I am glad to share the program of a conference which will take place on Feb. 23, in Rome, at the Italian Geographic Society, and where our buiometria partecipativa project will be featured as the last talk, following experts from different disciplines.
The SGI is in Palazzetto Mattei in Villa Celimontana via della Navicella, 12 Rome (ph: +3906 7008279). It will be possible to follow the talks online at: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/32506399255263?p=OvTMx8D46jwYIHicMG. The official language of the conference will be Italian.
This is the next participatory mapping initiative with the pibinko & friends network…(our first ones started in 2008 with M(‘)appare Milano and the BuioMetria Partecipativa project about night sky quality monitoring. Please refer to https://www.pibinko.org/maps/ for some context about our work.
We will have six days in the Tilane library in Paderno Dugnano, just North of Milano. We are not translating the whole article into English…but if you are curious, please feel free to inquire: segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228.
Il 28 novembre dalla biblioteca Tilane di Paderno Dugnano, a nord di Milano, partirà una campagna di mappatura partecipativa in cui gli utenti e i lettori diventeranno esploratori e ricercatori, arrivando a creare la prima versione di una sorta di guida escursionistica che comprenderà sia percorsi “fisici”, percorribili a piedi o in bicicletta, che percorsi immaginari, a partire da libri, riviste e altri articoli disponibili per il prestito o la consultazione.
Il risultato di questo esercizio di rilievo e scrittura collaborativa sarà un blog, in cui chi andrà a m(‘)appare riporterà impressioni e note di campo, e una mappa interattiva in cui saranno visionabili i percorsi e da cui sarà possibile scaricare tracce (non necessariamente tracce GPS) che consentiranno ad altri visitatori di ripercorrere le stesse esperienze, o di crearne di nuove a partire da quelle esistenti.
La peculiarità, rispetto ad altri prodotti turistici/escursionistici, è che i percorsi che troverete in M(‘)appare Tilane non solo sono passeggiate o visite guidate nella biblioteca (che già vengono proposte fra le attività culturali della struttura), ma possono rappresentare dei veri e propri “viaggi”, tra fantasia, esercizio fisico, fotografia, scrittura e altre arti e discipline, con la base comune di una mappa del territorio.
Chi può m(‘)appare Tilane?
m(‘)appare Tilane è per tutti. In particolare, la biblioteca è interessata a coinvolgere persone fra i 14 e i 35 anni. Se ne avete di meno potete farvi accompagnare dallo zio, e se ne avete di più potete portare la nipote, e più o meno dovrebbe tornare la fascia di età.
Il progetto è indirizzato soprattutto a chi risiede a Paderno o nelle vicinanze, ma non è proibito venire anche da altre località. Per esempio, potreste incontrare Jennifer, la renna psichedelica con una grande passione per la geografia
Jennifer, la renna psichedelica, è interessata a m(‘)appare Tilane.
Quando si va a m(‘)appare Tilane?
2025
Venerdì 19 dicembre, dalle 15 alle 19
Sabato 20 dicembre, dalle 15 alle 19
2026
Venerdì 16 gennaio, dalle 15 alle 19
Sabato 17 gennaio, dalle 15 alle 19
Venerdì 6 febbraio, dalle 15 alle 19
Sabato 7 febbraio, dalle 15 alle 19
Oltre ai ritrovi di persona in biblioteca, ci saranno poi modi per comunicare online, tra un appuntamento e l’altro.
Non sono necessarie particolari competenze informatiche o escursionistiche. L’importante è che siate persone curiose e aperte a collaborare in gruppi un po’ eterogenei. Il resto viene da sé.
Se avete uno smartphone, può essere utile anche se, e fa strano scriverlo nel 2025..non è necessario per m(‘)appare!
L’iscrizione è gratuita.
Il docente
Come docente per imparare a m(‘)appare Tilane, troverete l’ingegnere e dottore di ricerca Andrea Giacomelli, aliasi pibinko, con esperienza internazionale in oltre 30 anni di creazione di mappe e da quasi venti impegnato a m(‘)appare: https://www.mappare.org. L’ing. Giacomelli sarà coadiuvato da alcuni assistenti, che vi saranno presentati via via (se scorrete https://www.pibinko.org/notizie potete avere qualche anteprima).
Il corso fa parte della programmazione TilaneforYOUth, un progetto del Comune di Paderno Dugnano finanziato dal Dipartimento per le Politiche Giovanili e del Servizio Civile Universale attraverso il bando Giovani in Biblioteca.
