Papers by Alba L'Astorina
Sustainability, May 10, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Frontiers in Environmental Science
A profound transformation, in recent decades, is promoting shifts in the ways ecological science ... more A profound transformation, in recent decades, is promoting shifts in the ways ecological science is produced and shared; as such, ecologists are increasingly encouraged to engage in dialogues with multiple stakeholders and in transdisciplinary research. Among the different forms of public engagement, citizen science (CS) has significant potential to support science-society interactions with mutual benefits. While many studies have focused on the experience and motivations of CS volunteers, scarce literature investigating the perspectives of researchers is available. The main purpose of this paper is to better understand scientists’ attitudes about CS in the context of its potential to support outcomes that extent beyond more traditional ones focused on promoting science knowledge and interest. We surveyed the scientific community belonging to the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network because ILTER is of interest to multiple stakeholders and occurs over long tim...
Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Food futures: ethics, science and culture, 2016
Frontiers in Environmental Science
In the last decades, citizen science (CS) has experienced an increasing interest as a practice in... more In the last decades, citizen science (CS) has experienced an increasing interest as a practice in which scientists and citizens collaborate to produce new knowledge for science, society and policy. Environmental and ecological sciences are among the most active in proposing CS activities and new models for citizen participation in research. In addition to environmental dimensions, these fields necessarily include social and cultural dimensions to confront the complex local and global environmental challenges. This is particularly evident in the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network, where the integration of social sciences has become a recognized priority. ILTER offers a valuable landscape to explore common CS features across a wide range of different cultural and socio-ecological contexts, as well as worldviews of science-society interactions. In 2020, we surveyed scientists working at ILTER sites across the globe to identify key features of CS initiatives in ...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Jan 18, 2023
CATGIS is an approach to the knowledge of the physical and human characteristics of Italy as a re... more CATGIS is an approach to the knowledge of the physical and human characteristics of Italy as a result of the triennial research project \u201cDissemination and experimentation of the cartography, remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as an educational technology applied to the territorial and environmental study\u201d financed by MIUR (Education, university and Italian research Ministry)1 that involved five research units, as CSSAS2. The aim was to develop a prototype for a new didactic methodology, far from the mnemonic teaching of the geography, opened to a different educational graduation (school, university) and also to the refreshing (technicians) on cartography, remote sensing and GIS. The research was conceived in order to join the informatic dissemination to the knowledge of the tools and method to reading the landscape and analyzing the territorial evolutions in its urban and rural reality, in order to a correct estimation of the conditions and the characteristic of the ecosystem. Due to the complexity of the coexistence of natural and antrophic elements, a multidisciplinary approach was important: cartography, aerophotogrammetry and remote sensing improve the geography teaching, linking scientific subjects and humanistic, are a new instrument of territorial transformations. The CATGIS website (http://www.dista.agrsci.unibo.it/catgis/) is organized into 5 topics (cartography, aerophotogrammetry, remote sensing, census data, GIS) , opened by web link. The first three topics contain: 1. the text, divided into chapters, developing and refreshing the specific subject; 2. the didactic files, summarizing the previous section; 3. the atlas, including cartographical, aerial and satellite images. Census data is organized only into the section \u201cdidactic files\u201d, with the evaluation of statistic processing for some Italian Region and Provinces compared to demographic census at the beginning and finishing of XX century. There are also the dynamics of the land use (residential vs. productive areas) of some chief town compared with demographic density. The GIS topic is interactive and presents an informatics reading of the Italian territory, divided into Regions trough the e morphology, hydrography, land use, city boundary and landscape units theme. By the CATGIS web site it is possible to surf on Italy through the 119 landscape units homogeneous in morphology, geology and land use, with the knowledge of the main antrophic aspects and dynamics. There is also a possibility to open and download a georeferenced images selection with a short description of the subject. CATGIS can be easily opened by anyone trough simple surfing, with accurate contents and good quality images by which you can quickly download documents in .pdf format. It promotes a global approach to the environmental problems, acquiring critical knowledge by geographical reading of land, studying relationships between human and natural environment, knowing and using new technologies and web site production to support training, diffusion and data interchanges with interested didactic operators
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2023
In the last decades, citizen science (CS) has experienced an increasing interest as a practice in... more In the last decades, citizen science (CS) has experienced an increasing interest as a practice in which scientists and citizens collaborate to produce new knowledge for science, society and policy. Environmental and ecological sciences are among the most active in proposing CS activities and new models for citizen participation in research. In addition to environmental dimensions, these fields necessarily include social and cultural dimensions to confront the complex local and global environmental challenges. This is particularly evident in the International Long- Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network, where the integration of social sciences has become a recognized priority. ILTER offers a valuable landscape to explore common CS features across a wide range of different cultural and socio-ecological contexts, as well as worldviews of science-society interactions. In 2020, we surveyed scientists working at ILTER sites across the globe to identify key features of CS initiatives in which they are/were involved and the levels of participation of the volunteers. We consider these features in the context of the internationally-developed "Ten Principles of Citizen Science" by examining scientific outcomes and societal/policy impact, type of volunteers' involvement, and sharing of data/findings and feedbacks and acknowledging volunteers. Our results indicate that the ILTER community demonstrated a good predisposition toward environmentally-focused CS initiatives with diverse scientific questions including biodiversity, water quality, ecosystem services and climate change. Most of the respondents reported that the volunteers were involved mainly in collecting samples or recording data; some other activities, such as dissemination of the project conclusions and discussion and translation of the results into action, were also mentioned. Volunteers were usually trained for these initiatives and acknowledged in peer-reviewed publication, however data from the initiatives were only partially shared openly. We conclude with remarks and suggestions for expanding design and implementation of CS in the ILTER community.
