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Ecosystem services are the benefits for society deriving from ecosystems. The perception of ecosystem services by local residents is relevant to understand the extent to which such services contribute to society and regional development. The objective of this study is to assess the perception of ecosystem services associated to rural landscape by local residents and to use them to respond to two main questions: Are residents able to attribute flows of services from specific landscape elements to the different socioeconomic sectors? Are such perceptions affected by the different landscape features of the area of residency (e.g. rural vs. urban dwellers)? The analysis is carried out using data from a survey (n=295) in a rural area located in North Italy (Po Delta lowlands, Province of Ferrara). The results show that the urban population has a rather generic and positive consideration of ecosystem services associated to rural landscape elements and that perception is largely related to their recreational experience. The rural population has a more complex understanding of services and is more prone to acknowledge disservices associated to specific elements and/or specific socioeconomic sectors. Such differences are likely connected to a more direct experience and to the different spatial scales that affect the perception of ecosystem services. The results indicate that cultural services such as recreation and actions linked to the promotion of the territory are commonly acknowledged. On the other hand, initiatives to enhance the awareness of less visible services (e.g. regulation services) would be useful for improving the valorization of specific landscape elements.

Ecosystem services are the benefits for society deriving from ecosystems. The perception of ecosystem services by local residents is relevant to understand the extent to which such services contribute to society and regional development. The objective of this study is to assess the perception of ecosystem services associated to rural landscape by local residents and to use them to respond to two main questions: Are residents able to attribute flows of services from specific landscape elements to the different socioeconomic sectors? Are such perceptions affected by the different landscape features of the area of residency (e.g. rural vs. urban dwellers)? The analysis is carried out using data from a survey (n=295) in a rural area located in North Italy (Po Delta lowlands, Province of Ferrara). The results show that the urban population has a rather generic and positive consideration of ecosystem services associated to rural landscape elements and that perception is largely related to their recreational experience. The rural population has a more complex understanding of services and is more prone to acknowledge disservices associated to specific elements and/or specific socio-economic sectors. Such differences are likely connected to a more direct experience and to the different spatial scales that affect the perception of ecosystem services. The results indicate that cultural services such as recreation and actions linked to the promotion of the territory are commonly acknowledged. On the other hand, initiatives to enhance the awareness of less visible services (e.g. regulation services) would be useful for improving the valorization of specific landscape elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the approval of the regional landscape plan in 1993, the Emilia-Romagna legislative context has changed. The recent regional urban reform, which succeeds in time the Codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio, confirms the arrangements for articulation and development of the landscape themes at the local scale, and the viability of the protection, recovery and development projects, which materialized on the territory by means of a multiplicity of planning forms. The numerous regional projects, as well as the adherence to international initiatives heterogeneously distributed in the territory, return a context of strong interest and ferment in landscape matter and act as the means by which to test new partnerships between local authorities.

In this paper, we discuss some aspects of the relationship between computer science and historical disciplines, with reference to teaching, dissemination and research on specific topics of urban history, highlighting the support provided by computing resources to study, analysis and presentation of themes of urban landscape history. We consider two case studies: some urban changes in Bologna from 1861 to the reconstruction after World War II, and the role of the tourism in urban history of Rimini from half of 19th century to the present day. This study is part of a larger research and educational project on urban history, with various levels of thematic and technical complexity.

This paper examines the joint activity of translation and intercultural mediation carried out by interpreters in health care contexts. The analysis presented concerns not only the linguistic aspects, but also the processes of inclusion and exclusion of migrant patients, produced in consequence of the cultural effects of mediation. The corpus of data we analyze consists of physician-patient interactions mediated by an interpreter, collected in 2010 in public health facilities in the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The following question guided our analysis: “Does interlingual and intercultural mediation promote or discourage active participation by the migrant patient?” Our analysis confirms that the interpreters not only act as facilitators of language, but above all as coordinators of communication, and for this reason are considered as interlingual and intercultural mediators. The different ways in which the mediators coordinate these interactions affect the participation of migrant patients, which can be rendered more or less “invisible” in accordance with the choices of translation.

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