E Toe Sasa'a Le Fafao; Return to Paradise

<p>Following the devastating tsunami of 2009 in Samoa many villages on the south coast of the main island Upolu were left in ruins, one such site is the heritage rich village of Sa’anapu. Five years on, the coastal front village is still in a state of ruin and the imminent risk of future tsunami have seen the relocation of families inland; away from the sea, the resourceful mangrove and their historically significant Fale Tele that once housed their ancestors. Many families who have rebuilt inland have inevitably abandoned their traditionally constructed homes on the beach front and opted for western influenced dwellings. This is due to high costs, traditional skill shortage and an underlying notion of the western influence that impedes small pacific island nations today. Although the increasing foreign aid being injected into the country for community development is a positive move to rebuilding villages they bring a western architectural typology. With this comes an alarming decline in the traditional Samoan craft of construction, spatial constructs and ultimately the desire of the youth to retain their built heritage. This design research argues that the rebuild process in devastated villages after a natural disaster presents a design opportunity to retain cultural practices in particular for a community in a heritage rich village. It also argues that culturally adapted and environmentally considerate design is vital in re-invigorating a displaced community but also encourages future sustainable development- culturally, economically and environmentally. The research tests a multi-disciplinary framework of environmental science and anthropology to inform the architecture of a hybrid master-guild carpentry and tattooing school. The scientific approach seeks to mitigate the risks and vulnerability of the site in relation to the natural environment whereas the anthropological approach has been the direct involvement of the Sa’anapu people through a sharing of knowledge, stories and aspirations for the future their village.</p>

E Toe Sasa'a Le Fafao; Return to Paradise

<p>Following the devastating tsunami of 2009 in Samoa many villages on the south coast of the main island Upolu were left in ruins, one such site is the heritage rich village of Sa’anapu. Five years on, the coastal front village is still in a state of ruin and the imminent risk of future tsunami have seen the relocation of families inland; away from the sea, the resourceful mangrove and their historically significant Fale Tele that once housed their ancestors. Many families who have rebuilt inland have inevitably abandoned their traditionally constructed homes on the beach front and opted for western influenced dwellings. This is due to high costs, traditional skill shortage and an underlying notion of the western influence that impedes small pacific island nations today. Although the increasing foreign aid being injected into the country for community development is a positive move to rebuilding villages they bring a western architectural typology. With this comes an alarming decline in the traditional Samoan craft of construction, spatial constructs and ultimately the desire of the youth to retain their built heritage. This design research argues that the rebuild process in devastated villages after a natural disaster presents a design opportunity to retain cultural practices in particular for a community in a heritage rich village. It also argues that culturally adapted and environmentally considerate design is vital in re-invigorating a displaced community but also encourages future sustainable development- culturally, economically and environmentally. The research tests a multi-disciplinary framework of environmental science and anthropology to inform the architecture of a hybrid master-guild carpentry and tattooing school. The scientific approach seeks to mitigate the risks and vulnerability of the site in relation to the natural environment whereas the anthropological approach has been the direct involvement of the Sa’anapu people through a sharing of knowledge, stories and aspirations for the future their village.</p>

La actividad turística en el litoral de la Región de Murcia (Sureste de España): breves consideraciones sobre su evolución reciente y estado actual

The Mediterranean coastal front has traditionally been a focus of tourism on a national and inter‑ national scale. With regards to the administrative delimitations of the coastline, the situation in the Region of Murcia has been long stagnant, resulting in slower and more unequal processes of modernisation than in other similar regions of Spain. This study is directed at analysing the processes, evolution and causes for this relative divorce between Murcia and the rest of the Mediterranean coastal communities and provinces. A comparison and contrast is made of the various different regional tourist areas in an attempt to ascertain areas of greater strength and the reasons that have led to these being so. The methodology used is quantitative, using the of‑ ficial statistics provided by the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia and the National Institute of Statistics. The main results of this research underline how the Region of Murcia lags behind the rest in terms of tourism, as well as the broad‑ranging inequalities existing between the Murcian coastal municipalities.

Measurements of Local Sources of Particulates with a Portable Monitor along the Coast of an Insular City

The air quality of modern cities is considered an important factor for the quality of life of humans and therefore is being safeguarded by various international organizations, concentrating on the mass concentration of particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10, 2.5 and 1 μm. However, the different physical and anthropogenic processes and activities within the city contribute to the rise of fine (<1 μm) and coarse (>1 μm) particles, directly impacting human health and the environment. In order to monitor certain natural and anthropogenic events, suspecting their significant contribution to PM concentrations, seven different events taking place on the coastal front of the city of Limassol (Cyprus) were on-site monitored using a portable PM instrument; these included both natural (e.g., dust event) and anthropogenic (e.g., cement factory, meat festival, tall building construction, tire factory, traffic jam, dust road) emissions taking place in spring and summer periods. The violations of the limits that were noticed were attributed mainly to the various anthropogenic activities taking place on-site, revealing once more the need for further research and continuous monitoring of air quality.

