J reading 1 2015

Editor in Chief: Gino De Vecchis (Italy) Associate Editors: Cristiano Giorda (Italy), Cristiano Pesaresi (Italy), Joseph Stoltman (USA), Sirpa Tani (Finland)

J - READING JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND DIDACTICS IN GEOGRAPHY

Scientific Committee: Eyüp Artvinli (Turkey), Caterina Barilaro (Italy), Giuliano Bellezza (Italy), Tine Béneker (Netherlands), Andrea Bissanti (Italy), Gabriel Bladh (Sweden), Carlo Blasi (Italy), Laura Cassi (Italy), Raffaele Cattedra (Italy), Claudio Cerreti (Italy), Giorgio Chiosso (Italy), Sergio Conti (Italy), Egidio Dansero (Italy), Martin R. Degg (UK), Giuseppe Dematteis (Italy), Karl Donert (UK), Pierpaolo Faggi (Italy), Franco Farinelli (Italy), Maurizio Fea (Italy), Maria Fiori (Italy), Hartwig Haubrich (Germany), Vladimir Kolosov (Russian Federation), John Lidstone (Australia), Svetlana Malkhazova (Russian Federation), Jerry Mitchell (USA), Josè Enrique Novoa-Jerez (Chile), Daniela Pasquinelli d’Allegra (Italy), Petros Petsimeris (France), Bruno Ratti (Italy), Roberto Scandone (Italy), Giuseppe Scanu (Italy), Lidia Scarpelli (Italy), Rana P.B. Singh (India), Claudio Smiraglia (Italy), Michael Solem (USA), Hiroshi Tanabe (Japan), Angelo Turco (Italy), Joop van der Schee (Netherlands), Isa Varraso (Italy), Bruno Vecchio (Italy), Tanga Pierre Zoungrana (Burkina Faso).

Secretary of coordination: Marco Maggioli (Italy) and Massimiliano Tabusi (Italy) Editorial Board: Riccardo Morri (Chief), Sandra Leonardi (Assistant Chief), Miriam Marta (Assistant Chief), Victoria Bailes, Daniela De Vecchis, Assunta Giglio, Daniele Ietri, Matteo Puttilli

Dipartimento di Scienze documentarie, linguistico - filologiche e geografiche

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione

Association of European Geographic Societies

GEOGRAPHY

With the support of:

9788868125196_154_LM_1

J - READING

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND DIDACTICS IN

J - READING

Sponsoring Organizations:

2015

GEOGRAPHY JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND DIDACTICS IN

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ITALIAN ASSOCIATION OF GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS (ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA INSEGNANTI DI GEOGRAFIA)

Vol. 1, Year 4, June 2015

ISSN online 2281-5694 ISSN print 2281-4310

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), Vol. 1, Year 4, June, 2015

J-Reading is an open online magazine and therefore access is free. It is however possible to make a subscription to receive the paper format

Copyright © 2015 Edizioni Nuova Cultura - Roma ISSN online 2281-5694 ISSN print 2281-4310 ISBN 9788868125196 DOI 10.4458/5196

J-Reading has been awarded “Class A” by National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Academic Research, placing it at the top of the Italian ranking of Scientific Journals

Each Author shall be accountable for the entire content or parts thereof of the articles submitted to J-Reading

All rights reserved including translation into other languages.

This journal, or some part of it, cannot be reproduced in any form without permission.

Contents Gino De Vecchis

J-Reading has been awarded “Class A” by ANVUR Gerry O’Reilly, Ruth McManus

Practice and Theory in Geography: Experiences from international collaboration for teacher education Caterina Cirelli, Teresa Graziano, Enrico Nicosia, Carmelo Maria Porto

Reading and interpreting the gateways in contemporary cities: an educational perspective Jinn-Guey Lay, Yu-Lin Chi, Yu-Wen Chen

Teachers’ in-service training in geographic information system (GIS) and different integration behaviors in lectures Angela Caruso

Competences and Geography. A meta-cognitive approach

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19

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THE LANGUAGE OF IMAGES (Edited by Elisa Bignante and Marco Maggioli) Javier Martínez-Vega, Marta Gallardo, Pilar Echavarría

Satellite images and teaching of Geography

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MAPPING SOCIETIES (Edited by Edoardo Boria) Giada Peterle

Teaching Cartography with Comics: Some Examples from BeccoGiallo’s Graphic Novel Series

