontology of the GIS (as that of the map) in the terms of a hybrid visualization which merges numbers, images, text and textures, should allow us to realize that even if qualitative GIS attempts “collecting unique spatial data of individual experiences, visualizing sociospatial processes, breaking down particular barriers of positionality in research, and developing new uses of GIS” (Boschmann and Cubbon, 2014, p. 237), the new methods proposed and the resulting outputs cannot be claimed as entirely humanistic, neither totally objectivist. To this end, new concepts and theorizations are needed to overcome this dialectic. A new dialogue between a cultural and qualitative geography and a mathematicalmethodological approach has converged for example in the spread of the so-called “digital spatial humanities” (Drucker, 2012), namely traditional humanistic disciplines that seek to rethink and re-read cultural and spatial representations through the support of media computation. One of the first examples can be considered the work of Bodenhamer, Deep Maps and Spatial Narratives (2010). The author, aware of the different conception of humanistic space in respect to the Euclidean view incorporated by the GIS, has proposed the notion of deep mapping4 by changing the terms of the dispute. He refers to a deep map as “a detailed multimedia depiction of a place and all that exists within it. It is not strictly tangible; it also includes emotion and meaning. A deep map is both a process and a product – a creative space that is visual, open, multi-layered, and ever changing. Where tradi-

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tional maps serve as statements, deep maps serve as conversations” (2010, p. 2). We can affirm that, even among those who practice and produce geo-visualizations, the idea of thinking and acting alternatively and creatively on the cartographic tools looks strong and alive. However, especially in the field of digital humanities, the ongoing experimentations do not seem still to affect the scepticism of cultural geographers (see Rossetto, 2014). Moreover, map designers cannot certainly avoid issues related to what, why, how to represent in their maps. The range of questions that a geographer should pose to unfold mapping practices as processes, questions and methods aimed expressly to capture the vibrant life and dynamism of such performances rather than revealing the inner meaning of their representations, can differ from those that cartographers need to ask themselves. The socio-cultural and graphic life of maps can be perhaps more easily connected when the way of looking is overlapped with the way of experimenting with maps. The best contributions to the transformation of mapping may apparently come from those scholars who put in dialogue, both in theory and in practice, the geographical and cartographic dimension of the research, that is qualitative and quantitative, critical and empiricist, imaginative and informational. For this purpose, the following paragraphs illustrate three projects where the fruitful convergence between geographic and cartographic training is practiced through creative experimentations. The synergic work helps to overcome the conservative aspect of the geographical map, whether digital or nondigital, and in the process, further methods of participation, visualization, investigation and creation are exalted. The projects presented in the next sections will demand geographers also to focus on the practical, material, distorting, tactile dimensions of handdrawn, textile, digital and 3D printed maps. I will present such trajectories by following the movements of warping, sewing and touching rather than holding on fixed points.

Altough the concept of deep map was first introduced by William Least Heat-Moon in the novel Prairy Erth (a Deep Map) in 1991.

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3. Warping Within the new critical experimentation inaugurated under the aegis of qualitative GIS, the use of cartograms has spread. A cartogram is a map produced using a technique where the mapped polygons are stretched or shrunk based on the magnitude of the variable being mapped. The distorted area can make strange and disorienting maps, which can intuitively illustrate the perception of spatial events and phenomena of specific groups and categories. For example, the geographer Picone and the urban planner Lo Piccolo (2014) have recently relied on cartograms to represent the residents’ perception of their own neighbourhoods in the city of Palermo. They have collected more than hundred hand-drawn mental maps from students aged between 8 and 16 that they then combined and redrew with the help of graphic designers into collective geo-visualizations of specific urban areas. In order to “subjectivize” the GIS and to

make it intuitively represent the individual spatial perceptions of the users, scholars decided to georeference the point of interest highlighted in the mental maps (Figure 1). After this, they created a spatial distortion by using the “warp” command of ArcGIS (Figure 2). As Picone argues, the aim was not “to insert a qualitative layer in the GIS, but to deform, through a technique called warping process, the traditional GIS representation, that is to show directly on the digital map the perception – deformed, in fact, with respect to the classical spatial logic – that the inhabitants have of their neighbourhood” (my tr. 2017, p. 127). Beside the critical position taken by the two authors on the most appropriate way of representing, through the cartographic interface, qualitative data on space (Picone and Lo Piccolo, 2014), the project is interesting because it indirectly suggests geographers to recognize the GIS as a process, the product of a spatial practice that, if participatory, necessarily emerges through qualitative and creative methodologies.

Figure 1. Sketch map georeferenced into the GIS. Source: Slide from the PowerPoint “Mapping Neighbourhoods”, presented at the conference “Tracce Urbane”, Venice, June 18-20, 2014. Courtesy of Marco Picone.

