Geoethics deals with the ethical, social and cultural implications of research and of geological and geographical practice, representing a meeting point of Geosciences, Geography, History, Philosophy and Sociology. Through the identification of principles that should guide our actions with regard the geosphere, Geoethics may provide an opportunity for scientists to become more aware of their social responsibilities and a tool to guide society when dealing with issues relating to defense against natural hazards, sustainable use of resources and environmental protection. Geoethics can help construct correct social knowledge, reinforcing ties with the territory as a common heritage to be shared. Geoethics can promote a cultural renewal in the way we relate to the planet and a growing awareness of the defense of life and system Earth’s wealth in all its forms (Peppoloni, Pievani, 2013). In particular, we ask ethics to furnish us with indications of how to address the problems inherent in the major changes that scientific research and technological innovation have produced in today's society, particularly in the relationship between man and territory. This has led to the development of debates on so-called "environmental ethics". Consequently, scientists in the third millennium claim the right to intervene in an area which was previously considered the exclusive competence of philosophers and the religious: the area of values. In this context, science plays a role of higher social responsibility than that commonly assigned to it. This new ethic considers good and bad not so much with regard to man, an anthropocentric view, but with respect of the territory, seen as an entity that has its intrinsic value regardless of the uses it is put to, an ecocentric vision. Indeed, the territory, as an expression of a given culture, a given history and a special relationship between man and nature, is documentary evidence that can be considered as a fully-fledged cultural heritage and its priority right to exist and be protected and appraised derives from this (Piacente, 2013). Analysis of the issues dealt with by Geoethics leads to some considerations. First of all, in order to establish a selection criteria for appropriate behaviour, it is first necessary to identify the values on which such behaviour is based. In addition, it would be appropriate to ask about the responsibility of those working in the Geosciences fields, focusing on the ethical issues of the operator, as an expert on the area and all its dangers, whether operating in research or in the public, institutional sector, carrying out professional activities or engaged in teaching and/or scientific divulgation (Peppoloni, 2011). In this context, environmental sciences are often an area for the application for geographic information systems. Atmospheric and oceanic phenomena, the morphology of the planet and its geological composition are studied using GIS; nature and the distribution of organic forms, the life and death of plants, animals and human beings, and the way in which man organizes, harms or improves the world in which he lives are all observed. Every dynamic within the environment and between the environment and humans may be represented in its full complexity on different scales. Opportunities for scientific reflection are being amplified by increasingly more sophisticated systems. Things are now operating in the global network, beyond the traditional concept of a geodatabase in a stand-alone configuration. If, until a few years ago, researchers, professionals and ordinary people interested in environmental issues depended on a limited range of mostly institutional or commercial resources, the advent of open source, webgis or, generally speaking, of readily available implementation and documentation has greatly extended access to data and technologies (Casagrande, 2010). It is necessary, therefore, to take advantage of new technologies in order to obtain greater "geoethical control" of the most significant environmental emergencies: pollution and waste problems, the greenhouse effect and climate change, critical analysis of the use of natural resources, accurate information about dangers and risks to the territory, and the development of environmentally friendly technologies. Geography, as a "channel" between the social and physical-biological sciences, interacts between areas of knowledge which allow quantitative measurement and others which instead mainly rely on qualitative considerations. Due to their educational values and the methodological possibilities they open up, such possibilities for interaction would be most valuable in educational environment, as they would represent a significant step toward educational-methodological settings that permit the acquisition of skills and competencies of immediate spendability, for example the importance of “knowing how to translate quantitative elements into qualitative and vice-verse" (Bissanti, 1991). In a context of alternation between quantity and quality, the concept of resource is open to a multiplicity of ideas. If we consider the mountains as a resource, ideas develop from that of the riches of the mountains as being measurable through quantitative indexes (but not always) and reach one of the mountains as a whole as a resource, valuable mainly through qualitative criteria (but not only). This game between quantity and quality leads to informed evaluation of environmental conditions and human actions. On an educational level, one can work with students through the use of environmental indicators (naturalistic and cultural). In addition, the signs of the past, etched into the mountains and often still influential in the present, constitute the fourth dimension of space, of which the teaching of Geography can not do without. Memory can be reconstructed through the use of different sources (for example, pictorial or literary) or through photography, highlighting still further the possible connections with history, literature, art and image. However, the exploration of time also concerns the future, especially with regard the ethics of responsibility: it investigates the consequences of choices made in the present and how they can affect the future. Due to its many specificities (especially, but not exclusively, in terms of resources and risks), planning for a mountainous territory lends to an inexhaustible series of educational applications (De Vecchis, 2008). The anthropic presence in the mountain has progressively diminished over the last century and this mountain depopulation has coincided with a loss of identity, cultural capital and the ability to rework the mountains culturally. ICT development seems capable of diminishing the marginal