• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• 13. Climate action close
• 16. Peace & justice close
• 7. Clean energy close
• Italian close

This site includes coastal dune ecosystems of Central Italy, both along Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coastline. The flora and the fauna of the site is highly specialized with a relevant ecological value. On the other side, the site includes one of the most threatened ecosystems at national and European level, mainly due to direct and indirect human pressures. These areas host many EU interest habitats and species and are included in the Nature 2000 Network. Major EU Habitats are: Habitat 1210 (Annual vegetation of drift lines), Habitat 2110 (Embryonic shifting dunes), Habitat 2120 (Shifting dunes along the shorelines with Ammophila arenaria), Habitat 2230 (Malcolmietalia dune grasslands), priority Habitat 2250* (Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp.), Habitat 2260 (Cisto-Lavanduletalia dune sclerophyllous scrubs) and priority Habitat 2270* (Wooded dunes with Pinuspinea and/or Pinus pinaster). The main topics of the ecological monitoring are: the temporal dynamics of plant diversity and abundance of coastal EU habitats, the periodical observation of nesting avifauna and Testudo hermanni, and the multi-temporal analysis of land cover types and its distribution, as well as of dune morphology and shoreline evolution.

Currently, society is assisting in transitioning from centralized power generation to distributed power generation [1, 2]. This transition is necessary for various reasons that essentially reside on some fundamental points: 1.The current electric lines can not withstand the energy demand of an increasing number of energy-intensive vehicles, especially for mobility [3]. 2.The ever-increasing availability of small electric generators has created many small electricity producers, and on-site use becomes more advantageous [4]. 3.Technologies concerning electrochemical devices for the production and use of energy are particularly efficient for small sizes [5]. In this scenario, the development of energy conversion devices such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and devices for the storage of electricity such as solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) and metal-air solid oxide batteries can play a crucial role [6, 7]. Solid oxide cells (SOC) are electrochemical devices capable of converting chemical energy into electrical energy when used as SOFCs and vice versa when operated as SOECs. A similar cell can also be used as cell batteries, allowing electricity storage, depending on the grid demand. The current problem is that such devices cannot be considered sufficiently mature because not enough time has passed from their conceptualization to their demonstration for real uses. Therefore, we are assisting to a proliferation of concepts that simulate their perspectives in a suitable environment. Based on these considerations, this communication reports the ideas and prototypes adopted by our research group to improve the flexibility in the use of fuels (SOFC), the convenience of direct methane production through commercial SOEC cells and the realization of a simple and cheep architecture of metal-air battery.

The paper investigates how the relationships between climate change, disasters and human rights are framed within the realm of international law. The paper takes into exam: i) the interaction between international climate change law and international disaster law; ii) the integration of human rights into international climate change law and international disaster law; iii) the international human rights obligations applicable to climate action and disaster management. The aim is to shed light on the synergies and conflicts between the three relevant international law regimes.

The parent site consists of: two main research sites (Lake Santo Parmense and Lake Scuro Parmense) in the Northern Apennines, but also several temporary and permanent lentic systems sampled at a lower frequency; two main research sites in the Western Alps (Lake Paione Inferiore and Superiore), and about 30 high altitude lakes (above 1900 m a.s.l.) in the same area, with long-term irregular data; one research site located in the Brenta Dolomites (Lake Tovel) at 1178 m a.s.l. with a monthly sampling regime and long-term data; three main research sites in the province of Bozen, together with other 11 lakes all located below the treeline, monitored since 1979 with samplings at irregular intervals. For all the main research sites long-term data exist on water chemistry, plankton and benthos; however, the datasets of the various sites may be different in terms of size, temporal coverage, frequency of the series and monitored parameters. The main research topics considered are eutrophication and acidification, population dynamics, biodiversity, functional diversity, lake metabolism, plankton phenology, alien species, climate change effects, impacts of anthropogenic activities in lake catchments, high frequency monitoring.