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Figure 2. The aerial map deformed by inner perceptions of the inhabitants. Source: Slide from the PowerPoint “Mapping Neighbourhoods” presented at the conference “Tracce Urbane”, Venice, June 18-20, 2014. Courtesy of Marco Picone.

Sewing

The rethinking of cartographic practices passes also through “experimental geographies” (Last, 2012) which engage directly geographers in the guise of artists. Those scholars manifest a multisensorial disposition in the dialogue with the cartographic matter, by re-processing and adapting the suggestions arising from artistic methodologies for the purposes of their research. In 2010, Élise Olmedo, at the time Ph.D. student at the Université Paris-1 Panthéon Sorbonne, conducted a “geo-cartographic” study in Marrakesh, in the district of Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, to make visible the female perception of both intimate and public spaces. Considering the traditional cognitive cartography too reductive for her research purpose, perhaps understandable if we acknowledge the “mechanistic, reductionistic and uncritical characteristics of cognitive cartographic approaches” (Rossetto, 2014, p. 521), Olmedo theoretically and visually elaborated a sensitive map that allowed, through artistic experimentation and the use of mixed methods, an anchorage to the lived space (Olmedo, 2011, online). To elaborate this Copyright© Nuova Cultura

map, she first proceeded with a geographical survey of the area, consisting of distant observation. Then she conducted an ethnographic fieldwork with a group of female dwellers. The collected data were transferred and consequently transformed into a textile artefact. The combination of the textile adjective with the map object may seem tautological given that the term “map” comes from the Latin “mappa” to properly indicate a piece of cloth. In her invention, the geographer simply rediscovers an original quality of the cartographic means. The map created may be perceived as a beautiful gadget, but it requires specific accuracy and skills as that claimed by professional cartographers and GISers. Through an online video (Figure 3), Olmedo creatively illustrates the distinct phases and expertise that led to this production. In the case of Naima, one of the interviewees, the resulting map consists of two poles, one representing the workplace, the other figuring the domestic space. Locations and their sizes are distributed in relation to the degree of importance and affection felt by the woman. This is, again, a mental map Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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but, this time, tangible and thick, on which the author tries to assign and attach feelings into places through a negotiated and participated symbology elaborated with the interviewee. In this nuance, the tactile map does not only serve to transmit information, but is evocative and emotional, it can arouse sensations and discussions on the part of those who have crafted and consumed its texture with several senses. Additionally, “la carte sensible” (Olmedo, 2011, online) is perceived by the author as an alternative mode of mapping, opposed to the authoritative mapping, that is the standard and controlled data-gathering for decision-making.

store the analogic experience of the “sense” of place. However, the capabilities offered by the use of 3D printing technology, when combined to artistic and critical thinking, can also make the virtual spatial analysis highly material, thus not merely simulated through a screen. This is evident in a series of installations designed by the geographer Heidkamp and the Art Historian Slomba from the Southern Connecticut State University. Here, the convergence between geography and art has brought to fore a project called “GeoSpatial Sculpure” (Heidkamp and Slomba, 2017), where sculptural artworks convey accurate geospatial data.

This project also tells us that cultural geographers are reviving the “use” of maps if maps are rethought and integrated by other tools: photographs, textiles, texts, materials and audio-video recordings that try to compensate for the narrative limitations of the conventional geographical map. Importantly, her work highlights the idea to factually and sensory engage with the map, by avoiding treating it as a dematerialized image. In doing so, geographers may also begin to see both map-makers and map-users not only as “visual” readers but also as touchers of immersive surfaces (see Rossetto, forthcoming).

Concretely, the two researchers have explored uneven economic development in Connecticut by considering several indicators and the different ways they might be visualized three-dimensionally. This led, for instance, to create an installation in which to represent the rate of unemployment in rural and urban areas (Figure 4). The modelled figures innovatively illustrate the actual number of unemployed respectively in Hartford, the capital city (on the left) and in the rural town of Scotland (on the right). The map of the two cities is engraved on plywood and shows two areas of almost identical size but with an extremely different unemployment rate, 15.8 (7,961 individuals) against 4.3 (42 ordered, thus manageable, individuals). The dots that we usually see represented in maps become now human figures that intuitively reveal the thematic content of the installation. The goal of the two authors is to expressly involve a wider audience in the analysis and discussion of spatial data. The search for a public engagement needs a place where to exhibit such works and a clear invitation to touch and sensory explore such data. In this respect, participation is an integral part of their second project. The spectator can engage with red monoliths (Figure 5), which represent the employment rate of all Connecticut. Where the unemployment rate is higher, towns are sinking.

Figure 3. Naima’s map (Olmedo, 2011), still from video. Source: https://vimeo.com/28730700.