position of the mountains, largely due to factors of physical distance and a lack of physical infrastructure. Information and communication technologies should therefore be thought of as a tool which can redesign territorial gaps, overcoming the traditional centre-periphery logic and strengthening the region’s practices of local development, such as those for mountainous areas which have had greater difficulty promoting their environmental resources during the era of industrialization. A simple survey of the websites within cyberspace and the use of ICT shows a significant foothold which educational agencies wishing to develop training projects for the mountains can refer to. In particular, the geographer Cristiano Giorda suggests four research paths through the ICT which may be particularly relevant today and can be used for educational purposes: the territorial system relative to local development: projects, actors and territorial values; territorial and environmental representations: identity, economy and use of the mountains through websites; self-representation of the mountains with regard the aim of sustainability: a comparison between visions and principles; ICT as a connective structure for relationships between mountains, men and territories (Giorda, 2008). The building of an “education about the mountains” project for primary and secondary school children through a series of learning units, from direct and indirect observation to territorial analysis, could bring out the range of perceptions that mountains can arouse in a child or pre-adolescent: from images of sadness and unhappiness to others of joy and elation. The mountains move you and palpitate, feel and make you feel, stimulate and awaken all the senses, thanks to their scenery, smells and tastes. The experience of a mountain path is instructive because the body can totally immerse itself, clearly grasping the multitude of possible sensory perceptions of light and shadow, heat and cold, and changes in the weather conditions. The sounds and the silences, the odours and fragrances are other examples of the many sensory perceptions which, although perhaps less obvious than their visual counterparts, are of great importance in the exploration of the environment. Perception is, of course, the first operational level and is essential in the exploration and understanding of space. This exploration and understanding is initially based on sensory perceptions and is then added to by perceptions of the environmental condition of the mountains, the weaknesses and risks, the links to history and to demographic, economic, social and cultural trends (De Vecchis, 2011). In this context , through the use of new technologies, children could become the true volunteers of geographic information (Goodchild, 2007), communicating their perceptions and their emotions directly on the web. Indeed, with the advent of Web 2.0, an experience based on mass collaboration, we have moved from "Wikinomics" to "Socialnomics", where citizens are voluntary sensors. Over the past few decades, the main issue for GIS applications has been the availability of sound spatial information. Today, the wide diffusion of electronic devices that provide geo-referenced information has resulted in the production of a great amount of territorial information. This trend has led to a " GIS wikification", where mass collaboration plays a key role in the context of territorial information (hardware, software, data and people). Neogeography [the term was used in France by the philosopher François Dagognet (Dagognet, 1977) and appeared in the English-speaking world for the first time in 1922] plays a fundamental role in providing new challenges to scholars and territorial planners when addressing territorial issues and a new wealth of updated data, usually created by people who are interested in geographically related phenomena.Attention is devoted to the creation and display of geographic contents, in this case, by children who become the key players and producers of data and information, enriching any eventual maps of the mountains with their feelings and perceptions. This is a new educational experiment that firstly provides the opportunity for young children to become aware of the value of the natural, aesthetic and economic landscape of the mountains and, at the same time, enhance the mountains in all their aspects by using, in addition to icon-cartographic representations (including "mental maps"), the oldest and most effective media of communication in the world: the word (Consoli et al., 2008), through the use of GPS and positioning devices (mobile phones, PDAs and browsers). This mechanism is a sort of collective mental map and a valuable tool for spatial studies which use the techniques of participatory cartography; in addition, it can also be converted into an instrument of participatory democracy or, rather, of active citizenship, or even in participatory science. Indeed, this tool could also be useful with regard earthquakes perception and in order to know about the reactions of young people and adults when a seismic event occurs. The confirmation that so-called "participatory science" is an important low-cost complementary tool for research comes from a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). On a global level, there are few sensors for earthquake detection in proportion to the territory and this means that communication signals can take about twenty minutes before they are processed by a research centre. According to the study, the new instruments have the ability to raise awareness in the population and obtain valuable information very quickly. In fact, the seismic monitoring station apps for smartphones, such as "Did you feel it?" in the U.S. or the Italian "Hai sentito il terremoto?", allow citizens to give news of any earthquakes. The introduction of these services is economical and provides an optimum solution to integrate with traditional networks. The reporting of an earthquake through a mobile phone or Internet also becomes a tool of psychological support for a child, who strives to identify some positive aspects as a consolation and, thus, enhances his resilience. This will serve to increase his ability to effectively manage stress, daily difficulties and, in this case, a possible traumatic event like an earthquake. Therefore, in the context of education regarding risk, improving communications, awareness of the complexity of a risk and the level of preparation would increase the resilience of the territory and allow for more effective management and planning.
Educating people about the mountains and risk reduction through new technologies and neogeography: an geoethical interdisciplinary approach.