Please note that the detailed program is available at: https://www.unirural.org/fdivdf4-programma-info/ (in Italian). Before we delve into the details, please remember the main “Valley house rules”
move around and drink/eat responsibly
segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228 (preferably via messaging) for information, meal and lodging options etc.
for those registering for the events, if interested: you will be eligible to obtain uni*rura* educational credits (see: https://www.unirural.org/en/project/)
participation to all activities is free (except for the meals on Saturday in Scalvaia and Torniella). In any case, if you like the festival, you may make a donation to the subjects who are organizing the festival (see: https://www.pibinko.org/20251205-sostieni-fdivdf4/, in Italian)
Tursday 11
pizza, quiet, curiosity
A pre-festival evening to break the ice between the organizers, some of the guests arriving from farther away, and anybody who wants to join.
Friday 12
active citizenship, knowledge sharing, aperitivi
This is the “technical” (but not academic) day of the festival. Attending will be in between being part of a science outreach show on the Geography Channel and a session of a participatory design initiative where local residents will be on the same level as international experts and early-stage researchers.
Because what counts is not just what the Farma Valley can do for you, but what you can do for the Farma Valley (and one hundred similar locations).
Saturday 13
Hiking, stalls, vynils
The weather should be ok (no rain is forecast), so the morning opens itself to opportunities for valley explorers (we recommend to check in at the Combriccola info point to verify which will be the active hunting areas during the day).
In the afternoon the FARMA VALLEY EXPO 2025, will be on, with various stalls and desks, and products from local farms and associations. This will lead us to the “apericena” (please book) and the enticing vynil DJ set by our Songmelier from Rome.
For those arriving to the Valley from the North, or for those interested in an alternative program for part of the afternoon, there is the possibility of drifting to the Siena side of the valley. Our friends in Scalvaia will be preparing a mouthwatering lunch, followed by guided tours at the Roberto Serragli carpentry micro-museum and to the Rita Ganozzi Civic Library. After this, we will be waiting for you all in Torniella for the evening part of the program).
Sunday 14
first come and see, and the tell us what three words you would use to summarize this day.
For the morning, hikers of the world, unite in the booking of the guided tour at the Belagaio National Reserve, organized by the Raggruppamento Carabinieri Biodiversità (segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228, by Dec. 13). This will be the opportunity to explore a lesser not but beautiful natural reserve, the court of its castles, and the Casa Nova visitor centre, after several years in which these facilities have not been accessible.
After your favourite snack or meal, you may merrily direct your steps towards the historical building of the Associazione Filarmonica Popolare di Torniella to visit the pibinko.org network travelling micro-museum.
While you will be busy perusing books from the Seventies, trying to play with “palla 21” balls, listening to incredible anecdotes featuring notable actors from the Farma Valley and its surroundings (Il Papero, Pellegro, and other characters compared to which George Best was a choirboy), etc., the pibinko.org network agents will be setting up the stage to treat your ears and soul. First there will be a set with Lucio Dalla covers, with Dario Canal, Simone Sandrucci, Giacomo Biancalana, and Gianmarco Bonnìci. This set will be followed by a show by the kaleidoscopic Jug Band Colline Metallifere, featuring a couple of surprise guests.
By 9PM we plan to close shop: Dec. 15th is a Monday, and some of the participants will go to school, others to work, and others will be resting (suurely pibinko, who over the past ten weeks hase been working on 16-hour/day shifts between festival organization and other projects).
Dici che i tuoi fiori | You say that your flowers si sono rovinati | have waned non hai abilità | you have non abilities questa nazione è brutta | this nation is ugly ti fa sentire asciutta | it makes you feel dry senza volontà | with no will e gioca a fare Dio | and plays God manipolando il tuo DNA | manipulating your DNA così se vuoi cambiare | so that if you want to change invece resti uguale | you still remain the same per l’eternità | for eternity
ma non c’è niente | but there is nothing che sia per sempre | which can be forever perciò se è da un po’ | so if it’s been a while che stai così male | that you feel so bad il tuo diploma in fallimento | you failure master è una laurea per reagire | is a degree to react
puoi finger bene | you can be a good pretender ma so che hai fame | but I know you are hungry
tutto è efficacia | all is effectiveness e razionalità | and rationality niente può stupire | nothing can amuse e non è certo il tempo | and surely time is not quello che ti invecchia | what makes you older e ti fa morire | and eventually die ma tu rifiuti di ascoltare | but you refuse to listen ogni segnale che ti può cambiare | to any signal which may change you perchè ti fa paura | because you are afraid quello che succederà | of what will happen se poi ti senti uguale | if you then feel the same
ma non c’è niente che sia per sempre perciò se è da un po’ che stai così male il tuo diploma in fallimento è una laurea per reagire
sai finger bene ma so che hai fame
non è niente non è per sempre è troppo ormai che stai così male il tuo diploma in fallimento è una laurea per reagire non è niente non è per sempre
On this round, we will have Andrea Giacomelli, in his Jack O’Malley avatar, providing musical+territorial entertainment (if you move the cursor in the picture you will have a preview of these two faces).