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GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND (PRACTICAL) CONSIDERATIONS Claudio Smiraglia, Roberto Sergio Azzoni, Carlo D’Agata, Davide Maragno, Davide Fugazza, Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti

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The New Italian Glacier Inventory: a didactic tool for a better knowledge of the natural Alpine environment TEACHINGS FROM THE PAST (Edited by Dino Gavinelli and Davide Papotti) Emmanuel Kant

Géographie with comments by Guy Mercier

La question Kantienne un lieu ou le passage d’une Géographie à l’autre

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REFERRED PAPERS FOR REMOTE SENSING (Edited by Alberto Baroni and Maurizio Fea) Maurizio Fea, Massimo Capaldo, Cristiano Pesaresi

Remote sensing and interdisciplinary approach for forecasting and analysing the effects of hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons

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Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 5-6 DOI: 10.4458/5196-01

J-Reading has been awarded “Class A” by ANVUR Gino De Vecchisa a

Dipartimento di Scienze documentarie, linguistico-filologiche e geografiche, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy Email: gino.devecchis@uniroma1.it

It gives me great pleasure to write the editorial for this number of the Journal, and all the more so because this May ANVUR (Agenzia Nazionale di Valutazione del Sistema Universitario e della Ricerca/National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Academic Research) ranked J-Reading among class A journals. This is highest class category foreseen in Italy for sectors like that of geography which are not considered bibliometric.

ANVUR is a public body of the Italian Republic, monitored by The Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), which is responsible for the evaluation of university activities in Italy, among which the quality of research findings and scientific journals. In the Agency’s description, class A periodicals “are those with ISSN, recognised as excellent at international level owing to the thoroughness of the proofreading procedures and the diffusion, esteem and impact in the scholarly communities of that sector, also shown by the presence of the journals in national and international databases”.

This important recognition is due to the fact that J-Reading meets all the parameters that a scientific journal must have, but it is above all the result of the firm conviction of the value of the dissemination of research, which is an

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indispensable prerequisite for being put to the test of scientific rebuttal. It is worthwhile mentioning some of the reasons put forward by the ANVUR experts in support of its awarding a class A to J-Reading: “J-Reading has earned a solid reputation: - for the importance of the contributions by distinguished Italian and foreign scholars; - because it is the only geographical periodical in Italy exclusively in English and with a dual modality: online, with free access, and a printed version on demand; - because it promotes analysis, interpretations and proposals aimed at valorising the relationship between research and didactics in geography, dealing with a number of features, whereby it follows the most recent debates in today’s context of the subject of geography; - for the quality of the Scientific Committee and the Review Committee, made up of internationally renown Italian and foreign experts; - for the thorough peer reviewing procedure, guaranteed by the number and authoritativeness of the referees and the meticulous anonymity of the readers and Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Gino De Vecchis

authors (double-blind), language refereeing included”.

However, the greatest merit attributed to the journal is represented by the achievement of this recognition just a few years from its creation, as highlighted by ANVUR in its assessment.

In fact it was certainly not at all expected that J-Reading would have achieved such recognition in such a short time following its first issue.

This excellent result has been possible thanks to the high quality of the Scientific Committee and Review Committee and to the number of people who believed in this editorial project, starting from the two foreign associate editors Joseph Stoltman of the Western Michigan University and Sirpa Tani of the University of Helsinki and the two Italians, Cristiano Giorda of the University of Turin and Cristiano Pesaresi, who, working at the same university as myself, the Università Sapienza of Rome, takes care of the contacts with abroad and the international circulation of communications and is strongly involved in the editing and proofreading activities of the numerous contributions.

This success is also thanks to the many persons working in different ambits in one way or another: from the Members of the Scientific Committee, Editorial Board and the Review Committee to all the authors of the contributions published in these years. I think that the importance of group work must be stressed, since the responsibility for choosing and selecting the contributions to be published on the basis of their scientific and methodological precision can be best expressed if it can avail of the valuable backing of the members of the scientific community.

A further added value is also given by ESRI and ESA (European Space Agency), which took up the idea of backing this initiative from the very start.

We are fully aware of J-Reading’s main function: to bring the published contributions to the attention of the widest spectrum of experts and researchers possible, as the selection made by the journal cannot (and must not) replace the judgement of the scientific community. In this sense ANVUR’s recognition represents the opinion of the Italian scientific community with Copyright© Nuova Cultura

respect to the capacity that J-Reading has so far demonstrated in carrying out this function to the best of its ability.

