The role of archaeological sites in conveying geoheritage awareness: a case from Southwestern Sardinia (Italy)

Author(s):  
Rita Melis ◽  
Guido Stefano Mariani

<p>In a world where the interaction between humans and the physical landscape is deep and widespread since prehistory, geological and cultural heritage are still very much separate and addressed by experts and professionals coming from very different fields. The scarcity of effective communication channels impairs shared experience and fruitful collaboration in enhancing geosite awareness in the general public. When integrated approaches appear, they often still concentrate on the cultural narration using geological and environmental information only to support a palimpsest very much human-centred. Attention on integrated divulgation of the geological and natural processes surrounding cultural sites is still lacking. In fact, there is the possibility of walking the opposite path: that is, of using cultural heritage in order to inform the public and divulgate past and current geological processes acting on the wider landscape. This is especially true in highly dynamic environments, where geomorphological processes visibly modify cultural landmarks over time. In this sense, coasts are the ideal setting. They have represented one of the preferential places for human settlement since the dawn of civilization. Coastal environments show strong, complex geomorphological dynamics subject to cycles and variations over time which can be recorded in many different archives, some readily understandable by non-experts.</p><p>In this contribution we bring examples of how the interaction between cultural heritage and geoheritage can be used to enhance the communication of geomorphological issues. The coastal area of the southwestern portion of Sardinia (Italy) is the location of numerous archaeological settlements, ranging from Mesolithic shelters to wide, majestic Punic and Roman trade ports and cities. Sea level rise since the Last Glacial Maximum has widely interested this territory, and its effect is very well recorded in archaeological contexts. Here, variations in topography and geomorphology are changing the contexts of the sites themselves and sometimes threat their integrity through different geological and geomorphological hazards. The development of narrations focused on explaining these processes, using the archaeological evidence as a tool to convey geological concepts, might raise geological awareness in the general public and spread knowledge about the geomorphological history and features of the local and global landscape.</p>

2018 ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Karina Orozco Salinas

ResumenEsta investigación parte de la necesidad de poner el foco en los espacios públicos identitarios, en los cuales la constante congregación espontánea y masiva de la ciudadanía, ha construido un patrimonio cultural inmaterial en ellos, a la hora de celebrar colectivamente en la ciudad. Desde este enfoque, se aborda el caso de la Plaza Baquedano en Santiago de Chile, mediante una metodología propia que contrarresta fuentes secundarias, principalmente periodísticas, con fuentes empíricas. Por lo que seaplican encuestas y entrevistas, con el fin de comprender el fenómeno desde el contexto urbano, social, celebración y patrimonio del lugar. Asimismo, lograr la perspectiva interna y externa del estudio de caso.Los resultados obtenidos confirman la existencia del patrimonio inmaterial y el carácter de identidad, que se ha generado con el paso del tiempo en este espacio público y, tanto la visión interna como la externa, consideran que debería ser catalogado como patrimonio cultural del país. Sin  embargo, esta mención no ha sido otorgada por alguno de los  instrumentos vinculantes en Chile. Por lo cual es una discusión abierta,ya que en la opinión de expertos consultados la complejidad de otorgar una figura de protección inmovilizaría el dinamismo que ha constituido a este lugar como tal.AbstractThis research departs from the need to focus in the public identitary spaces, in which the constant congregation spontaneous and massive of citizenship, has built an intangible cultural heritage in them, when it comes to celebrating collectively in the city. From this approach, is addressed the case of Plaza Baquedano in Santiago de Chile, through our methodology that combine secondary sources, mainly journalistic, with empirical sources. So that, surveys and interviews are applied in order to understand thephenomenon from the urban, social, celebration and heritage context’s.In addition, to achieve internal and external perspective of the case. The results collated confirm the existence of heritage and the identity character, which has been generated over time in this public space and both vision internal and external, consider that it should be cataloged as country’s cultural heritage. However, this mention has not been granted by some of the binding instruments in Chile. Therefore it is an open discussion, since in the opinion of the experts consulted the complexity of granting a protection figure would immobilize the dynamism that has built this place as such.


Author(s):  
Himanshu ◽  
Peter Lanjouw ◽  
Nicholas Stern

This chapter attempts to draw on the analysis of seven decades of data and evidence from Palanpur to indicate some predictions for the future. It suggests that all-India trends of expanding non-farm, informal, employment will continue to exert an influence in Palanpur. The central role of caste and landholding in driving distributional outcomes is predicted to gradually diminish over time. However, a critical question relates to the potential role that the currently high, and rising, inequality might play in locking-in the forces that perpetuate inequality. The chapter argues that there is an intense need for improvement in the public supply of education and health services. Given the still weak state of education outcomes and also still poorly developed availability of financial services, it argues that for the foreseeable future entrepreneurship will continue to draw primarily on households’ own resources and initiative.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 03009
Author(s):  
Saassylana Sivtseva ◽  
Olga Parfenova

The historical and cultural heritage, expressed in monuments, architectural structures, dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, today is significant. The purpose of the article is to determine the role of society in perpetuating the memory of the Great Patriotic War. The authors conclude that the events of World War II find a lively response from the public. At the same time, new tendencies in commemorative practices are traced - tragic pages of history that until recently were “uncomfortable” (and in Soviet times banned for research), such as human losses, extremely high mortality of the civilian population from hunger, forcibly transferred to special settlements, - began to be reflected in the construction of monuments, memorable places. The location of these monuments is specific - they were erected at a certain distance from public places, at the territories of churches (victims of famine, victims of political repressions), which is associated with the predicted ambiguity of their perception.