To take part in the hike, and to eat your “Girotapas” please book on +393713434447
I was invited as an expert to be part of the panel for a workshop on wildfires in Italy, organized by the Italian chapter of the Robert Bosch Foundation
In Italian May is “Maggio”, so “Maggeo” is a sort of fusion between the name of the month and the geo- prefix. Since in 2020 it is not possible to attend May Day celebrations in person, in Italy and many other parts of the world, we try to re-enact some past May Day events by simulating their unfolding with a combination of mapping supports, videos and photos.
Piloni, photo by Pio Spinosi. If you can guess the year please write to micalosapevo@pibinko.org
As a Maggeo prototype we took the 2009 May Day in the Farma Valley, in Tuscany, about 100 km South of Florence. On that occasion, with the BuioMetria Partecipativa project we followed all the celebration. This starts normally at 8.30AM in the Piloni square with a sandwich with marinated anchovies + red wine (or soda if you can’t have wine), and ends around noon at the Torniella football field, after several other stops of this type. At the end of the march, some people possibly end up having too many marinated anchovies, but the spirit of the is May Day is very strong (in all ways).
Along the walk from Piloni to Torniella, we asked to as many people as possible “how dark is the sky above the Farma bridge?” (before posing the question we were giving notions on light pollution and night sky quality measurement, so that our counterpart would not be giving random numbers).
The intial zoom level of the map is intentionally set so that people can first understand where the Farma Valley is located on Earth. As Andrea the old bartender used to say: “the problem is not finding the bar in Torniella…the problem is finding Torniella”.
In the search window below you can type something, and the system will tell you if in the video there is a matching place. Even a single letter will do.
If you click on the name of a place you will be brought to the corresponding section of the “How dark is the sky in Maremma?” video. The video is subtitled in English.
We are missing images of a couple of the official “stops”…should you happen to have some footage, please write to micalosapevo@pibinko.org
FYI: parts of this video (together with other buiometria partecipativa videos) were used in 2010 in a report by TG2 (one of the national TV news services)
Thursday, July 25, at the Terme Marine Leopoldo II hotel in Marina di Grosseto (Tuscany) from 6.30PM to 8PM there will be a presentation of the mission by Zoltán Kolláth, astrophysics professor at the Savaria University Centre, Eötvös Loránd University, Szombathely, Hungary.
The professor, who is one of the leading authorities in the field of light pollution studies will be in Italy in the context of a collaboration with the BuioMetria Partecipativa, and will be visiting Southern Tuscany after four years (in 2015 he was part of a research team for a measurement campaign in the Farma Valley.
In the July 25 event you will have a chance to know more about the measurement activities which will be conducted in the following nights in various parts of Southern Tuscany -which in Italy is one of the few areas where a good night sky quality remains- and to understand how this characteristic, in addition to being an element of wonder, may become a territorial asset.
Citizens, businesses and public administrators can come to hear about professor Kollath’s experiences. In fifteen years, in Hungary he has been developing a whole sector of activity, spanning from scientific research, to environmental education, to dark sky park management, to actual lighting system renovation in order to procure lights which can couple energy efficiency and a strong compliance to state-of-the-art guidelines to minimize light pollution.
Last but not least, should you be interested in collaborating with the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, you will have a chance to know about the citizen science activities that this project is promoting since 2008, and through which you too can have an active role in the coming months.
For more details on the 2019 “buiometric” campaign, also see this post.
For more information, or to confirm your attendance, please write to bmp@pibinko.org or call +393317539228
“Jam session” assieme a Tim Hellebrand of the Forzarello juggling duo from Stuttgart, Germany, with Wolgang Scheibe, Stefano Cicalini, and Guglielmo Eboli
