Cultural Heritage and Creativity for tourism and territorial development

ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE: RESOURCES AND THREATS - Module B "Geoscience and Arts in the ecological transition"

Academic year 2024/2025

Sommario del corso

• Course objectives
• Results of learning outcomes
• Program
• Course delivery
• Learning assessment methods
• Support activities
• Suggested readings and bibliography
• Teaching tools
• Course card

Course objectives

Aim of the module is to complement student’s interdisciplinary preparation in the cultural tourism sector with targeted geoscience contents.

The knowledge and the basic tools necessary for analyzing the diversity of landforms, processes and materials on Earth will sustain the enhancement of cultural heritage and creativity for sustainable territorial development.

Particularly, assessment of geodiversity and related geosystem services will be addressed to understand their role in the enhancement of geological heritage.

Results of learning outcomes

At the end of the module, the student will:

• know the fundamental concepts of geodiversity and geoheritage and be able to understand their links with other environmental and territorial components;
• be able to apply this knowledge to critically analyze geodiversity, and to interpret its relations with human activity, in the perspective of geosystem services;
• know how to choose of the best methods and tools for interpreting geodiversity, demonstrating skills on geoheritage enhancement in some case studies;
• demonstrate communication skills through the organization and presentation of geoheritage contents in some case studies;
• have experimented desk-, laboratory- and field-based methods for learning basic knowledge about geodiversity and geoheritage

Program

The  Manifesto:

• “Geoethic approach to geodiversity, as a tool for sustainable use of geoheritage and georesources”. From the Acknowledgement of geodiversity to the Enhancement of Geoheritage
• Basic definitions of geoscience contents and systematization of the approach

Regional Geological Approach to the Piemonte region:

• The Alps as a geological structure. Lithological diversity and its cultural and material value. The environments of the past and the dimension of geological time.

Case Studies:

• The "scopriALPI" Project (Val Germanasca) as an instrument of knowledge of the geological history of the Alpine chain (video presentation)
• PROGEO Piemonte: a tool for the knowledge of geodiversity and for the enhancement of the Piedmontese geological heritage (APP and Web presentation)

Local Morphodynamic Approach:

• The Alps as a mountain range under climate change. Dimensional classes of forms, processes, agents and factors of the Alpine landscape. Space, time, speed of environmental change.  The “dynamic” geodiversity of the mountain territory.

Virtual excursion:

• The Western Po Plain and the territory of the Turin metropolitan city. “The city before the city”.

Environmental dynamics and Geoheritage:

• Conceptual model of the relationship between the geological environment and man - Environmental balance and evolution. Endangered heritage: natural hazards and risks.

Virtual excursion in an alpine valley:

• Val Sangone

Geodiversity, geosystem service, geosites and geological heritage.

• Interpretation, geoconservation, sustainable development.

Field activity:

• The UNESCO Geopark of Sesia Val Grande, a World Heritage Site and testimony to the geological and geomorphological evolution of the Alps

Laboratory activity:

• Assessment of geodiversity and management of geosites in the Sesia Val Grande UNESCO Global geopark

Course delivery

Taking in consideration the scenarios indicated by the University of Torino due to COVID 19, the methods of teaching delivery will be “mixed”, being 9 hours of frontal lectures delivered both in presence and by remote. Anyway the attendance is strongly recommended, also for the fieldtrip (6 hours) and the final laboratory activities (3 hours).

Learning assessment methods

The final assessment of the module will be the composed of the summative result (50-50) of:

• A written examination (test) delivered to students for assessing their knowledge on:fundamental concepts of geodiversity and geoheritage and their links with environmental and territorial components.
• An oral presentation (slides) on data collected during field trip and results of laboratory activity to interpret geoheritage relations with human activity, in the perspective of geosystem services

In case of health emergency due to COVID 19, the examination may be carried out electronically via the Webex platform.

Support activities

Students with learning disabilities can find information on the university facilities, on study support, and on the exam procedures at the following links:

SERVICES
https://www.unito.it/accoglienza-studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa

SUPPORT
https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-con-disabilita

EXAMS
https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-e-studentesse-con-disabilita/supporto-studenti-e-studentesse-con

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