Phytoplankton Blooms, Red Tides and Mucilaginous Aggregates in the Urban Thessaloniki Bay, Eastern Mediterranean

We investigated the plankton community composition and abundance in the urban marine environment of Thessaloniki Bay. We collected water samples weekly from March 2017 to February 2018 at the coastal front of Thessaloniki city center and monthly samples from three other inshore sites along the urban front of the bay. During the study period, conspicuous and successive phytoplankton blooms, dominated by known mucilage-producing diatoms alternated with red tide events formed by the dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans and Spatulodinium pseudonoctiluca, and an extensive mucilage aggregate phenomenon, which appeared in late June 2017. At least 11 known harmful algae were identified throughout the study, with the increase in the abundance of the known harmful dinoflagellate Dinophysis cf. acuminata occurring in October and November 2017. Finally, a red tide caused by the photosynthetic ciliate Mesodinium rubrum on December 2017 was conspicuous throughout the sampling sites. The above-mentioned harmful blooms and red tides were linked to high nutrient concentrations and eutrophication. This paper provides an overview of eutrophication impacts on the response of the unicellular eukaryotic plankton organisms and their impact on water quality and ecosystem services.

Modelling of Environmental Parameters of a Harbor Basin in a Coastal Zone with a Seawall

Long straight seawalls along the coastal front are quite common, especially in cases of coastal cities. In this study in the middle of a coastal zone, a harbor basin in the form of an orthogonal area recessed to the waterfront is considered. A mole of variable length and position offers protection from waves. The renewal time of the waters and the self-purification capacity of the harbor under the influence of alongshore coastal currents of different intensity were examined. The effect of technical partial closing of the harbor’s entrance to the water renewal rate is examined in the present research. More specifically, the study was based on the use of a two dimensional, depth averaged hydrodynamic model which describes the water circulation along the coastal zone. For the solution of the equations of mass and momentum conservation, the method of finite differences was used. The adjustment and the validation of the reliability of the numerical model at a laboratory level were conducted in a recent research based on the use of PIV measurements which ensured a very good agreement between numerical and experimental results.

Lički i sjevernodalmatinski prostor u kontekstu suvremene regionalizacije Hrvatske

The modern county system in the Republic of Croatia, and the strategic motorway network linking the Croatian regions, particularly the central and southern parts of the Adriatic coast via the Lika area, have defined new functional links in the central part of Adriatic Croatia. In contrast to reversions to previous divisions and demarcations in the Croatian area made by the Ottoman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy and Venetian Republic, the late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen renewed processes in the transport, economic and functional connectivity of modern Lika and North Dalmatia, which are similar to those in Antiquity and periods when the original nucleus of the Croatian state was affirmed. The construction of the motorway within the Adriatic-Ionian corridor, the focus on the nearest coastal frontage with an airport and sea ports, linking tourist complexes in the chain Novalja / Karlobag – Nin – Zadar – Biograd – Vodice – Šibenik – Primošten – Rogoznica with the Plitvice Lakes tourist complex, and a greater number of national and nature parks, have encouraged new, improved connectivity through direct, easily perceptible sociogeographic processes. This has been helped by relatively simple, spontaneous permeation in trade, transport, banking, administration, education, the judiciary, security, etc., which in spite of individual, political or inherited solutions and local issues prompted by groups with different or overlapping interests, has facilitated appropriate, effective, modern-day and essential integration towards a gravitationally unique, functional regional complex. The significance of existing, established centres of gravity, among which Zadar is prominent as an old developmental hub and node on the Croatian Adriatic coastal front, is of prime importance, particularly in a period of demographic recession, not only for small, rural centres, but also larger urban ones, this regional complex, and Croatia as a whole. Scientific, multidisciplinary recognition of modern processes in development, and spatial determinants in selecting a modern regional system in the Republic of Croatia, are also linked to the modern administrative-territorial, i.e. inherited, traditional county system. It is equally desirable to align these with EU NUTS regionalisation (particularly the NUTS-3 level), which is a challenging, but undeferrable task, for the purpose of the equitable distribution of basic goods, and balanced, decentralised, high quality development in Lika and North Dalmatia and Croatia as a whole in the future.