Category Archives: Events

Are you between 14 and 35? Do you live in Paderno Dugnano (Milan) or surroundings? Come to M(‘)appare Tilane!

Events, Maps

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.

Per partecipare: bisogna iscriversi

Il modulo di iscrizione per venire a m(‘)appare Tilane è alla pagina: https://www.tilane.it/tilaneforyouth/

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.

4th Farma Valley Winter Fest (Southern Tuscany)- the Program in a (big) Nutshell

Events

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).

For more information, requests or proposals: segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228.

Sigla:

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

Jan. 20, 2024 – Roccalbegna (Tuscany) – Ci.r.co.l.a.re Project Presentation feat. Jack O’Malley with music & territory

Events

Folllowing the events on Aug. 19 in Magliano in Toscana (link in Italian) and on Oct. 16 in Montemerano (link in Italia) -with a Dec. 21 addendum- we are glad to announce the next collaboration of the Jug Band Colline Metallifere with the Ci.r.co.l.a.re. project:

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
  • For more information about the portion of the event curated by the Jug Band Colline Metallifere: http://www.jugbandcm.it, micalosapevo@pibinko.org or +393317539228

“GeoMay” Day in Torniella-Piloni, Tuscany

Events, Maps

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)

For more information and booking: micalosapevo@pibinko.org

Thursday, July 25, 2019: The Night Sky, from the Hungarian Puszta to the Hills of Maremma (Terme Marine Leopoldo II, Marina di Grosseto, Tuscany)

Events,

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

CAAT 2018 conference

Events

The Third Farma Valley Winter Fest will host on Dec. 16, 2018 the annual CAAT conference. CAAT stands for “Coordinamento Associazioni Astrofile della Toscana“, i.e. the network of amateur astronomer associations in Tuscany. This comprises some forty associations spread across the region.

The local promoter of the venue is pibinko.org, handling for some years now a series of professional services concerning outreach on lighting and darkness  related to the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, among other services on culture, environment, and open innovation.

The event is mainly directed to an Italian participation. However, should you be interested to know more about it, or even to propose a talk (we will provide live translation services at no cost for this specific event), please write to bmp@pibinko.org.

The deadline to submit abstracts for presentations is December 7, 2018.

 

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The conference is open to all those with a passion for astronomy and night skies (but please be sure to register…see below).

 

The location

Torniella is in the Farma Valley, about 100 km South of Florence. This is half way between Siena and Grosseto, on the former state road leading from Siena to the South.

You may reach it from the North, first heading for Monticiano, and then continuing South, direction Roccastrada for 14 km, or from the South (or the coast) reaching Roccastrada and continuing North for 13 km.
Please avoid the main state road (Siena-Grosseto). This does in fact cross the valley, but several kilometers East of the conference location.
Participants are invited to consider car sharing.
For participants arriving from the Pisa area, it is possible to reach Torniella with a very scenic drive (Volterra-Casole d’Elsa-  strada regionale “traversa maremmana”, SP73 below Rosia): however, this is a very curvy road and is not recommended during the Winter if you are not a local.

The Farma Valley

The valley is where the  BuioMetria partecipativa (participatory night sky quality monitoring) was born in 2008. It has very good night sky brightness conditions, as documented by various surveys conducted by Italian amateur astronomers, as well as international researchers. Among other experiences, we like to recall the measurement campaign in March  2015, with a team of twelve scientists coming from six countries (see article).

Under a very interesting starry sky, the landscape during the day brings no less surprises, with natural and man-made landmarks. We have the  La Pietra, prehistorical quarry, several medieval iron work, and the  Belagaio state natural reserve, at the centre of a NATURA2000 protected site, and including a horse breeding facility. Half an hour drive from Torniella we also find the more renown Petriolo hot springs.

The socio-economic peculiarities of the valley are not to be neglectedel luogo. While having a very low population (less than 500 residents over  120 km^2, concentrated in the villages of  Torniella, Piloni, and Scalvaia), the area has a high number of local businesses, relative to the number of residents, and has a lively sports scene. This includes a football team, a mountain bike trophy, and -most of all- numerous players of palla a 21 (or palla eh!), an ancient handball game.

The musical scene is not less enticing, with one of the most active philarmonic bands in Southern Tuscany, a classical music Summer school, and folks who are active on innovative musical projects, such as the  fusion of rock-blues and environmental outreach.

Combining these resources, since 2007 the Valley has become the hub of several original project in the field of protection and promotion of lesser known assets in culture, environment, and open innovation. Among and extensive list of media reports, this case was covered in an effective way in a recent article on Langscape Magazine.

Conference Venue

The conference venue is the rehearsal room of the Associazione filarmonica popolare Torniella (80 seats available)

Schedule (pending the publication of a detailed list of presentations)

  • 10 AM – opening of the conference
  • 1PM – Light lunch at Trattoria il Boscaiolo (150 m from the conference venue). This combines typical Southern Tuscan dishes with Andalusian specialties (the chef is from Granada, Spain)
  • 2 PM – afternoon talk and CAAT general assembly
  • 5.30 PM – conclusion

With good weather, should participants be interested, it is possible to arrange a short guided tour of the village (20-minute walk, just afert lunch)

Opportunities

  • The conference takes place in the context of the third Farma Valley Winter Fest, an interdisciplinary territorial promotion event created by the same team managin the BuioMetria Partecipativa project. The Festival includes “local” features (i.e. the commong goods in the forest, the valley community map or the construction of the palla a 21 ball), as well as  “global” features, such as webinars on advance 3D visualization for the creation of virtual museums, and some healthy entertainment (short walks in the woods, and indoor games, dance contests and live music).
  • Should you be interested, you are invited to arrive in Torniella on Saturday, Dec. 15. There will be a space to showcase your activities, and it convenient lodging options are available in Torniella and Piloni (1.5 km from the conference venue).

Important dates

If you plan to attend the 2018 CAAT conference, by Dec. 7 2018 you should write to info@pibinko.org indicating
a- if you are interested in attending the conference (in Italian)
b- if you are interested to propose an abstract (this may be in English)
c- if you are interested in lodging.

Organizing committee

The CAAT Conference is promote by CAAT with support by pibinko.org, Pro Loco Piloni-Torniella, ad Associazione Filarmonica Popolare Torniella.