BERNARDO, Marcello
2014-01-01
Abstract
Geoethics deals with the ethical, social and cultural implications of research and of geological and geographical practice, representing a meeting point of Geosciences, Geography, History, Philosophy and Sociology. Through the identification of principles that should guide our actions with regard the geosphere, Geoethics may provide an opportunity for scientists to become more aware of their social responsibilities and a tool to guide society when dealing with issues relating to defense against natural hazards, sustainable use of resources and environmental protection. Geoethics can help construct correct social knowledge, reinforcing ties with the territory as a common heritage to be shared. Geoethics can promote a cultural renewal in the way we relate to the planet and a growing awareness of the defense of life and system Earth’s wealth in all its forms (Peppoloni, Pievani, 2013). In particular, we ask ethics to furnish us with indications of how to address the problems inherent in the major changes that scientific research and technological innovation have produced in today's society, particularly in the relationship between man and territory. This has led to the development of debates on so-called "environmental ethics". Consequently, scientists in the third millennium claim the right to intervene in an area which was previously considered the exclusive competence of philosophers and the religious: the area of values. In this context, science plays a role of higher social responsibility than that commonly assigned to it. This new ethic considers good and bad not so much with regard to man, an anthropocentric view, but with respect of the territory, seen as an entity that has its intrinsic value regardless of the uses it is put to, an ecocentric vision. Indeed, the territory, as an expression of a given culture, a given history and a special relationship between man and nature, is documentary evidence that can be considered as a fully-fledged cultural heritage and its priority right to exist and be protected and appraised derives from this (Piacente, 2013). Analysis of the issues dealt with by Geoethics leads to some considerations. First of all, in order to establish a selection criteria for appropriate behaviour, it is first necessary to identify the values on which such behaviour is based. In addition, it would be appropriate to ask about the responsibility of those working in the Geosciences fields, focusing on the ethical issues of the operator, as an expert on the area and all its dangers, whether operating in research or in the public, institutional sector, carrying out professional activities or engaged in teaching and/or scientific divulgation (Peppoloni, 2011). In this context, environmental sciences are often an area for the application for geographic information systems. Atmospheric and oceanic phenomena, the morphology of the planet and its geological composition are studied using GIS; nature and the distribution of organic forms, the life and death of plants, animals and human beings, and the way in which man organizes, harms or improves the world in which he lives are all observed. Every dynamic within the environment and between the environment and humans may be represented in its full complexity on different scales. Opportunities for scientific reflection are being amplified by increasingly more sophisticated systems. Things are now operating in the global network, beyond the traditional concept of a geodatabase in a stand-alone configuration. If, until a few years ago, researchers, professionals and ordinary people interested in environmental issues depended on a limited range of mostly institutional or commercial resources, the advent of open source, webgis or, generally speaking, of readily available implementation and documentation has greatly extended access to data and technologies (Casagrande, 2010). It is necessary, therefore, to take advantage of new technologies in order to obtain greater "geoethical control" of the most significant environmental emergencies: pollution and waste problems, the greenhouse effect and climate change, critical analysis of the use of natural resources, accurate information about dangers and risks to the territory, and the development of environmentally friendly technologies. Geography, as a "channel" between the social and physical-biological sciences, interacts between areas of knowledge which allow quantitative measurement and others which instead mainly rely on qualitative considerations. Due to their educational values and the methodological possibilities they open up, such possibilities for interaction would be most valuable in educational environment, as they would represent a significant step toward educational-methodological settings that permit the acquisition of skills and competencies of immediate spendability, for example the importance of “knowing how to translate quantitative elements into qualitative and vice-verse" (Bissanti, 1991). In a context of alternation between quantity and quality, the concept of resource is open to a multiplicity of ideas. If we consider the mountains as a resource, ideas develop from that of the riches of the mountains as being measurable through quantitative indexes (but not always) and reach one of the mountains as a whole as a resource, valuable mainly through qualitative criteria (but not only). This game between quantity and quality leads to informed evaluation of environmental conditions and human actions. On an educational level, one can work with students through the use of environmental indicators (naturalistic and cultural). In addition, the signs of the past, etched into the mountains and often still influential in the present, constitute the fourth dimension of space, of which the teaching of Geography can not do without. Memory can be reconstructed through the use of different sources (for example, pictorial or literary) or through photography, highlighting still further the possible connections with history, literature, art and image. However, the exploration of time also concerns the future, especially with regard the ethics of responsibility: it investigates the consequences of choices made in the present and how they can affect the future. Due to its many specificities (especially, but not exclusively, in terms of resources and risks), planning for a mountainous territory lends to an inexhaustible series of educational applications (De Vecchis, 2008). The anthropic presence in the mountain has progressively diminished over the last century and this mountain depopulation has coincided with a loss of identity, cultural capital and the ability to rework the mountains