On May 22 I was invited as an expert in Brussels for a workshop of the PANELFIT (Participatory Approaches to a New Ethical and Legal Framework for ICT) project.
Should it sound strange that a geomatic hydrologist and drummer is called to work in this type of setting, it may help recalling that since 2000 I have been dealing periodically with personal data protection issues, either by creating and managing user surveys, running citizen science campaigns, and so forth. Summing these experiences, the project team assessed that I could provide useful inputs to their work
Here are some points of interest deriving from the pibinko.org network, which were included in the notes from the working groups
Attribution and identity as core values,
Citizen-based communities as additional subjects to be considered in parallel with other stakeholders, especially in relation to balancing technological priorities with social priorities.
As a peculiar proposal, the need to explicitly account for a relationship between urban and rural areas in the process of shaping research ethics instruments, e.g. by fostering (and sustaining) mobility of experts and legislators to rural areas during their work.
A report with the recommendations of the work will be issued in the coming months.
I thank the PANELFIT project (HORIZON 2020, N. 788039) for this opportunity. For more information info@pibinko.org
Outlined in green boxes, the items which I proposed based on the pibinko.org experiences (open the image to full size to read better).This was the summary from the three different working groups. “Legislator mobility” and the “rural-cities” relationship are in among the instruments proposed by pibinko.org and acknowledged by the working group.
In case you missed us in Brussels, find us in Tatti, Southern Tuscany, next Saturday
Before we dive in the report, we would like to remind you that the next opportunity to experience all the stories explained below (except Belgian chocolates) will be on Saturday, April 13, in Tatti, Southern Tuscany, from 6PM to 8PM. Here we will be presenting the first version of the Tatti community map, as a part of the series of meetups with the pibinko.org network on Maremma map(pear)ing (see blog announcement). Now on we go, with Edoardo Bennato singing “a blues about trains..“
Between April 1 and April 4 I had the opportunity of representing the pibinko.org network in Brussels, Belgium, in two events related to citizen science and, more in general, to community engagement in scientific and research activities (or the engagement of scientists and researchers in community activities?).
This is a field in which I have been increasingly working since 2008 (we may mention as first steps things like the outreach video on free/open source geographic information with Tuscan hamlet residents acting, or the m(‘)appare Milano campaign), and which I started elaborating even earlier. In fact, since I was working at CRS4, in Sardinia (1997-2002). As an example, in 2000 I launched a survey about geographic information system skills in the island, obtaining over 120 replies and triggering on these various technology transfer actions toward the local communities.
Un momento dello workshop “EIE”.
On Tuesday, April 2, I was at the workshop of the “Empowerment, Inclusiveness, and Equity” working group of ECSA (European Citizen Science Association). Say what? This is a group, composed partly by researchers, and partly by practitioners, dealing in various forms with projects where experts on a given topic need to cooperate with folks who are “less expert”. The group works on identifying problems and solutions in order for these processes to be inclusive, equitable, and empowering.
In the workshop we elaborated further in some issues discussed a couple of months ago in Paris. I also had the opportunity of getting to know more experts, and to present the overall pibinko.org activities to the participants. I then proposed the Jug Band dalle Colline Metallifere (JBCM, or Metalliferous Hills Jug Band) as a “context” to facilitate empowerment, inclusiveness and equity in various projects, extending what we have been doing over the past year in Italy, and which we can further develop in the coming months with PORGEP2019.
The following day the audience grew, with the setup of a stand in the marketplace at the final event of the Do-it-together Science (DITOs) European project, in the stunning venue of the Brussels Natural Science Museum. For this event I prepared yet another installation of the pibinko.org network travelling micro-museum, I shared with a part of the circa 150 attendees the geomusical approach on which we are working with JBCM, and I played a couple of songs, with a guitar kindly provided by the museum (since I could not carry mine on the plane).
The pibinko.org network travelling micro-museum, Brussels April 2019 edition.
For more information: info@pibinko.org or +393317539228
Si ringraziano il progetto DITOs e i responsabili del gruppo di lavoro “EIE” dell’ECSA per l’invito e per il supporto economico sulle spese di viaggio.
