On pibinko.org we normally publish all content in Italian and English (and occasionally in other languages).
From mid-November through Christmas we are having an acceleration in the publication of blog posts and site pages due to the combination of various activities. Primarily we are accelerating towards the Third Farma Valley Winter Fest, managing the pilot phase of the M(‘)appare Milano 2 campaign with BuioMetria Partecipativa (launched with a lecture at Politecnico di Milano on Nov. 22, 2018), and warming up for the next gigs of the Metalliferous Hills Jug Band.
For this reason we cannot insure the immediate translation of out news into English.
After the events we will provide some summary in Englisgh.
Meanwhile, if you do not read Italian (and do not have a friend who does) but you are interested in learning more of what is happening, you may contact info@pibinko.org for clarifications in English, French, Portuguese, and German.
Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 from 2.30PM to 3.30PM with the landscape planning course at the Faculty of Architecture, Politecnico di Milano (via Bonardi), there will be a seminar on Planning the “upper half of the landscape” (pianificare l’altra metà del paesaggio, in Italian) where we will explain the BuioMetria Partecipativa point of view on this topic. The lecture will be given in English (as all of the course lectures).
This is not the first time that BuioMetria Partecipativa goes to Politecnico (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017), nor is it the first time that we speak to architects (2014, Summer School in Porto). However this is the first time that we speak to architects from Politecnico, and for a Politecnico MS Engineer (and PhD) this is news.
As I think of it, actually it is not even the first time in this respect. The Politecnico Architecture Faculty hosted the final event of the m(‘)appare Milano campaign (a localized version of an OpenStreetMap mapping party), which interestingly happened in the same months when the BuioMetria Partecipativa project was being written. You may check this page on m(‘)appare and this video for a coverage of the first round of the mapping campaign (Apr. 6, 2008).
The closing of the m(‘)appare Milano campaign at the Faculty of Architecture, Politcnico di Milano (Jul. 3, 2008)
Independently of open data nostalgia (or the sense of putting a project in a perspective) please see below the abstract for next week’s seminar. Should you not be able to attend, but interested in learning more about these topics or sharing your views, please write to bmp@pibinko.org.
Planning the Upper Half of the Landscapa – A. Giacomelli
Montemassi Castle, Southern Tuscany, with the Milky Way and some populated places – F. Giussani 2015.
People are often used to think of landscape planning as a discipline involving elements with a connection to the ground, with the sky being merely a backdrop to our projects and our operations.
However, at night, lighting networks and installations have an impact on the conditions of night sky which is not only aesthetic (i.e. the reduction of our ability to contemplate a starry sky due to the excess of upward lighting), but also has significant impacts on ecology, astronomy, health and safety, and energy management.
In this respect, the night sky as “the upper half of the landscape” acquires an unprecedented relevance, and suggests planning indications that we can relate to elements we control on the ground.
Interestingly, we will find that mitigation actions on light pollution are not in conflict with lighting levels ensuring safety and security, and that a higher awareness on the effects of artificial light at night will indicate new directions on guidelines and regulations, which planners may want to consider.
While such an awareness has been growing over the past twenty years, lighting installations are also changing very fast, and possibly not always in a direction which is in tune with recent research findings on the effects of artificial light a night. For this reason, there is a need to strengthen an interdisciplinary approach on the topic.
The talk will provide:
(1) an overview of the light pollution issue and measures to mitigate it from various angles
(2) a series of ideas on the sustainable exploitation of night skies as a resource for tourism and education
(3) the presentation of experiences by the speaker’s team, where students may also be involved in 2019.
……
Andrea Giacomelli, PhD in Hydrology (1997), MS in Environmental Engineering (1993)
After his academic studies (Politecnico di Milano and University of Gent, Belgium), he worked for five years in the environmental modelling group at the Sardinia Science and Technology Park, for eight years for an environmental engineering corporation based in Milano, and since 2011 is operating as a free lance based in Southern Tuscany.
His activities cover a part of “traditional” services (primarily consulting on Geographic Information Systems and IT issues), and a part of innovative projects concerning the interdisciplinary promotion of lesser known resources, combining culture, environment, and open innovation.
His flagship initiative in the environmental sector is the BuioMetria Partecipativa project. Launched in 2008, this includes citizen science for night sky monitoring, outreach, and other efforts, primarily directed to the promotion of inner rural areas. Starting as a small community-based endeavour, the project has eventually triggered interesting developments, obtaining awards, frequent national media visibility, and de facto stimulating the birth of a national interdisciplinary network with significant international relations.
Thursday, Nov. 15 from 6PM to 8PM at Hotel Lombardi in Florence(via Fiume, very close to S. Maria Novella train station), we will hold the first of a series of events to launch the Third Farma Valley Winter Fest (Dec. 14-16 see details).