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, Apr 18, 2016
TELEA (|| Telerilevamento e l'Educazione Ambientale) è un progetto di formazione per l'ed... more TELEA (|| Telerilevamento e l'Educazione Ambientale) è un progetto di formazione per l'educazione ambientale promosso dalla Regione Lombardia e coordinato dall'IREA del CNR di Milano con lo scopo di formare gli insegnanti delle scuole medie inferiori e superiori e i responsabili CREA della Regione Lombardia sul Telerilevamento e l'Osservazione della Terra come strumenti conoscitivi del territorio e dell'ambiente, a supporto delle attività didattiche interdisciplinari nelle scuole. Nel presente articolo vengono descritte le caratteristiche del progetto e sitraccia un bilancio dell'esperienza e delle possibili prospettive.A description of the Project TELEA (Remote Sensing for Environmental Education) proposed by the Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment (IREA) of CNR (Milan) and funded by the Lombardia Region is here reported. Objective of the Project was to train teachers and Region personnel support their environment educational activities thro...
L'idea dei Cammini LTER è nata ed è maturata durante incontri e discussioni informali tra collegh... more L'idea dei Cammini LTER è nata ed è maturata durante incontri e discussioni informali tra colleghi della Rete, con la motivazione iniziale di sensibilizzare il pubblico sui temi ecologici e di raccontare l'ecologia nella sua accezione più autentica di scienza che studia le relazioni tra gli esseri umani, gli altri organismi viventi e l'ambiente, facendo conoscere i luoghi, le attività e i risultati della ricerca LTER e condividendo la passione e l'impegno che animano i ricercatori. Nel corso del tempo è cresciuta anche la consapevolezza che la conoscenza dell'ecologia porti in sé la possibilità di creare un legame intimo con la natura e il territorio, generando quelle relazioni affettive, oltre che cognitive , fondamentali e necessarie per averne cura in modo costante ed efficace. La proposta dei Cammini LTER nasce, infatti, sul solco di una tradizione antica per la quale "camminare è
Extended author information available at the end of the article 1. Introduction 2. Questioning th... more Extended author information available at the end of the article 1. Introduction 2. Questioning the role of researchers in the society 3. The place and the participants 4. The CaFe concept 5. The artistic experience of CaFe 6. Concluding reflections and perspectives
Frontiers in Marine Science
Lockdown measures adopted in Italy to contain the diffusion of Covid-19 altered many variables in... more Lockdown measures adopted in Italy to contain the diffusion of Covid-19 altered many variables influencing the anthropogenic pressure on marine ecosystems. Public reactions included surprise at how quickly changes in human activity seemingly improved natural recovery and, at the same time, a generalized anxiety to restart economic activities. In this situation several Institutions from the Italian National Research Council (CNR) made a joint effort to quantify the effects of the unprecedented experimental conditions induced by the reduction of many anthropogenic pressures. The resulting project was conceived with a holistic, interdisciplinary approach, geared to combine scientific, economic and cultural observations to promote collective actions suitable to the governance of socio-ecological systems, reconciling respect for the environment with human activities and wellbeing, and thus grounding an ethical approach to marine resources. Alongside collecting considerable amount of scie...