L’evento di presentazione della mappa, nel 2017, dopo tre anni di aperitivi…pardon…lavoro.
La mappa, con una copia stagionata da dieci mesi di esposizione agli elementi naturali, e’ stata infatti staccata per essere riesposta nel micromuseo della Val di Farma & friends che troverete tra venerdi’ 22 e domenica 24 febbraio presso l’Hotel Lombardi di Firenze (in particolare ci sara’ una visita guidata fra le 18 e le 20 di sabato 24).
Per ulteriori informazioni sulla manifestazione, potete leggere la presentazione dell’evento, scrivere a info@pibinko.org oppure chiamare il 3317539228
On March 13, 2019, in the stunning set of the Osservatorio Ximeniano in Florence (the first astronomical observatory in the city, founded in 1756), a workshop was organized by the Institute of Biometeorology of the National Research Council, the Department of Biology from the University of Pisa, and the BuioMetria Partecipativa project from the pibinko.org network. The topic of the workshop was the definition of common operational perspectives on protection and promotion of night skies, following the international symposium held on the island of Capraia (Tuscany) in September, 2018 (a report on the symposium is available).
The workshop was primarily intended as a follow-up for attendees of the Capraia event, together with other subjects collaborating with the organizers, in order to further consolidate a national interdisciplinary working group active in monitoring, outreach and promotion of dark-sky areas. In addition to direct collaborators of the organizing institutions, the event saw the participation of Regional Enviromental Protection Agencies from Veneto, Piemonte, Emilia Romagna, and Liguria, plus other experts from Regione Emilia-Romagna.
Each participant had the possibility of giving a presentation in the first part of the workshop. Key talks were proposed by:
Andrea Giacomelli, MS in Environmental Engineering and PhD, animating since 2008 BuioMetria Partecipativa as the flagship project in a framework of various initiatives for protection and promotion of lesser known resources in the fields of culture, environment, and open innovation (supported by the pibinko.org network):
Luciano Massetti, MS in electronic engineering and senior technologist at CNR IBIMET, with a strong track record in environmental monitoring and education, active since 2014 on activities concerning artificial light at night:
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Andrea Bertolo, MS in Physics, managing the light pollution section of the Veneto Regional Environmental Protection Agency, presenting their regional network for night sky quality measurements, used both for monitoring and scientific research.
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Elena Maggi, MS in Biology, researcher with the Dept. of Biology at the University of Pisa, active since 2015 on projects concerning the effects of artificial light at night on marine micro-organisms.
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Luca Delucchi, MS in Geography, and author of the BuioMetria Partecipativa web map in 2008, since then a researcher at the Edmund Mach Foundation in Trento, specialized in geographic information systems and remote sensing.
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The afternoon part of the workshop was dedicated to brainstorming and outlining key activies. During the coming few weeks the working group, in collaboration with some subject who could not physically be in Florence, but expressed their interest in participating in this effort, will proceed to define a set of joint actions on the topic of promotion and protection of the night sky.
The working group at the end of their day at the Osservatorio Ximeniano, not counting a couple of participants who needed to leave earlier (and Federico Giussani, the author of the shots in this report, also specialized in nightscape photography).
We thank Fondazione Osservatorio Ximeniano for hosting the workshop (and you can check out some indoor details of the anciente observatory dome from the image above).
Dopo l’annuncio dell’evento sul sito pibinko.org e il rilancio de Il Tirreno ed. Grosseto, vediamo qualche fase saliente della giornata del 2 marzo 2019 a Tatti, frazione di Massa Marittima (GR), per la nona edizione dello International Open Data Day. Tranne le prime due (di pibinko), le foto sono di Valeria Trumpy dell’Agricampeggio Ixtlan.
Gabrio Giannini and Auro Luti at work in the “Barrino”… …with a pool of experts to back them up.