In addition to providing a sneak peek on the festival, which is a melting pot promoting lesser know assets in the fields of culture, environment, and open innovation, there will be a focus on the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, for the participatory monitoring of light pollution and night sky quality.
The event will be coordinate by Andrea Giacomelli, PhD, creator of the Winter Fest (and of the BuioMetria Partecipativa project), and co-hosted by Vincenzo Albanese.
Confirmation of your participation is appreciateb by Nov. 15, noon CET via e-mail to info@pibinko.org. The same address is valid for enquiries.
After their debut in Sassofortino on Nov. 1st, 2018, the second gig by the MHJB will be in Pomarance, not far from Volterra, one of the most famous Etruscan towns.
For information on the MHJB please check out this page.
We are finalizing the program for the Third Farma Valley Winter Fest.
This is an event connecting culture, environment, open innovation, and the Farma Valley, a lesser known location in Tuscany, South of Siena.
The festival has been created by a team, composed by professionals and local associations, who started in 2007 to promote rural areas in an interdisciplinary way. You may find a good introduction to our story in this article from Langscape Magazine. You may also check out the sections of the pibinko.org site for other collateral information.
To get a feel for the two past editions of the Farma Valley Winter Fest you may also check some blog posts about the festival. For enquiries, or to send expressions of interest to be part of the Festival (helping out or proposing ideas): info@pibinko.org
Since 2008 with the BuioMetria Partecipativa project we work on protection and promotion of night sky as a resource and on awareness raising on light pollution.
Since 2013 we collaborate with various organisations in Europe on the same topics. Some of these organisations, currently active on the Stars4all project, have drafted a petition to the European Parliament, advocating a European Directive on light pollution.
With the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, in over eleven years we held almost 130 outreach events at various latitudes, obtained recurring national media coverage, conducted scientific activities, contributed to the creation of networks involving citizens, public and private sector organisations. Above all, we invited a lot of people to think about how much light (and which lights) they use. We are writing primarily to those who followed us on the events, and more in general to whoever is interested to the light pollution topic.
We encourage you to review the petition drafted by th Stars4all team. If you agree, sign it, and let us know you did (please write to bmp@pibinko.org). If you don’t agree with the petition, or you have any doubt, we would like to hear from you (again, write to bmp@pibinko.org).
Register on the European Parliament petition portal
Once you have registered, log in to the petition portal, go to the petition page (look for n. 362/2018, or click here once you are logged in to go there directly) and click on the bottom right button to sign the petition.
Below is the translation of a press release issued by the German Ministry of Environment on June 20, 2018 (original source here). From the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, it is important that this news circulates.
Following a proposal by Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, the Federal Government today adopted key elements for an “Action Program for Insect Protection”. Based on the key points, the Federal Environment Ministry will finalize the action program after a broad public discussion until 2019 and then immediately start the measures. As an immediate measure Federal Environment Minister Schulze provides five million Euros per year from the “Federal Biological Diversity Program” for insect protection.
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze: “We do not know all that about insect killing, but we know enough to act swiftly, a decision by the Cabinet on these key points in the first 100 days of my term of office In the Federal Government was important, we now agree on the areas we will act to stop the insect killing, including a more restrictive approach to pesticides, not just glyphosate, and we need more diversity in the landscape Hedges and flowery meadows instead of monocultures are vital for insects, birds and many other animal species. ”
With the action program insect protection measures are to be taken in the following areas:
Promotion of insect habitats and structural diversity in the agricultural landscape,
Restoration and networking of insect habitats in other landscape areas,
Strengthening protected areas as habitats for insects,
Reducing the use of pesticides,
Reduction of nutrient and pollutant inputs in soils and waters,
Reduction of light pollution.
In addition, the action program should contribute to closing existing knowledge gaps on insect killing and to introduce a uniform nationwide insect monitoring. Also business associations and companies, research and education as well as civic actors up to the individual citizen are to be addressed, informed and encouraged to become active.
As part of the “Federal Biological Diversity Program”, the Federal Environment Ministry has today called for the submission of practical projects to promote insects and their biodiversity. For these projects, five million euros a year are provided. Over the next six to eight years, a total of 30 to 40 million euros from the BMU subsidy program will flow into insect protection.
Federal Environment Minister Schulze states: “Both the total amount of insects and the variety of insect species has declined dramatically in Germany over the past decades.” Insect killing threatens to bring nature out of balance. “Not only birds, bats and other animals disappear with the insects In the end, harming the insects also harms us humans: we lose also valuable services that insect provide to humans – from pollination, to natural pest control, water purification to the conservation of fertile soils.”
(thanks to Andrea Jechow, IGB Berlin, for letting us know)
We are finalizing the program for the Third Farma Valley Winter Fest.