5. Touching The non-verbal and tactile communication of maps has been recently discussed and experimented even at the interface of digital and analog mapping. In the first project discussed (Picone and Lo Piccolo, 2014), we have seen how spatial data can be digitally warped to reCopyright© Nuova Cultura

This difference can be touched by hand rather than be merely observed. As the authors furtherly explain: “Because the smaller sculptures are portable, and easily hand held, there is a participatory and interactive nature to engaging with the data. As the objects are passed from one participant to another, each locating his or her indiItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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vidual town or data interest, discussion of the form and meaning of the objects becomes a natural extension of the work” (Heidkamp and Slomba, 2017, p. 11). Holding in hand means to recognize the haptic dimension of such maps. The haptic is a term coined by Alois Reigl and it is often used in the visual scholarship (Bruno, 2002) to theoretically appreciate not only the optical but even the tactile affordances of images. Hapticity also implies a sense of reciprocity because it allows people “to get in touch” one to another through the surface of things, as the authors here promote with their cubic maps.

Figure 4. Rural vs Urban Unemployment Rate in CT (2013). Plywood, Printed PLA Filament & Architectural Figures & 2013 CT Department of Labor Data. Courtesy of Patrick Heidkamp and Jeffrey Slomba.

Figure 5. Unemployment in CT-Spatial Data Aggregation: State, Labor Market Area, Town (2013); Printed PLA Filament and 2013 CT Department of Labor Data. Courtesy of Patrick Heidkamp and Jeffrey Slomba. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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6. Conclusions In 1991, the geographer Gunnar Olsson introduced his famous essay on “Invisible Maps” with the following statement: “In this paper I report on a visit to the Land of Thought-andAction. The journey begins at the Gate of Geometry and ends at the Gate of Geography. In between, we pass through unknown territory, guided by maps of the invisible and a compass of the taken-for-granted” (1991a, p. 85). In this brief report, inspired in several passages by the words of the famous Swedish geographer, I tried to explore the reversed path. The journey began at the Gate of Geography, as a way of looking, and then ended at the Gate of Geometry (alias Cartography and GIS), as a way of experimenting. In between, we passed through unknown territory, that of aesthetics and creativity, where dialectics and boundaries across disciplines thin, and geographers accept to be guided by tangible, distorted, coloured, drawn, sewn and sculptured maps. Despite cartography, mapping and GIS tend to be often demonized and delegitimized by radical and critical geographers as “the evil side” of geography, especially in the wake of antipositivist and deconstructionist gestures; or they are uniquely approached in the terms of an historically constructed disciplinary and scientific field with its own methodological apparatus and legacy, I tried to argue that a renewed and divergent interest in mapping can bring new conceptions and attitudes besides the understanding of the map as a technological means of power. Maps can be also addressed as human (even academic) performances of seeing, sensing, touching and acting in/through/with space. In this perspective, we may argue that the mentioned projects place themselves in the direction aspired by Cartwright, who invoked geovisualization to absorb “new forms of multisensory and multimedia communication” (2004, p. 32). In doing so, they also reveal how much maps have still to murmur and affirm, when massively appear in their comings and goings through countless spaces of displays and through different materials and skins. The interwoven of alternative ways of looking and potentially transformative ways of doing Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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maps could suggest reliving the interest in mapping by elaborating, rather than an un-affected, tedious and technical cartographic epistemology and methodology, a fresh twisted and chaotic strategy to explore the universe of contemporary mapping practices. To this end, the reflexive heuristic approach proposed by Casti, “capable of holding together the outcomes of cartographer and geographic theories, the artistic hybridizations envisaged by historical cartography and the possibilities offered by digital technologies” (2015, p. XIV), looks important and compelling. However, it still lacks a considerable effort to deeply understand and seriously engage with the inventive propulsion envisaged by “contemporary” art theories and methodologies, in addition to modern and historical work. Only at that point, geographers and cartographers could avowedly affirm to have achieved a new disruptive sense of art “about” social sciences. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Tania Rossetto for her precious support and constructive feedback and to the editor Edoardo Boria for his insightful comments and suggestions.