The action then moved over to the “Circolino”…where Pietro Crivelli gave us some “musipainting”…Vladimiro Durastanti (Pacha Mama farm) did some honeygraphyGuido Bendinelli (Ixtlan Agricamping), who also learned to digitze points with QGIS, who did some saffronmaticsThe engineers Lombardelli and Giacomelli (we need engineers with names ending in -elli ) played as engineers…and more or less everybody interacted with each other….with a reverse angle, parts of the Metalliferous HIlls Jug Band, and a 12-string guitar kindly provided by Oliver Gangemi…and, as a grand finale:
This is a draft version of the points of interest recorded as of March 2, 2019 (not all names are displayed). On the top right, in blue, part of the Farma creek catchment.
Kudos to Sergio Cappelletti, and all those who contributed to the success of this initiative.
M’illumino di meno is a format created in 2005 by the famous radio show Caterpillar, aired by RAI Radio 2 to raise awareness on environmental sustainability, inviting activists, institutions and businesses to organize events on the same day (the Friday between end of February and early Marchh) to engage citizens with presentations, performances and other activities..
In this context On Friday, March 1st. 2019 the Municipality of San Vincenzo, Tuscany, will host in their premises of “La Torre”, the tower facing the marina (Piazza d’Italia 7) a presentation by the BuioMetria Partecipativa (i.e. participatory night sky quality monitoring) project. This was started in 2008 in Southern Tuscany as an environmental outreach and a citizen science initiative for the protection and promotion of night sky, and the mitigation of light pollution.
This is not the first time for BuioMetria Partecipativa in San Vincenzo: our first event was in September 2017, followed by two more in 2018. The March 2019 presentation, however, will be a substantially revamped event. This is due to new interesting developments for the project, deriving from new national and international connections in the areas of research and community engagement. Also, we will be considering the topic of circular economy, which this year has been suggested as a key subject from the M’illumino di meno team.
Federico Giussani (L) and Andrea Giacomelli (R) during a night sky brightness measurement demonstrations with a sky quality meter (renamed “buiometro” for the Italian audience).
On Friday, March 1st in San Vincenzo the speakers/performers will be: Andrea Giacomelli, MS and PhD, creator and coordinator of the BMP project, Federico Giussani, professional nightscape photographer, and Simone Sandrucci, lead guitar for Etruschi from Lakota, and active with Giacomelli in the Metalliferous Hills Jug Band project, doing scientific and cultural outreach merged with rock blues music.
Simone Sandrucci, one of the lead musicians for the BuioMetria Partecipativa soundtrack with Etruschi from Lakota and the Metalliferous Hills Jug Band.
The March 1st event is following an interesting micro-exhibition held in Florence last week, where BuioMetria Partecipativa had various opportunities for visibility in relation to TourismA (a national fair on cultural and archaeological tourism). Furthermore, the Friday presentation is a precursor to an event which will be held in Tatti, a hamlet in the area of Massa Marittima (not too far from San Vincenzo, but inland), where the same team will be holding an event within the ninth International Open Day.
All these activities fall in the framework of a series of initiatives for the protection and promotion of lesser known assets in the fields of culture, environment and open innovation, developed by the pibinko.org network since 2007, with a base in Southern Tuscany, and interesting relations outside of the region (please check out http://www.pibinko.org)
For more information and contacts: bmp@pibinko.org or +39 331 7539 228
Questa e’ la parte sostanziale dell’allestimento del micromuseo itinerante di pibinko.org per il 23/2/2019 all’Hotel Lombardi di Firenze (vedi articolo).
Il catalogo completo e’ disponibile su ordinazione, in edizione sia digitale che cartacea, al costo di Euro 750 (comprensivi di tutti gli oneri fiscali) piu’ eventuali spese di spedizione.
NOTA 5/3/2019 – per questioni di tempo non ci e’ al momento possibile inserire link di approfondimento sui singoli articoli. Alcuni di questi sono gia’ documentati sul sito pibinko.org e potete ritrovarli tramite ricerca per parole chiave. Per altri andremo a creare voci specifiche nelle prossime settimane.
Se avete domande o commenti potete comunque scrivere a info@pibinko.org e saremo lieti di rispondere.