Earth Observation (EO) is a cost-effective tool for obtaining spatial information on the water qu... more Earth Observation (EO) is a cost-effective tool for obtaining spatial information on the water quality status and processes taking place in seas and lakes. In particular, recent and expected advances in EO technology broaden the perspectives of monitoring toward the identification and quantification of plankton groups including cyanobacteria. The capability to detect cyanobacteria bloom is important because they can develop toxins hence presenting a range of amenity, water quality and treatment problems, as well as hazards to human health and ecological equilibrium. The problem is especially acute in the Baltic Sea where cyanobacterial blooms occur every summer covering areas of more than 100.000 km2 and washing upon beaches during the summer holiday season. With respect to lakes, they frequently exhibit cyanobacterial blooms, with an increasing occurrence presumably in correlation with eutrophication and climate change, which has resulted in economic loss and considerable public in...
Socio-ecological research is conducted in national Long Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) networks w... more Socio-ecological research is conducted in national Long Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) networks worldwide, aiming at collecting and synthesizing both environmental and socio-economic data and to involve a broader stakeholder-community. The LTER networks therefore represent a suitable context where new and different forms of communication and of public participation and engagement could be experimented and where reflections about the way scientists communicate ecology can arose. LTER-Italy realized, since 2015, the informal science communication initiative "Cammini LTER", a series of trails connecting two or more LTER sites, where researches walked and cycled together with citizens, aiming at providing the public with the opportunity to get familiar with Italian ecosystems, from the sea to alpine tundra. During Cammini, LTER researchers experimented different forms of dialogue and of knowledge exchange with citizens, using a diversity of tools and language. Here we present ...
The contribution of pedagogues and philosophers of education recently stresses the importance of ... more The contribution of pedagogues and philosophers of education recently stresses the importance of developing techniques for stimulating students' intrinsic motivation in learning science and participating in the scientific debate. Among other methodologies, inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has been acknowledged as a great potential to the development of sci-entific reasoning and to the related competences. The present paper describes some proposals of the research group "Science Communication and Education" of the CNR inspired by the IBSE principles but enriched by some peculiarities aimed at enhancing students' participation in the scientific debate.
Journal of Science Communication
In November 2016, within an Environmental studies course at the University of Venice, students ca... more In November 2016, within an Environmental studies course at the University of Venice, students carried out an experiment aimed at collecting scenarios of the Venetian coast's future starting from lessons learnt during the episode of storm surge 50 years ago (Aqua Granda ‘flood’). The students built scenarios able to anticipate the effect of sea level rise on coastal areas in Venice, based not only on scientific input but also on a methodology called “Futurescape city Tours” (FCT) involving inhabitants of the barrier islands of Lido and Pellestrina. This paper will explore three main questions: (i) Can participatory and experiential methodologies, such as FCT help students behave in an anticipatory and inclusive way in their future professional activities? (ii) Can we talk about post-normal science teaching? — i.e. one that acknowledges and works with science and other knowledges to address societal issues? (iii) Can such an approach challenge students thinking in relation to kno...
Sustainable Use of Chemicals in Agriculture
Abstract Sustainable agriculture is not the result of a simple linear, one-way process that goes ... more Abstract Sustainable agriculture is not the result of a simple linear, one-way process that goes from the scientific production of knowledge to its production application, but the result of complex “systemic interactions” between different subjects and institutions involved in various ways in the production and dissemination of knowledge and its incorporation into innovative solutions applicable. This is way in the last few years agricultural sustainability and sustainable use of pesticide have been subject of important regulatory interventions and research projects that stimulated a search for new approaches and design systems for knowledge transfer. Innovation and networks have also gained increasing attention for their role in enhancing knowledge and interaction between stakeholders. In this chapter we will focus on: • the contribute of policy in knowledge enhance and promotion of the adoption of innovation in agriculture, • lessons learnt from innovative project that considers the diffusion of a culture of prevention and anticipation as the most appropriate tool to tackle the management of risks on health and the environment, • the importance of communication and social interaction for sharing experiences and transmitting information, and • the importance of a flexible education system and training tools in supporting a knowledge system perception-oriented, context-specific, more participative that involve different factors and different types of knowledge.
Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 2011
Abstract: In recent years, international studies and surveys on science and technology have shown... more Abstract: In recent years, international studies and surveys on science and technology have shown that many countries are increasingly concerned with the lack of attractiveness that scientific careers have among young people and with the insufficient diffusion of scientific ...
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Papers by Alba L'Astorina