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GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND (PRACTICAL) CONSIDERATIONS

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 123-126 DOI: 10.4458/0623-08

Geographic Knowledge. Paradigm of Society 5.0 Bruno Rattia a

President of ESRI Italia, Rome, Italy Email: bratti@esriitalia.it

Received: March 2018 – Accepted: April 2018

Abstract Thanks to the Digital Revolution, Geographic Knowledge (Geoknowledge) has enhanced its capacity and technologies, thus becoming a source of value creation in the ecosystem of knowledge. Through the development of ESRI technologies, which allow the integration of WebGIS with Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and aerospace Big Data, the Science of Where is defining new ways of designing and experiencing the environment and the city. In this initial phase of the Digital Revolution it is essential to affirm the paradigm of a society, called “Society 5.0”, capable of responding to the challenges of its own time, balancing economic progress with solutions to social problems. The enabling factor of this paradigm is the Science of Where and the thesis that the Science of Where is the enabling factor of the paradigm that implements Society 5.0 is fascinating, but has to be demonstrated. In order to prove this thesis, holistic experimentation is necessary, which involves all the actors present in the theater of society in order to demonstrate the benefits of this philosophy in this field through the exercise of good practices. For this reason, ESRI Italia recently set up a laboratory to conduct experiments at its regional office in Cagliari (Italy). The experimentation is scheduled in a project called Sardinia 5.0. The Laboratory is equipped with all the infrastructures, technologies and data necessary for specialists to perform the assessment of the social impact of existing initiatives and the construction of scenarios for a possible future. Keywords: Geoknowledge, Digital Geography, GIS, Science of Where, Society 5.0, Digital Transformation, Digital Revolution

1. Geoknowledge The Digital Revolution involves all disciplinary sectors creating a new ecosystem of knowledge. Thanks to the Digital Revolution, the discipline of geographic knowledge (Geoknowledge) has enhanced its capacity for observation, modeling and calculation and at the same time has entered into new application sectors of nonCopyright© Nuova Cultura

traditional presence, but with a major impact on the development of society. “Technology today is not only more powerful than in the past: it is different. The possibilities opened up by the new technological paradigm are incommensurable compared to those of the past and demand new models of interpretation” (Baban, Cirrincione and Mattiello, 2017). Geoknowledge has always been a fundamenItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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tal source of knowledge for man, since all natural and social processes take place in the space where man lives. Man has always experienced material spaces – the physical environment – and virtual spaces (the representation). In the various eras the reality model for the representation of geographical knowledge has been determined by the culture of society. The Australian aborigines gave meaning and order to their material space and passed on their knowledge in songs – the Songlines – thus perpetuating the dream and culture of their ancestors. The Romans represented the knowledge of the territory referred to the road network to allow its strategic exploitation. Medieval maps corresponded to the need to give shape to the Christian symbolic space that dominated the medieval era in the West. In the eighteenth century cartographic logic recognize the geometrical criterion to generate the “scientific” map that virtualizes the material space through the geometric sign. Today we are witnessing the return to a holistic geographical metaphor realized by the WebGIS. We can say that for the millennials the web is an instrument and source of knowledge as was the song for the aborigines. Paraphrasing the statement “the Earth needs to exist as a mental category first. Then it has to be sung. Only then it is possible to affirm it exists” of Bruce Chatwin (1987): “The earth must first exist as a digital concept. Then it must be play on the web and only then it can be said that it exists”. Thus, in post-modern geography, the source of value creation is the knowledge enabled by Digital Geography. It all started in the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics directed by Prof. Steinitz, then the development passed to the ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) laboratories, born as a spin-off of the Harvard group, upon the initiative of Jack Dangermond. The progress of ESRI technology has benefited from the convergent development of ICT (Information & Communication Technology) and Copyright© Nuova Cultura

AST (Applied Space Technology). The action of ESRI has broadened the boundaries of the geographic sciences that today are defined as the Science of Where. “The Science of Where is the science of digital transformation; the science of exploration and navigation; the science of commerce and ecology. It’s the science of insight and innovation”, as Jack Dangermond said in the presentation of his company’s new brand (http://www.esri.com/esri-news/arcnews/winter 17articles/the-science-of-where-our-promise). Through the ESRI technologies allowing the integration of WebGIS with Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and aerospace Big Data and the Science of Where is defining new ways of designing and experiencing the environment and the city. The Science of Where brings benefits in all the processes of knowledge because it combines the dimension of the Where with the traditional dimensions of the How, When and Why and allows to direct the focus of social development on individual needs.

2. Impact of the Digital Revolution The Science of Where brings Geoknowledge into all the processes active on the territory, because with the Digital Transformation all the processes have become digital, therefore all the process owners enrich their processes of Mission Accomplishment or Business Implementation with the dimension of Where. The rate of innovation introduced by the Digital Transformation has determined a real revolution, or the so-called Digital Revolution. Today, we are at the beginning of the Digital Revolution and as in all revolutions, it is not possible at this stage to predict the social outcomes. We can instead forecast the innovative products and services generated by the technologies making up this revolution. By using the Schumpeter model, we can in fact predict the possible impacts on society, but we have no answer to the question of whether

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the progress of technology will lead to a society that is oblative to human needs or will generate a society polarized only on production efficiency. We can only say that everything will depend on how the process of change is governed.

3. Society 5.0 It is essential to affirm the paradigm of a society that, by leveraging new technologies, is able to better respond to the challenges of its time, such as the protection of Creation, the safety of natural and man-made disasters, the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage , The socio-economic development and the education of new generations; that is, “a society, with man at the center, balancing economic progress with the solution of social problems, through a system that strongly integrates cyber space with physical space”, defined as Society 5.0 in the Japan’s 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan for 2016-2020 (https://www.tillvaxtanalys.se/ download/18.36a7c6515478fc61a479ce2/14630 50071286/Japans%20fem%C3%A5rsplan.pdf). With Society 5.0, the vision of Industry 4.0 is extended, going from the optimization of production processes to the treatment of social problems, with the aim of achieving a complete collaboration between Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Man. In order to implement the Vision of Society 5.0, a paradigm is needed that starts from the mapping of needs and solutions in terms of C2B (citizen to business), i.e. starts from the needs of citizens. The enabling element of this paradigm is the Science of Where because everything starts from Where human needs are. The development of Society 5.0. will take place in the various geographical areas with different methods and timescales because it depends on the meeting between government actions and industry and research initiatives which takes place in the territories.

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Society 5.0 is fascinating but must be demonstrated. To prove this thesis holistic experimentation is necessary, involving all the actors present in the theater of society, in order to demonstrate the benefits of this philosophy through the exercise of good practices on the field. To manage this experimentation, it is necessary to create a Laboratory with specific territorial and cultural characteristics. The Laboratory must be established in an area that possesses: - geographically defined borders; - governance sensitive to innovation; - prestigious university; - high-level research institutes; - active non-profit sector; - communities sensitive to the addresses of Laudato Si’. Sardinia possesses all these characteristics, for this reason, ESRI Italia recently set up a laboratory at its regional office in Cagliari to conduct the necessary experimentation. The experimentation will leverage the “charisms” of Sardinia and the skills of the ESRI Italia, which are complemented by the action of GEOsmartcampus (www.geosmartcampus.it) for Open Innovation, and throught its Academy of the Geoknowledge Foundation (www.geokno wledgefoundation.it).

5. The Sardinia 5.0 Project The experimentation is scheduled in a project called Sardinia 5.0, the name deriving from the place and purpose of the project. The primary objective is to demonstrate the essential contribution of the Science of Where to the advent of a society, where the ethical, social and economic values of Society 5.0 are rooted. The project plan initially includes a survey of initiatives, which are either under way or planned in the Region of Sardinia, where the Science of Where plays a decisive role in guaranteeing its success. The results will then evalu-

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ated for further developments. These results will also be used to carry out simulations in terms of What if (there would be: more data, more resources, more actors, more services) with Futurecraft methods, “the art of building the future: hypothesizing future scenarios examining the consequences and needs and share the results, to allow an exchange of ideas and open a public debate”, as Carlo Ratti writes in his book “The City of Tomorrow: Sensors, Networks, Hackers, and the Future of Urban Life” (2016). Through the survey and analysis of the results, a method will be defined to calculate the R.S.I. (Social Return Index) of the initiatives. This index will constitute an important contribution to the definition of the social evaluation criteria for future projects. For the experimentation, ESRI Italia provides the ArcGIS platform and the appropriate GIS analysis skills necessary to support specialists (Technologists, Researchers, Data Scientists, Administrators) who will work in the laboratory for the evaluation of the applications currently in place and for the construction of future scenarios. A complete installation of ArcGIS Enterprise is made available with all the server functionality useful for the activities envisaged by the projects (GIS Server, GeoEvent, GeoAnalytics, Raster Server). Furthermore, the entire suite of apps from the ArcGIS platform is made available, such as the GeoPlanner fundamental tool for the conception, modeling and dissemination of territorial scenarios. The living atlas map data (satellite images, orthophotos, traffic map, road accident map, etc.) and all the socio-economic information contained in the worldwide database of ArcGIS Online are also available. The ESRI platform allows the use of augmented reality applications, Building Information System (BIM), indoor routing and algorithms of deep learning and Artificial Intelligence to verify the future scenarios devised by the different working groups.

Finally, the new ESRI product called GEO HUB is made available. This product includes a rich set of templates of data models, webmaps and storytelling tools aimed at the biunivocal management of communication between Government and Citizens and therefore important for the evaluation of initiatives that will have as their goal social inclusion, protection of the territory or improvement of public services. As an example of the use of GEO HUB, it is interesting to mention the project called “Geo HUB LA City” conceived by the mayor of the city of Los Angeles in 2016. The project promoted the creation of a geographical HUB of the entire City, through which citizens can consult both the present and future plans of the administration on issues of economic and social interest (transport, air quality, crime, public green, etc.), and the public Open Data available (street trash map, map of the parks, map of the traffic lights, etc.) but above all they can verify in real time the “work in progress” in the city (http://geohub.lacity.org/).

References 1. Baban A., Cirrincione A. and Mattiello A., Mind the Change. Capire il cambiamento per progettare il business del futuro, Milan, goWare & Guerini Next, 2017. 2. Chatwin B., The Songlines, London, Jonathan Cape, 1987. 3. Foresman T.W., The History of Geographic Information Systems: Perspectives from the Pioneers, Prentice Hall PTR, 1998. 4. Ratti C., The City of Tomorrow: Sensors, Networks, Hackers, and the Future of Urban Life, Yale University Press, 2016. 5. Wurman R.S., UnderstandingUnderstanding, Wurman, 2017.

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TEACHINGS FROM THE PAST Edited by Dino Gavinelli and Davide Papotti

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 7, June, 2018, pp. 129-133

Re-reading The Geographical Study of Population Groups by M. Aurousseau Maristella Bergaglioa a

University of Milan, Milan, Italy

The pages that follow are taken from an article published in 1923 in the Geographical Review, the official journal of the American Geographical Association. The author, Marcel Aurousseau, was born in Australia in 1891 and was a geographer and geologist. He wrote his most important geographical papers on population problems and settlements between 1920 and 1924, when he worked at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC. and for the American Geographical Society of New York. This paper is highly interesting because, although the case for population geography would be made later by Glenn Trewartha at the Association of American Geographers annual meeting in 1953, in Aurousseau’s pages we can easily find almost all of the main key points that would become the focus of research and debate in the field of population geography. In particular, Aurousseau appears to grasp the special features and critical issues of this branch of geographical discipline, which are clearly detectable even today and which give geography of population a very marked characteristic of interdisciplinarity. He points out that, by analysing the global distribution of human groups, geographers have not only been able to successfully use the tools Copyright© Nuova Cultura

of other sciences, but have also opened up multiple perspectives of analysis, new data representation methodologies, and new interpretive models. The author shows a lot of assurance and confidence in the methods and heuristic tools of population studies, although admitting that much research still needs to be carried out and explored. According to Rousseau’s thought, studies on population groups should find their own space within geography, outlined by what the author calls “Philosophy of Population”, which will allow geographers to decipher the spatial complexity and localize and understand population groups on earth. An element of modernity in the work by Aurousseau is recognizing that the study of population consists in the analysis of the geographical distribution of population groups, the ways and aspects that characterise their occupation of the Earth’s surface, and how this analysis should also become the instrument for the knowledge of the territory. Even today, population geography is indeed the discipline that tries to account for the diversity of human groups and their evolutionary dynamics, analysing the dialectic between the environmental context of demographic changes and the social framework. Another element of modernity is the linkage underlined between population growth and the resources of a region. The fact that there is a relationship between population growth and increased pressure on resources, accompanied by the degradation of the natural environment, has been frequently discussed in different Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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perspectives since very ancient times, such as in some tablets of one Babylonian Epic poem written in 600 B.C., in the Homeric Cypria (776580 B.C), or in De Anima by Tertullian, a Latinwriting Christian author of the Severan age. The author appears to know the literature on population very well, from Malthus onwards. In particular, he refers to the problem related to future prospects for humanity, around which, in the twenties, the discussion had become richer and more dynamic, polarizing the historical and philosophical tradition and the studies into the two extreme positions represented by the “Malthusians” and those who trusted the powerful reproductive forces of population and nature. Aurousseau outlines the framework of the debate among his contemporaries around the “Population question” aroused by George Chisholm in The Geographical Teacher magazine in 1917, analysing the markedly Malthusian position of US scholars Warren Thompson, Raymond Pearl, and Lowell Reed. The latter is opposed to the pro-natalist French vision of Albert Demangeon and Robert Lascaux and the thought of the German author Friedrich Naumann in his famous Central Europe, published in 1917. The debate described by Aurousseau about population growth and the impact this could have on food resources or the opportunity for the nations to increase the number of people would continue, with supporters on both sides among scholars and researchers, to then flare up in the 1960s. At that time, in her book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson paved the way for the spread of ecological consciousness among common people and fed what would become the environmental movement.

Aurousseau, however, is well-aware of the biological challenges posed by rising population and, in the last words of the paper’s pages, he clearly expresses his concern about the possibility that the Earth’s resources are not sufficient to support the population growth in the years to come. He expressly recognizes that it will be the task of geography to give an answer to the questions that this problem raises.

References 1. Aurousseau M., “The Geographical Study of Population Groups”, Geographical Review, 13, 2, 1923, pp. 266-282. 2. Carson R., Silent Spring, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2002. 3. Chisholm G.G., “Geography and the Population Question”, The Geographical Teacher, 9, 1, 1917, pp. 54-57. 4. Naumann F., Central Europe, AA Knopf, New York, 1917. 5. Trewartha G.T., “A Case for Population Geography”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 43, 2, 1953, pp. 7197. ---------------------------------------------------------

And, it would be fifty years later, with William Vogt, Henry Fairfield Osborn Jr., and Paul Ehrlich, that the rise of the total number of living humans would enter into the debate on the Earth’s future and alert people about the importance of environmental issues, creating the linkage among population growth, carrying capacity, and the concept of sustainability, albeit unexpressed.

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The Geographical Study of Population Groups1 M. Aurousseau How Population Is Studied The literature of population is relatively small. To realize this, one has only to consult the subject index of a large library. The important works on the subject start with Benjamin Franklin and Malthus and run down through the nineteenth century fairly regularly, ending with Carr-Saunders in 1922. The uniform character of the investigations is very striking. They nearly all deal with the matter from the standpoints of statistics, economics, or eugenics. Geography is not represented. A vast knowledge of the distribution of man on the earth has accumulated during the statistical period. His preferred habitats are thoroughly known; his rate of growth in them is known; and the general nature and trend of his movements from place to place are known. The numerical study of man is on a sound basis and has been exhaustively investigated by the mathematicians. Nations can hence compare themselves with other nations in a rigorously quantitative manner and are now psychologically dominated either by the fear of numerical inferiority or by the pride and strength of numerical advantage. Political economy has analyzed the growth of mankind and is able to show that subtle relations exist between occupation and rate of increase, between the industries of peoples and the fecundity of certain classes of human beings, between national revenue and prosperity as measured by numbers; and has shown that national wealth and power are in a great measure functions of the resources of the national or imperial land bases. “Be ye fruitful and multiply: seize the good places of the earth and use them!” This advice has been followed with an intensity that may well be regarded with anxiety.

Geographical Review, 13, 2, 1923, pp. 266-282.

The eugenists have examined the conditions of life and the quality of the human harvest. They are dissatisfied. They see the squalor and poverty of the towns and cities and the deterioration of mind and physique among slum dwellers. They note that along with increasing wealth and progress is a parallel development of misery. Eugenic study has produced two very active campaigning minorities: the advocates of preventive checks of population growth and the town planners. The latter need only a knowledge of the existence of the field in order to become geographers. Thus far has the study of population brought us. We have a majority faith in the desirability of numbers and a minority apprehension that quantity is lowering quality. Among the qualified prophets there is no unanimity, but they incline towards a faith in numbers.

What has Geography done? If the geographer be asked for succinct and useful information on population he is able to point to endless tables of figures taken from the statistician. He is able to produce innumerable maps of the world, of countries, regions, and districts, showing the density of population depicted according to arbitrary administrative subdivisions. He can point to the fact that more people live on the coal fields of Westphalia, or the alluvium of the Ganges, than on the veld. The facts are interesting, and the reasons rather obvious. He can produce curves showing the growth of all the leading cities of the world and can tell you just why Detroit has grown, if you don’t happen to know. He can tell you anything about numbers, provided you ask him to deal with them under the subdivisions of cities, towns, and “remainder.” The maps, except those of Sten De Geer (admirable, expensive, and difficult to file), are not geographic maps. Inevitably their information as a whole or in detail is generalized and lacks precision. For the merchant the geographer has handy information on the habits and occupations of all the peoples of the globe and can point to markets. The coherent and obvious population groups have been studied in their relation to the configuration of the land, and a large amount of Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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information exists about the positions of cities, the sites of towns and villages, and the locations of dwellings. This information has not yet been treated exhaustively and has yielded few principles. It is useful and indicates a lead to one of the objectives of science-prediction. It is known that Paris has grown because it is in the right place; that the villages of Macedonia are often definitely related to fault scarps; that the Mormon communities of Utah have wisely placed themselves on the fans at the canyon mouths. Numerous towns have been studied as objects in the landscape, with fruitful results. The town is seen to be composed of definable units, and we are coming to understand their interdependence and to control their growth. These studies, however, are in their infancy. During the past twenty years the regional movement has asserted itself as a definite policy in geography and bids fair to spread to other sciences such as climatology, biology, and even sociology. The subdivision of the earth into regions is the beginning of a reliable stocktaking of world resources. The configuration of the globe determines its occupation by mankind. The climatic limitations of the region will eventually determine who shall be the occupant. The climatic limitations also control the natural fecundity of the region in plant and animal products. The regional view will show us the deficiencies and surpluses of the various parts of the earth and will enable us to understand our final interdependence. The capacity of the region will set a limit to its use. The status of the region is still in debate. Some deny the reality of its existence. Others hold that delimitation cannot be placed on workable principles. Still others dispute the criteria of unity which have been selected. Nevertheless, the regional movement is steadily gaining adherents from the soundest ranks of geography, and the subdivision of the globe into world regions, climatic regions, physiographic provinces, and natural districts may, I think, be confidently expected in the near future. It can only be done satisfactorily by a survey method, and the existing regional maps are no more than the results of reconnaissance and reasonable speculation. The results for geography, then, are slight, the ground being barely broken. Little definite information is in existence, and no Copyright© Nuova Cultura