Who can fight against climate change and global warming? Who ought to fight? What is the role of the human rights-based climate change litigation? The paper tries to answer these questions, having as a starting point the definition of a “minimum content” of the fight against climate change and global warming. Acting against climate change and global warming firstly means carrying out a global collective action involving actors (individuals, States, enterprises, generations) with different levels of awareness and responsibility. Given the above, the paper focuses on the “climate legal obligation” whose source is rooted in the International (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement) and EU climate law, with the aim to point out the legal duties of every single State. Consequently, the paper underlines how the climate obligation specifically requires the adoption of mitigation measures in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, moving from the Dutch Urgenda case, the paper points out the role of the human rights-based climate change litigation in the global fight against climate crisis.

The unsustainability of sustainability wants to underline the improper and widespread use of a complex concept that cannot be trivialized through the proposal of technological solutions. Although technological solutions represent “comfortable” tools for social reassurance, the risk is a social drift generated by the phenomenon of the “granfalloon”. Behind the technological solutions there are new market proposals, which have nothing to do with the real resolution of the sustainability of the global socio-economic system. The perception of the whole socio-economic system as a single metabolic socio-ecological system, makes us interpret the role of technological solutions differently. The knowledge we have gained over the last 50 years on the functioning of natural systems represent consolidated bases for interpreting and providing solutions on the sustainability of mankind. This perception, while providing uncomfortable solutions, should change the perception of applied ecology within the academy community. Therefore, applied ecology no longer as a study of human effects on the ecosphere, but as a discipline that teaches mankind how to structure its socio-economic metabolism compatibly with the constraints imposed by the ecosphere. BORNH Bulletin of Regional Natural History, V. 1 N. 2 (2021): BORNH 02/2021

The Macrosite "IT08 Subalpine Lakes" includes a group of lakes located at the southern border of the Alps. The lake typologies are represented by large and deep lakes (Orta, Garda, Maggiore, Como and Iseo) and by a lake of smaller size and shallow depth (Candia). Topics common to all the research sites include the impact of eutrophication and climate change, the composition, structure and dynamics of biological communities (plankton, necton and littoral communities), trophic webs, paleolimnology, ecotoxicology, ecological status and remote sensing. Scientific investigations are supported by a wide availability of technological infrastructures and laboratories located in the reference institutions, and by a wide range of technological equipment for fieldwork. These facilities, funded within the individual institutes involved in the research, have allowed not only to maintain, but also to update the classical approaches used in scientific monitoring, while opening up new research fields (especially molecular ecology, microbial ecology, metabolomic profiling, antibiotic resistance genes, high frequency monitoring by sensor technology). Over the last decade, the continuity and regularity of investigations have been facilitated by the availability of both external and ordinary funds. The variety of research activities carried out on the IT08 macrosite is evidenced by the publication of numerous scientific papers, as well as contributions (oral or poster) presented at national and international conferences, and by the presence in the mass media. In this context, the scientific monitoring is a key element of LTER research, including not only data collection (basic monitoring), but also data interpretation, modeling, and experimental manipulation, with particular attention to key groups of selected variables in order to identify the most significant environmental stressors and the degree of change at the level of ecosystems, communities, species and populations.

This volume deals with the issues of the management and reuse of places of worship and, specifically, of Catholic churches as cultural assets of religious interest in Italy. Having reconstructed the complex discipline for the “reduction to non-indecorous profane use” pursuant to canon 1222 § 2 - and the “dismissal” - transfer of ownership - of churches, the exposition continues with the examination of concrete cases of reuse, which occurred in the Archdiocese of Turin between 1978 and 2019. Once disused buildings of worship have been classified as “common goods”, the new models of governance, inclusive and sustainable, able to transform these overabundant properties into a resource for the social, economic, and cultural development of the territorial communities of reference, are identified in the collaboration pacts, in the participation foundation and in the trust. Buildings of Worship as Cultural Heritage in Italy. New Scenarios for the Management and Reuse of Catholic Churches Between Canon Law and State Law