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Anche se i sistemi alimentari sono responsabili di un terzo delle emissioni globali di gas serra antropogenici, nelle politiche per la transizione ecologica l’alimentazione viene spesso relegata in una posizione marginale. Anche quando se ne parla, il tema principale sembra essere quello relativo alla riduzione delle emissioni di gas serra, in relazione ai consumi energetici, mentre ha un peso climatico decisamente elevato anche ciò che si mangia, e in particolare l’alimentazione a base di carne. Il paper si propone di indagare come la cultura alimentare si articoli in relazione al cambiamento climatico, domandandosi in particolare se i sostituti della carne e l’introduzione di alimenti ‘nuovi’ (insetti, alghe) debbano diventare ‘normali’ per ridurre l’impatto climatico delle abitudini alimentari convenzionali. Le conseguenze economiche e occupazionali, oltre che paesistiche, di questa transizione proteica e, quindi, dell’abbandono dell’allevamento e del mutamento delle colture rimangono ancora tutte da investigare.

Right ventricular (RV) size and function assessed by multimodality imaging are associated with outcomes in a variety of cardiovascular diseases. Understanding RV anatomy and physiology is essential in appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of current imaging methods and gives these measurements greater context. The adaptation of the right ventricle to different types and severity of stress, particularly over time, is specific to the cardiovascular disease process. Multimodality imaging parameters, which determine outcomes, reflect the ability to image the initial and longitudinal RV response to stress. This paper will review the standard and novel imaging methods for assessing RV function and the impact of these parameters on outcomes in specific disease states.

I libri di testo hanno un ruolo fondamentale nella trasmissione dei saperi a scuola. In occasione del decennio ONU dedicato alle scienze del mare si è voluto analizzare come i libri di testo per la scuola primaria affrontino questo spazio. La visione del mare che è veicolata da questi strumenti è fortemente terracentrica, il mare è prevalentemente descritto come il limite della terra ferma. Dal punto di vista iconografico si riscontrano delle contraddizioni tra testo e immagini, inoltre il mare è prevalentemente rappresentato sulla falsa riga della sua immagine turistica.

Mary Arizona (Zonia) Baber (1862–1956) was an American geographer and geologist best known for developing a method for teaching geography. Baber promoted the progressive pedagogies of the early 20th century and led field trips with her students. As Associate Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Chicago (1901–1921), she helped founding the Geographic Society of Chicago in 1898. Baber was also a lifelong political activist who advocated anti-racism, anti-colonialism, peace, women’s rights, and nature conservation and the promotion of peace. During her long-term membership of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom she held a variety of offices, argued for racial integration as a priority within the organization, and took part in its international programmes. Her final project for the League was the book Peace Symbols (1948) an expanded version of her annotated collection of photographs of monuments and gardens in the United States, in Canada, and abroad which she first issued a decade earlier (1937). Baber dedicates the book to the cause of world peace, and on her 86 birthday presented it as a gift to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. The book describes 40 peace monuments, divided in different categories (Historical and Foreign, United State Monument, United States and Canada, United States, and Mexico) and some “peace gardens” along the U.S.–.Canadian border. Zonia Baber assembled pictures and explanations of these monuments and objects into books, traveling exhibits, and presentations, which circulated in both religious and secular settings. The images of the peace symbols were also distributed as an annotated film strip through the Society for Visual Education. Baber argued that while there were many monuments to war, it was important to give visibility to monuments to peace. The brief text accompanying each photograph describes where, when and by whom the structure was created. This book is symbolic of

This article explores the critical role of education in promoting sustainable development in the Maldives context. It presents the outcomes of a small-scale project, Playing with Solar, implemented in a small island school in collaboration with the island community. Because of the environmental and educational principles embedded in this project, it is presented as one that prioritizes sustainable development, actively engages with the community, and aligns with the key competencies underpinning the Maldives National Curriculum Framework. The Playing with Solar project is an example of transformative pedagogy aligned with sustainable development. By promoting problem-based learning, the project shows how key competencies and pedagogical principles can be operationalized in line with National Curriculum Framework syllabi that promote interdisciplinary learning, in contrast to textbook-based, transmission models of teaching.