useful contribution to the population problem can be made at present. The line of attack, however, is discernible. I am aware of only one attempt at a direct contribution to the problem by a professed geographer.

Geographical confrontation We know where the people of the earth are. We know in some measure why they are there. We know what enables them to live there. Can we say how many will be able to maintain themselves in a given region? And under what conditions? These, it seems to me, are the geographical objectives in the investigation of the population problem. But how is geography to confront the problem, and with what equipment is it armed? The investigator needs a philosophy of population. Is he to be a champion of uncontrolled increase and ruthless exploitation of the earth, or of controlled increase, if that be possible, and a wise use of resources? His opinion will be based upon the conclusions of the economic investigators, modified by his own geographical knowledge. The conclusions of the economists, however, are strongly tinged with nationalism or colored by national environment. In the United States we find Thompson aligned unequivocally with Malthus and regarding France as the well-advised and fortunate follower of a sound doctrine. His position, based on a careful interpretation of Malthus, from first-hand and intimate knowledge, is a very firm one. He is strongly supported by East, whose argument is the result of an extensive inquiry into the agricultural resources of the country. East has estimated a maximum capacity for the United States, under conditions like those of the present, and his results are in striking accord with those of Pearl and others, who arrive at a principle of population maxima from the mathematical interpretation of increase regarded as a growth phenomenon. In France economic propaganda are vigorous at the present time, the slogans being “avoir beaucoup d’hommes; faire rendre le maximum à la terre; fabriquer à force de machines; étendre Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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le commerce de mer; associer les colonies à l’effort national.” These measures are advocated by Demangeon, and an elaborate argument for the increase of French population by increasing French production has been put forward by Lascaux. He shows that production and population are undoubtedly linked intimately and concludes that France must have more people and can only do so by feverish efforts at production. The French economists are almost unanimously anti-Malthusian, their condemnation of the pioneer resting upon criticism of the arithmetical ratio. The leaders of France demand a great population, but the French people pay little heed to them. The demand seems to spring from a fear of the wealthy and populous nations. And yet France is a happy and prosperous country; and, moreover, the land of France is full. Tillage has expanded until there is little ground left to till, and the land seems to be occupied by a maximum of people. I have only seen this view expressed in print once and that in a volume on birth control which contains several very illuminating essays. The English interpretation, as expressed in an important work by Carr-Saunders, aligns itself in some measure with that of Pearl. It implies that these things are operating according to some law and that they will, in a way, look after themselves. Carr-Saunders looks to the development of an optimum density of population, changes in numbers coming about in response to economic requirements. Increase of population brings industrial returns up to their optimum, if they are below it, and vice versa. This may well be true in an isolated and closed system and in its broadest sense may be true as a whole, but one may query whether or not the condition of optimum returns is desirable or whether the adjustment from conditions that have gone past the optimum is a comfortable

process. A different viewpoint is exhibited by Darwin, who evaluates civilization according to the possession of wealth, stock, and tradition, recalling Fleure’s three aims of humanity, life, new life, and good life. Darwin makes a reasonable deduction to show that civilization depends ultimately on wealth and concludes that “any increase in our numbers must, therefore, now react injuriously on our civilization, both directly by lowering average natural endowments and indirectly by causing a diminution of average wealth”. Those who have watched the world filling up, who have seen the colossal efforts that were required to feed England during the war, who have considered the delicate balance of world economics and realize how easily that balance is upset, who foresee the growth of the exporting countries and the probable diminution of their ratio of export, who have studied the exodus from countries endeavoring to arrive at their optimum density of population after having exceeded it, will most likely agree with Mackinder, that the oceans of the world are now a closed sea, and will incline towards a Malthusian view of the population problem. Dr. Fenneman said before this Association in New York in 1921 that “the world is filling up, and the time is coming for Africa to do its share in providing food.” World population is increasing at a very rapid rate, and the most conservative estimates of future populations render the prospect of feeding them a very formidable task. No matter what laws the increase will obey, geography confronts the questions “Where are all these people going to live? How are they going to live? and What resources can be made available for their sustenance?”.

Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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