Olio extravergine di oliva az. agricola Ixtlan, Tatti (GR), 2018
Manufatti da tornitura elettronica B.M. di Torniella (GR), 2018
Portatabacco Caffe’ Ricasoli (GR), 2018
Chioccolo prodotto da Edo Giacomelli, circa 1980, da Follonica (GR)
Buiometro Cariddi (2008)
Miele millefiori az. agricola Pacha Mama, Tatti (GR), 2018
Jack O’Malley, drummer and scientific director of the Metalliferous Hills Jug Band, at the end of the preparation of the pibinko.org seller table at the “Buy Cultural Tourism” session at TourismA, the national fair of cultural and archaeological tourism.
Kudos to the Comité Régional de Tourisme Nouvelle-Aquitaine for the picture, and to Colangelo for the assistance in setting up the set.
Last but not least, do not forget the aperitivo-jams session with the Farma Valley and Friends micro-museum. This is organized by pibinko.org in collaboration with Hotel Lombardi, via Fiume 8, Florence, and will be on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 6PM to 8PM (a reservation is needed to info@pibinko.org or +393317539228)
Palla 21, also known as Palla Eh!, is an ancient game played in a few (currently six) small villages in Southern Tuscany, Italy. Documented traces of games practically identical to Palla 21 in Italy are dated to the 16th century, while it is suspected that the origin of these games goes further back in time.
The game is in fact part of a wider family of handball games. More renown variants include Valencian pelota from Spain, the Dutch Kaats, the Belgian Balle Pelote, or Pallone Elastico in Piedmont, Northern Italy, not to mention other pelota games in Latin America.
The rules of Palla 21/Palla Eh! are quite complex, and the best way to get into the game is actually to attend a match with mentoring by one of the senior players. This has also the advantage of appreciating the full context for the game, where the spectators are also an element in the game (figure 1).
Some key information
the game is played by two teams of five
the ball, which is hand made, has a diameter of approximately 4 cm and a weight between 35 and 40 grams (figure 2)
there is no standard field. Each village has a space where the game is played -normally the main square- with different characteristics. The resulting field, in any case, has a rectangular shape (around 30×150 feet, at least – see photo 3 for Torniella). Any natural or artificial element of the square is part of the game: i.e the ball can bounce on walls, roofs, drive through tree canopy, and still be valid.
the ball is hit alternately by the two teams, and can be hit back as long as it bounces once (at the most), like tennis
Also the scoring system is just like tennis (15,30,40,advantage, game, set). Each set counts a score of 7, and three sets make 21, which leads to win an inning. The match is won with two innings out of three.
the game starts by serving. Service always takes places from the same side, so the teams switch sides as needed. The service, called “mando”, is a very scenic part of the game and not all players have the technical skills and ability to serve
points are scored when one side is not able to hit the ball back, either because the ball bounces in the field and then gets out of reach, or because of fouls (e.g. if the ball is hit back with any part of the body except the palm of the hand, if two players of the same team hit the ball one after the other, etc.)
the peculiarity of the game is that there is no pre-defined mid field. The midfield line is set by stopping the ball after it has bounced twice at any moment of the game. In the spot where the ball has been stopped, a marking will be made -known as “caccia”- normally with chalk. At the end of a tournament, the field is scattered with lines.
This action is repeated twice. In the process of defining these two lines, points can still be scored, as the teams may still lose points if the ball goes out of the sides, or is hit irregularly.
once the two midfield markings are defined, the teams will switch sides. In this phase of the game, in addition to the previous systems, the points will be assigned by playing using the “cacce” as the midfield. The point will be lost if the ball stops after the second bounce on “your” side of the field. Once a point is made in relation to a “caccia”, the line will be erased, and the game will continue, proceeding to define the next pair of lines.
The duration of a match is extremely variable, as there is no tie break. Also, there is no referee on the field, so any dispute is managed by all of the players
While the competition on the field can get fierce, all tournaments will end with celebrations and partying where the same teams get together, so the game is also a great opportunity for the village communities to meet and have a good time
Tournaments take place normally from mid-July through September.
For a more formal description of the rules (in Italian): wikipedia.
The game is currently played in six tiny villages of Southern Tuscany, about 100 km South of Florence, in the areas of Siena and Grosseto (mostly Grosseto). In alphabetical order:
