An Accessible City is a Healthy and People-Centred Smart City

Accessibility for all is an inspiring issue for future urban agendas. In European cities, the ageing of urban population and the growth of social and economic disparities call for interdisciplinary reflection and practice on the relations between well-being and inclusion and the organization and upgrading of public facilities. The challenge is to ensure the usability of urban spaces to the largest extent of persons, according to their different capabilities. Based on research developed at the University of Trieste (Italy), and taking the region Friuli Venezia Giulia as its main study context, the article questions a variety of recent urban tools and policies in order to show their level of innovation and the obstacles that still oppose their more effective integration. The aim is to highlight possible fields for public action and the need to rethink planning instruments and technical skills in the frame of a user experience and smart design approach.

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #26 to #36

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 1510*, 2130*, 2250*, 3180*, 3260, 5230*, 6410, 7140, 7220*, 9320 are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 14 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 20 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria.

Soil Moisture Profiles of Unsaturated Colluvial Slopes Susceptible to Rainfall-Induced Landslides

In this work, we describe soil moisture profiles related to typical colluvial slopes that were involved in rainfall-induced shallow failures occurring in alpine and pre-alpine areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (NE Italy). The trend of the volumetric water content (θw) showed a general increase from the ground surface to the bottom soil layer, with two or three marked moisture peaks. The saturation degree (S) varied from 65–70% (topsoil horizon) to nearly saturated basal colluvium (S = 95–100%). Soil moisture data demonstrates that, for a very humid climate, colluvial covers are often close to the saturation condition for most of the year. The calculated suction profiles indicated that maximum values ranging from 40 to 55 kPa often occur in the slope surficial soil (depth < 0.2–0.5 m). This negative pore-water pressure greatly decreases after a heavy rainfall event because of the infiltration process. Complete saturation of colluvial cover in the alpine and pre-alpine regions generally requires rainfall exceeding 150–200 mm for a 24-h storm duration. This results in a recurrence time of Tr ≅ 5–10 years for critical rainfall episodes involving colluvial slopes in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. The case histories analyzed demonstrate the importance of performing a detailed lithostratigraphic analysis of the colluvial deposit in order to properly define the suction measurement points, which there should be more of than the three-point determinations usually reported in the literature (for example, z = 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 m).

Does More Moisture in the Atmosphere Lead to More Intense Rains?

It is typically interpreted that more moisture in the atmosphere leads to more intense rains. This notion may be supported, for example, by taking a scatter plot between rain and column precipitable water. The present paper suggests, however, that the main consequence of intense rains with more moistures in the atmosphere is that there is a more chance to happen, rather than of an increase in the expected magnitude. This tendency equally applies to any rains above 1 mm/6h to a lesser extent. The result is derived from an analysis of 33 local rain–gauge station data and a shared sounding over Friuli Venezia Giulia, North–East Italy.

Local occurrence and fast spread of B.1.1.7 lineage: A glimpse into Friuli Venezia Giulia

In-depth study of the entire SARS-CoV-2 genome has uncovered many mutations, which have replaced the lineage that characterized the first wave of infections all around the world. In December 2020, the outbreak of variant of concern (VOC) 202012/01 (lineage B.1.1.7) in the United Kingdom defined a turning point during the pandemic, immediately posing a worldwide threat on the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Here, we reported the evolution of B.1.1.7 lineage-related infections, analyzing samples collected from January 1st 2021, until April 15th 2021, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a northeastern region of Italy. A cohort of 1508 nasopharyngeal swabs was analyzed by High Resolution Melting (HRM) and 479 randomly selected samples underwent Next Generation Sequencing analysis (NGS), uncovering a steady and continuous accumulation of B.1.1.7 lineage-related specimens, joined by sporadic cases of other known lineages (i.e. harboring the Spike glycoprotein p.E484K mutation). All the SARS-CoV-2 genome has been analyzed in order to highlight all the rare mutations that may eventually result in a new variant of interest. This work suggests that a thorough monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 genome by NGS is essential to contain any new variant that could jeopardize all the efforts that have been made so far to resolve the emergence of the pandemic.

Food solidarity economy: evaluating transition community initiatives in Friuli Venezia Giulia region

Climate change, ecological challenges, and economic and social crises imply paradigmatic and structural innovations. In the effort to drive transition toward sustainability, local communities often take the lead, mobilize support, and organize initiatives based on the principles of solidarity economy. Our study presents a qualitative evaluation and comparison of three local bottom-up initiatives from Friuli Venezia Giulia, a Northern Italian region, each following alternative and unique models of production and consumption of wheat and flour. The reconstruction of the transition paths of the experiences, together with documental analysis and interviews, allowed us to deduce the influence of alternative approaches and subsequent degree of effectiveness in building a community and driving it toward sustainability.

Paesaggio, partecipazione e cittadinanza attiva

In this article the relationship between individuals and societies in building their spatial dimension is discussed by reflecting on the concepts of place and landscape. Environment is to be considered in its material and immaterial components in order to evaluate all the actions that need to be implemented to protect, govern and promote the landscape. This article aims to discuss the role of the community in landscape planning, starting from the research carried out for the elaboration of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Landscape Plan, that stressed the role of citizens in their awareness of the past and present planning process, and showed the importance of their involvement for future plans. The participation of the population should be intended not as a formality, but as a required and effective part of the process, using the appropriate participatory tools, in order to increase awareness of the importance of ‘landscape well-being’.

The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Wine Industry: The Case Study of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia

This study aimed to investigate the awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among wineries located in the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) (1), (2) the obstacles (3) and market drivers of its implementation (4), the practices and range of actions that are concretely implemented in the field of CSR (5), the implications that this management approach can have on company performance (6), and the communication tools used. The methodology adopted is based on a qualitative approach integrated with quantitative measures. In total, 28 wineries participated in the study. The results show that all of the wineries were aware of the importance of implementing CSR, although they mainly refer to environmental issues. Sponsorship in fair trade activities is considered the most relevant market driver, while Italian consumers are generally perceived as not particularly interested in sustainable wine production. The practices implemented are mainly focused on reducing environmental impact. Interesting insights have emerged from this study, such as an unusual disparity between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation of socially responsible activities, a tendency to adapt the entrepreneurial style towards CSR, as well as a fundamental willingness to implement good practices that go beyond the legal requirements currently in force.