Rejuvenation in rural Ireland in response to the COVID-19 induced urban-to-rural migration phenomenon

The aim of this paper is to discuss the paradigm shift in residential choices induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Firstly, the resilience of the rural regions belonging to the Northern Periphery and Arctic Program will be explored—the challenges brought about by COVID-19 within their tourism sectors, and the opportunities for rural revival generated by the current shifts in workplace mobility. The paper will then delve deeper into the case study of Ireland. The pre-existing issue of Ireland’s one-off housing and suburban sprawl will be explored, and the extent to which the regional plan “Our Rural Future” will tackle these issues by optimizing building density and dwelling typology in the post-COVID-19 era.

Rigenerazione urbana e paesaggio. Il caso di San Severo

The Municipality of San Severo has implemented the Regional Territorial Landscape Plan of Apulia at local level through a participatory process that, with the contribution of literature (poetry in particular), has involved experts, designers, teenagers, as well as associations operating in cultural, social, environmental and productive fields. Through the adaptation of the General Urban Plan to the PPTR, the implementation at local level of the Territorial Projects constituting the Strategic Scenario of the Regional Plan and the improvement of the governance tools aimed at involving the city and the territory, the contents and the methodology of the Mosaic Charter emerged as a strategy of protection and valorisation of the “Mosaic of San Severo”, that aims at identifying the territory.

Water Allocation and the Sustainability of Dairying in the Upper Waitaki River Basin

<p>Water as a resource management issue is gaining prominence in New Zealand, both in terms of quality and quantity. In the Waitaki this became critical in 2003 when several proposed development schemes exposed the inadequacies of the RMA and highlighted the need for a catchment wide plan. Legislation was promulgated and a Regional Plan developed to address the issues of efficient allocation. This thesis aimed to question the efficiency of water allocation within the recent legislation and to examine the sustainability of dairying in this area with regard to cumulative effects to the hydrological system. It was found the Plan has failed to achieve its stated aims. Dairying in the upper Waitaki is currently increasing and applications for resource consent are being heard under legislation that is not backed by the science required within its policies. Fieldwork was undertaken to explore some of the science required under the Regional Plan to enable a 'reasonable use' test to be made. The aim was to assess the response of soils in the upper Waitaki to intensive irrigation. This revealed that the potential impacts of intensive irrigation in this area are significant and highlighted the need for further research. This is a study of how poor policy and planning, based on a lack of robust science has resulted in the inefficient allocation of water. This has implications for long-term sustainable resource use.</p>

Water Allocation and the Sustainability of Dairying in the Upper Waitaki River Basin

<p>Water as a resource management issue is gaining prominence in New Zealand, both in terms of quality and quantity. In the Waitaki this became critical in 2003 when several proposed development schemes exposed the inadequacies of the RMA and highlighted the need for a catchment wide plan. Legislation was promulgated and a Regional Plan developed to address the issues of efficient allocation. This thesis aimed to question the efficiency of water allocation within the recent legislation and to examine the sustainability of dairying in this area with regard to cumulative effects to the hydrological system. It was found the Plan has failed to achieve its stated aims. Dairying in the upper Waitaki is currently increasing and applications for resource consent are being heard under legislation that is not backed by the science required within its policies. Fieldwork was undertaken to explore some of the science required under the Regional Plan to enable a 'reasonable use' test to be made. The aim was to assess the response of soils in the upper Waitaki to intensive irrigation. This revealed that the potential impacts of intensive irrigation in this area are significant and highlighted the need for further research. This is a study of how poor policy and planning, based on a lack of robust science has resulted in the inefficient allocation of water. This has implications for long-term sustainable resource use.</p>

Prestressed Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete Footbridge

<p>The regional plan of Bulle emphasises the use of soft mobility networks. This footbridge spans the Trême river in a slim and elegant line, offering walkers and cyclists a new route between the future neighbourhood of Bois de Bouleyres and La Tour-de-Trême. The use of ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC), combined with prestressing, allows thicknesses to be reduced to the minimum while ensuring optimal durability.</p>

West Nile and Usutu Viruses’ Surveillance in Birds of the Province of Ferrara, Italy, from 2015 to 2019

West Nile (WNV) and Usutu (USUV) viruses are mosquito-borne flaviviruses. Thanks to their importance as zoonotic diseases, a regional plan for surveillance of Arboviruses was implemented in Emilia-Romagna in 2009. The province of Ferrara belongs to the Emilia-Romagna region, and it is an endemic territory for these viruses, with favorable ecological conditions for abundance of mosquitoes and wild birds. From 2015 to 2019, we collected 1842 dead-found birds at a wildlife rehabilitation center, which were analysed by three different PCRs for the detection of WNV and USUV genomes. August was characterized by the highest infection rate for both viruses. Columbiformes scored the highest USUV prevalence (8%), while Galliformes and Strigiformes reported the highest prevalence for WNV (13%). Among Passeriformes (the most populated Order), Turdus merula was the most abundant species and scored the highest prevalence for both viruses. To optimize passive surveillance plans, monitoring should be focused on the summer and towards the avian species more prone to infection by both viruses.

Nature-Based Urbanization: Scan Opportunities, Determine Directions and Create Inspiring Ecologies

To base urbanization on nature, inspiring ecologies are necessary. The concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) could be helpful in achieving this goal. State of the art urban planning starts from the aim to realize a (part of) a city, not to improve natural quality or increase biodiversity. The aim of this article is to introduce a planning approach that puts the ecological landscape first, before embedding urban development. This ambition is explored using three NBS frameworks as the input for a series of design workshops, which conceived a regional plan for the Western Sydney Parklands in Australia. From these frameworks, elements were derived at three abstraction levels as the input for the design process: envisioning a long-term future (scanning the opportunities), evaluating the benefits and disadvantages, and identifying a common direction for the design (determining directions), and implementing concrete spatial cross-cutting solutions (creating inspiring ecologies), ultimately resulting in a regional landscape-based plan. The findings of this research demonstrate that, at every abstraction, a specific outcome is found: a mapped ecological landscape showing the options for urbanization, formulating a food-forest strategy as the commonly found direction for the design, and a regional plan that builds from the landscape ecologies adding layers of productive ecologies and urban synergies. By using NBS-frameworks, the potentials of putting the ecological landscape first in the planning process is illuminated, and urbanization can become resilient and nature-inclusive. Future research should emphasize the balance that should be established between the NBS-frameworks and the design approach, as an overly technocratic and all-encompassing framework prevents the freedom of thought that is needed to come to fruitful design propositions.