Search

The CrowdMapping Mirafiori Sud (CMMS) pilot project, carried out by the Polytechnic of Turin (Italy), involved the academic world (students and professors), the Mirafiori Onlus Foundation, the local administration and the community in a participatory and inclusive process. The district is a large area of Turin characterized by a high average age of its inhabitants and a high percentage of foreigners. The aim of the project is to identify and report, through the use of ICT, the obstacles that prevent residents - the most vulnerable categories - from using public space. In the start-up phase, it was not born as a PBL approach, but during the application the PBL was considered a development perspective in the educational experience starting from the students' proposals and the exchange of their skills, in the specific declination of the PBL approach known as community engaged learning. For students, this version of PBL has proven to be strategic in the implementation phases of the project, in particular in the mapping of interested parties and the data set and connections between networks of actors.

Plastic debris incidence in marine environment was already highlighted in the early 1970s. Over the last decade, microplastic pollution in the environment has received increasing attention and is now an emerging research area. Many studies have focused on quantifying microplastic abundance in the marine environment, while there are relatively few data on microplastic occurrence in freshwater environment. Recent studies have reported high concentrations of microplastics in lakes and rivers, although the understanding of several factors influencing source, transport and fate is still limited. This study compares different lakes and the common factors, which could influence the occurrence and distribution of microplastics. The three subalpine lakes monitored include Lake Maggiore, Iseo and Garda. The selected sampling transects reflect the hydrologic conditions, the morphometric characteristics of these lakes, and other factors influencing the release of plastics debris in lakes. Particles of microplastics (<5 mm) were found in all sampled surfaces. The particles collected were classified depending on their number, shape and composition. The shape distribution showed the dominating occurrence of fragments (73.7%). The chemical composition of all examined samples clearly shows dominating presence of polyethylene (45%), polystyrene (18%) and polypropylene (15%). The results provide significant relations among the different contribution of direct and diffuse sources to the quantity of microplastics, highlighting the importance of understanding the spatial distribution dynamics of microplastics within a lake system that acts as a sink and source of plastic particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]