Author(s):  
Arthur B. Cohn ◽  
Joanne M. Dennis

In modern times, the development of new survey, navigation, diving, and remotely operated vehicle technologies have made the location, exploration, and excavation of historic shipwrecks feasible to the general public. The debate on the value of underwater cultural heritage is recent and the issues of protecting underwater sites are now accepted. The diving community has been engaged in this debate for several decades, and a wide variety of viewpoints have developed. Museums focusing on underwater cultural heritage serve as platforms to foster discussions on submerged cultural resource protection. As any archaeological site, shipwrecks excite the general public. While museums provide a venue to share the story of the wrecks, or the historical contexts in which they existed, there are multiple ways to share this information with the public that will allow them a first-hand experience with a shipwreck. This notion has given rise to the concept of heritage tourism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 239 ◽  
pp. 25001
Author(s):  
Cecilia Gustavsson ◽  
Erik Andersson-Sundén ◽  
Abigail Barker ◽  
Anders Hjalmarsson ◽  
Mattias Lantz ◽  
...  

A growing trend in science is that research institutions reach out to members of the public for participating in research. The reasons for outreach are many, spanning from the desire to collect and/or analyse large sets of data efficiently, to the idea of including the general public on a very fundamental level in science-making and ultimately decision-making. The presented project is curriculum-based and carried out in 240 lower secondary school classes (pupils of age 13-16). The task, as designed by the participating universities, is to collect mushrooms, soil and animal droppings from different parts of Sweden, do preliminary sample preparation and analyses and send the samples to the university institutions for radioactivity measurement. Behind the project is a desire to compare today’s levels of 137Cs with those deposited right after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, but also to study the exchange of caesium between organisms as well as the impacts of biological and geological processes on uptake and retention. The scientific outcome is a geodatabase with the 137Cs activity (Bq/m2) present in the Swedish environment, where radioactivity data can be linked to the species (fungi, competing species, animals foraging), forest type, land type, land use and other environmental factors. The science question is of interest to the general public as foraging for mushrooms, as well as spending recreational time in forests is widely popular in Sweden. In this article, we will discuss the current status of the project and the observations we have made about how well the public can participate in scientific research. Focus will be on organization of the project, such as logistics, preparation of supportive material, feedback and communication between researchers and schools. We will present observations about the impact the project has had on the participants, based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 481-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Patel ◽  
Laura Lyons

Background: The field of palliative care (PC) is growing as the world population ages and burden of chronic diseases increases. Thus, it is important that the general public is knowledgeable about PC and the benefits PC provides. Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the public’s knowledge, awareness, and perceptions of PC and determine whether these have changed over time. Methods: A scoping literature review was conducted from 1968 to May 2019 using PubMed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases. Results: Thirteen studies met inclusion criteria that originated from the United States, Canada, Scotland, Italy, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom, Korea, and Sweden between years 2003 and 2019. Participants were adults and mostly younger than 64 years, women, and Caucasian. The majority of studies reported the public having poor knowledge (7/9 articles) and awareness (4/6 articles) of PC over the past 16 years. Top characteristics associated with increased levels of knowledge and/or awareness of PC included women (6/8 articles), age 40+ (6/8 articles), experience with a close friend and/or relative requiring PC (4/8 articles), and working in health-care and/or PC (4/8 articles). The most common perceptions of PC were associated with patients who have terminal illnesses and end-of-life care. Participants commonly received information about PC from the media, having a close friend or relative requiring PC, and working in a health-care setting. Conclusions: The public has poor knowledge and awareness about PC and several misperceptions exist. These findings have remained constant over time despite growth in the field of PC, which highlights the strong need for focused educational interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Festo Wachawaseme Gabriel

Communicating cultural heritage to the public has gained popularity in many African countries and the world at large. However,little efforts have been done to promote the practice of public archaeology in Tanzania. The main reason is the dominance of conventional archaeology which is mainly meant for academic consumption. In this kind of practice, the participation of local communities has been passive. This paper explores local communities’ understanding of cultural heritage resources focusing on local communities in the Mtwara Region of Tanzania. The results of this study reveal that little effort has been made by archaeologists and cultural heritage professionals to create awareness among local communities on matters related to archaeology and cultural heritage resources. Apart from discussing the state of local communities’ awareness on archaeology and cultural heritage resources, the paper also discusses the importance of communicating cultural heritage resources to the general public and the need to engage local communities in the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage resources.


1970 ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Lennart Palmqvist

This article attempts to give a view of how the Romans provided means of reception of the ‘cultural heritage’ and art exhibitions. The different modes of exhibition are discussed in context of the three different venues of reception: the public sphere (negotium), the semi-pu- blic sphere of the Roman atrium, and the sphere of the private house (otium). The article also remarks on the formalized management and policy concerning the cultural heritage that developed in Rome from the time of Augustus. Particular emphasis is made on the role of the new office of curator created by Augustus. The con- clusion is that exhibitions formed an important part of Roman culture from the late Republic until late Anti- quity, but had different functions in different contexts. 


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