culturally. ICT development seems capable of diminishing the marginal position of the mountains, largely due to factors of physical distance and a lack of physical infrastructure. Information and communication technologies should therefore be thought of as a tool which can redesign territorial gaps, overcoming the traditional centre-periphery logic and strengthening the region’s practices of local development, such as those for mountainous areas which have had greater difficulty promoting their environmental resources during the era of industrialization. A simple survey of the websites within cyberspace and the use of ICT shows a significant foothold which educational agencies wishing to develop training projects for the mountains can refer to. In particular, the geographer Cristiano Giorda suggests four research paths through the ICT which may be particularly relevant today and can be used for educational purposes: the territorial system relative to local development: projects, actors and territorial values; territorial and environmental representations: identity, economy and use of the mountains through websites; self-representation of the mountains with regard the aim of sustainability: a comparison between visions and principles; ICT as a connective structure for relationships between mountains, men and territories (Giorda, 2008). The building of an “education about the mountains” project for primary and secondary school children through a series of learning units, from direct and indirect observation to territorial analysis, could bring out the range of perceptions that mountains can arouse in a child or pre-adolescent: from images of sadness and unhappiness to others of joy and elation. The mountains move you and palpitate, feel and make you feel, stimulate and awaken all the senses, thanks to their scenery, smells and tastes. The experience of a mountain path is instructive because the body can totally immerse itself, clearly grasping the multitude of possible sensory perceptions of light and shadow, heat and cold, and changes in the weather conditions. The sounds and the silences, the odours and fragrances are other examples of the many sensory perceptions which, although perhaps less obvious than their visual counterparts, are of great importance in the exploration of the environment. Perception is, of course, the first operational level and is essential in the exploration and understanding of space. This exploration and understanding is initially based on sensory perceptions and is then added to by perceptions of the environmental condition of the mountains, the weaknesses and risks, the links to history and to demographic, economic, social and cultural trends (De Vecchis, 2011). In this context , through the use of new technologies, children could become the true volunteers of geographic information (Goodchild, 2007), communicating their perceptions and their emotions directly on the web. Indeed, with the advent of Web 2.0, an experience based on mass collaboration, we have moved from "Wikinomics" to "Socialnomics", where citizens are voluntary sensors. Over the past few decades, the main issue for GIS applications has been the availability of sound spatial information. Today, the wide diffusion of electronic devices that provide geo-referenced information has resulted in the production of a great amount of territorial information. This trend has led to a " GIS wikification", where mass collaboration plays a key role in the context of territorial information (hardware, software, data and people). Neogeography [the term was used in France by the philosopher François Dagognet (Dagognet, 1977) and appeared in the English-speaking world for the first time in 1922] plays a fundamental role in providing new challenges to scholars and territorial planners when addressing territorial issues and a new wealth of updated data, usually created by people who are interested in geographically related phenomena.Attention is devoted to the creation and display of geographic contents, in this case, by children who become the key players and producers of data and information, enriching any eventual maps of the mountains with their feelings and perceptions. This is a new educational experiment that firstly provides the opportunity for young children to become aware of the value of the natural, aesthetic and economic landscape of the mountains and, at the same time, enhance the mountains in all their aspects by using, in addition to icon-cartographic representations (including "mental maps"), the oldest and most effective media of communication in the world: the word (Consoli et al., 2008), through the use of GPS and positioning devices (mobile phones, PDAs and browsers). This mechanism is a sort of collective mental map and a valuable tool for spatial studies which use the techniques of participatory cartography; in addition, it can also be converted into an instrument of participatory democracy or, rather, of active citizenship, or even in participatory science. Indeed, this tool could also be useful with regard earthquakes perception and in order to know about the reactions of young people and adults when a seismic event occurs. The confirmation that so-called "participatory science" is an important low-cost complementary tool for research comes from a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). On a global level, there are few sensors for earthquake detection in proportion to the territory and this means that communication signals can take about twenty minutes before they are processed by a research centre. According to the study, the new instruments have the ability to raise awareness in the population and obtain valuable information very quickly. In fact, the seismic monitoring station apps for smartphones, such as "Did you feel it?" in the U.S. or the Italian "Hai sentito il terremoto?", allow citizens to give news of any earthquakes. The introduction of these services is economical and provides an optimum solution to integrate with traditional networks. The reporting of an earthquake through a mobile phone or Internet also becomes a tool of psychological support for a child, who strives to identify some positive aspects as a consolation and, thus, enhances his resilience. This will serve to increase his ability to effectively manage stress, daily difficulties and, in this case, a possible traumatic event like an earthquake. Therefore, in the context of education regarding risk, improving communications, awareness of the complexity of a risk and the level of preparation would increase the resilience of the territory and allow for more effective management and planning.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