Coastal and archipelagic countries share specific adaptation needs, and they carry a great part of the global costs of climate change. Currently, national governments and local authorities operate to foster the integration of adaptation measures within the broad spectrum of national development policies. In the Maldives, corals act both as a connection and a symbol of this priority. Reefs are vulnerable ecosystems facing environmental changes and are also one of the main resources of the country's cultural and natural heritage. As in other countries across the Indian Ocean Region, in the Maldives, coral material has been widely utilized in architectural constructions. Furthermore, the Maldivian national economy is highly dependent on international tourism. Indeed, the country’s leading position in the international market is largely based on the attractiveness of coral reefs and coral sand beaches. Therefore, the effects of climate change on coral reefs directly threaten the key sector of the national economy. Moreover, tourism plays a strategic role in national adaptation and resilience strategies, as highlighted by the Ministry of Tourism and UNDP in 2012. Coral stone mosques entered the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2013. This strategy could facilitate the promotion of heritage sites as tourist attractions, allowing the country to maintain its competitiveness in the tourism market even while facing a scenario shaped by massive losses of reefs’ richness and biodiversity. In this contribution, we discuss the value and function of corals and the value their preservation (as both heritage and ecosystems) might have in environmental policies at national and local levels; we propose an overview of their socio-political meaning; and we open the discussion on the contemporary effectiveness of a taken-for-granted duo: healthy coral reefs and tourist attractiveness.

Although primary school enrollment rates are extraordinarily high in the Maldives, higher education institutions are relatively recent and have only seen rapid expansion over the past few years. In the field of textiles, sewing and tailoring remained extremely local, and, at present, there are still no university courses. However, the situation is evolving rapidly, with many new projects and recent initiatives by government, state-owned and private enterprises, private individuals, and NGOs. Formal textile education remains marginal, especially for traditional products. For this reason, the chapter focuses on traditional textile arts as heritage assets at risk of disappearance. Traditional crafts are perhaps the most tangible manifestation of intangible cultural heritage. Over the centuries, the Maldivian people have developed a body of traditional knowledge suited to a fragile environment dominated by the sea and a scarcity of land resources. Ancient traditions involving the arts of weaving and embroidery have always been of particular importance in the country. Maldivians have used local resources (reeds, coconut leaves, screwpine leaves) to weave decorative mats and other items, such as thatch, rope, and sails. This chapter focuses on two products—mats (thundu kunaa) and lace (kasabu libaas)—which we have chosen to illustrate the main characteristics of Maldivian textile art. These distinctive traditional skills are now at risk of disappearing with older generations and, in some cases, now owe their survival to the recovery of craftsmanship and memory for the tourist industry. Traditional weaving has also been revisited and adapted to contemporary fashion.

Today, it may be difficult to draw a tentative map of an Italian critical geography. Like many other academic fields, in the last decades Italian geography has undergone a process of profound internationalization. This process has seen, on the one hand, the departure (and sometimes the return) of many academics; on the other, an increased tendency to spend extensive study and work periods abroad on the part of most early career geographers. What is more, publishing in international peer-reviewed journals and with publishing houses with a global reach has become a common practice especially for the newer generations of geographers, a tendency that is now positively evaluated in terms of career progression.

In 2009, Robert Kaplan defined the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as “the central internship for the challenges of the twenty-first century”. For Bouchard and Crumplin (2010), the issues now playing out in the Indian Ocean mean that it can be “neglected no longer” within world geopolitics. The crucial historic transition underway in the area is being driven by the network of relations among the “big players” on the regional chessboard: the USA, China, and India. Both the geographical nodes at which these relations unfold and new narratives shaping the geographical imaginary of the region are key to understanding these contemporary historical processes. In this essay, we examine the main historic and geographic processes that laid the ground for the current period of transition: the renewed centrality of the Indian Ocean, Sino-Indian rivalry (Brewster 2015) and the geopolitics of environmental crisis. We focus here on two archipelagos (the Chagos Islands and the Maldives) that have been described as “un- sinkable aircraft carriers” within this scenario. In recent decades, Chagos and the Maldives have become key nodes in the new geopolit- ical cartography. In 1971, the US Navy built a military base on Diego Garcia and, since the beginning of the “Indian Ocean Cold War”, the Maldives have been situated at the fringe between Indian military supremacy and China’s influence on the economies of peripheral counties. This focus allows us to investigate contemporary transitions and to propose an alternative reading of the conflict for hegemony currently underway between the “big global players”.

Le Maldive sono esposte a un’ampia gamma di fattori di rischio, come l’erosione costiera, l’innalzamento del livello delle acque, gli tsunami e altri eventi. Nel 2004 il paese è stato colpito dallo tsunami, con quasi 12.000 sfollati e 8.500 abitanti rilocalizzati in isole diverse dai luoghi di residenza. In questo contesto storico-politico, la riduzione del rischio e la resilienza dei sistemi locali rappresentano delle questioni chiave per il paese. Implementare il Sendai Framewor for Disaster Risks Reduction 2015-2030, in connessione i Sustainable Development Goals and il Paris Agreement, è una le priorità del governo. Questo lavoro prende in considerazione i casi di due isole nell'atollo di Dhaalu, Meedhoo e Rin’budhoo, dove la resilienza sociale ed economica ha prodotto due diversi modelli di sviluppo. Lo tsunami ha colpito Meedhoo in modo molto violento. Immeditamente dopo l’evento, le principali sfide per l’isola, la cui economia dipende dalla pesca, erano rappresentate dalle ridotte dimensioni e dall’erosione della linea di costa. Così, nel 2006 e 2014, sono stati avviati due imponenti progetti di land reclamation. Anche l’isola di Rin’budhoo è stata duramente colpita dallo tsunami. Ci sono state vittime e diversi danni alle infrastrutture. Tuttavia, per anni, nessun progetto di land reclamation è stato avviato. Il processo di recupero dell’isola, è partito dalla valorizzazione del patrimonio storico e culturale e dalla rinascita dell’artigianato e dell’arte orafa. Due isole, due storie di resilienza., Due to their geophysical structure, the Maldives face various natural hazards, such as coastal erosion, rising water levels, tsunamis and other climate-related disasters. In 2004, the country was affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami, with almost 12,000 displaced persons and a further 8,500 relocated inhabitants. In the context of the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and face climate change, disaster risk reduction and resilience capacity are key issues. The Government is working hard to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risks Reduction 2015-2030, linked to Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The paper considers the cases of two islands in Dhaalu Atoll – Meedhoo and Rin’budhoo – both affected by the tsunami, where social and economic resilience produced two different models of development. The tsunami hit Meedhoo hard. The island economy depends on fishing and the main threats are its small size and soil erosion. Thus, in 2006 a large area around the island was reclaimed and in 2014 larger reclamation projects were started. Rin’budhoo was also severly impacted by the tsunami; there were two victims and a lot of infrastructural damage, forcing many people to migrate. However, for years local government has promoted no land reclamation. The recovery of the island started from its historical and cultural heritage and the revival of traditional crafts and goldsmithery, involving young people. Two islands, two different resilience stories.

International scholarship is increasingly aware that the ‘geographical tradition’ is a contentious and contested field: while critical reflections on the imperial past of the discipline are still ongoing, new tendencies including de-colonial studies and geographies of internationalism are focusing on the progressive aspects of plural geographical traditions. This volume contains selected papers presented at two Symposia of the Commission on the History of Geography of the International Geographical Union within the 25th International Congress of History of Science and Technology which took place in Rio de Janeiro in July 2017. The papers address processes of ‘decolonising’ and ‘internationalising’ science in the 19th and 20th century, with a special emphasis on geography. Internationalization, circulation and dissemination of geographical concepts and ideas are in the focus. The volume includes case studies on Latin America, tropical regions as well as Europe and Japan. There is also an emphasis on the history of international congresses and organizations and on the international circulation of knowledge.

The climate change vulnerability discourse in the Maldives coexists with a pervasive set of critical environmental factors of significance to the socio-environmental systems of small peripheral islands. This implies the need to strike a balance between global challenges associated with environmental processes at the supra-national scale and the adjustments and strategies implemented at the local scale in response to change. The current paper offers a discussion of this dialectic, in reference to both the broader contemporary debate in island studies, and the political and environmental context of the Maldives. We first outline the international scenario, and then go on, in the second part of the paper, to provide a reading of environmental policy on these islands. We argue that emphasizing the country’s environmental vulnerability has reinforced a ‘lexicon of risk’ within the environmental discourse and that, in recent years, this narrative has been one of the main forces driving the construction of contemporary Maldivian ‘nation-ness’.