Nor must we forget the objective of presenting each single article in the best possible editorial format, in terms of graphics, clarity and accessibility. The journal makes use of Open Journal Systems (OJS) for this, an open source software that guarantees a thorough process from the submitting of the article to its online publiccation, thus promoting its wide web visibility with wide-ranging circulation. Moreover, on the AIIG website (http://aiig.it/j-reading/) the entire compacted numbers are published one by one, in browsable format, so as to allow the consultation of the assembled issues.

We are also fully aware that it is necessary to make further progress, also on the strength of the international dimension that the journal has set out to represent from its birth and which is part of its mission. A confirmation of the validity of its work is made indispensable also at international level: for this reason J-Reading has begun the procedure to obtain indexing in the Scopus database, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious reference databases for peerreviewed periodicals and would give further prestige to J-Reading, enabling it to be included in an even wider circuit of international consultations and citations.

Our hope therefore is to reach a position on the international stage at the highest levels, continuing to work in the light of the network of exchanges and collaboration, fostering synergies on different subjects-issues and topics of discussion and the interpretative analysis of common elements and phenomena, along with the support of various geotechnologies in research, didactics and their fruitful integration, which were given scope right from the word go.

At the same time there is a strong commitment to establishing increasingly interdisciplinary relationships, which are already under way as shown by the different contributions in the numbers of the journal published to date, in order to start a series of scientifically rigorous and multi-faceted initiatives and to meet the needs expressed by the big international projects requiring multiple ideas advanced by the complementary sectors of research.

Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 7-18 DOI: 10.4458/5196-02

Practice and Theory in Geography: Experiences from international collaboration for teacher education Gerry O’Reillya, Ruth McManusa Department of Geography, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland Email: gerry.oreilly@spd.dcu.ie

a

Received: January 2015 – Accepted: February 2015

Abstract This paper explores how collaboration between university Geography departments in different countries can enhance practical competencies and skills, while bringing innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of Geography at all levels. A major objective is to empower students in geographical thinking and doing by building on their latent skills and knowledge. The spatial perspective must be flexible so as to encourage innovative teaching strategies and technologies. Two experiences of international collaboration between undergraduate geography students are examined. The first case study focuses on joint course experiences of Dutch and Irish students collaborating on the organization and delivery of geographical fieldwork; the second centres on interculturalism, globalization, and good citizenship as worked on by Irish and American students. While both cases involved online interaction, in the first case the students met following a preparatory period of online collaboration, whereas in the second case the only interaction was online and the students never met face-to-face. Both experiences were generally positively received, and serve to highlight the potential for new generations of teachers to use ICT in order to share their geographical empathy and stories across national boundaries, constructs and curricula.

Keywords: Geography, Education, Inter-University, Student-Teachers, Shared-Modules, Case-Studies, Online Collaboration, Irish, Dutch, American, Discovery Learning, Empathetic Intelligence

1. Introduction Collaboration between Geography departments in various countries – in this case Ireland, the Netherlands and USA – can enhance practical competencies and skills. By bringing innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of Geography at many different levels, it can have positive impacts on student-teachers. The overall aim of such interactions is for students to make Copyright© Nuova Cultura

sense of the local while making connections to global contexts and in the same way planning the future in ever-increasing interactions of scales, place and people. In geography teacher education, a major objective is to empower students in geographical thinking and practice by building on their dormant skills and understanding, which many students do not knowingly recognize or “put together”. Given the virtual revolution and ever-changing Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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technology, spatial perspectives must now be very flexible, not trapped within text books, so as to encourage original teaching strategies and the effective use of technologies (Parkes and Griffiths, 2008; Trahar, 2007).

This paper begins by considering teaching and learning, and the overall importance of empathetic education, followed by the concepts and practice of self and group discovery learning; the current centrality of digital media will also be elucidated. Primacy is given to the case study student-teacher experiences and voices of two inter-university Geography Department modules based at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, a college of Dublin City University (SPD) which ran in the academic year 2012-13 and utilised the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as an important communication tool.

The first case study involved a geography fieldwork collaboration between the HAN University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen) and St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra. Here emphasis is placed on the joint course experiences of Dutch and Irish geography students communicating virtually to collaborate on the organization of comparative fieldwork and research. This culminated in the Dutch students coming for a week to Ireland in spring 2013, and delivering the fieldwork classes jointly with their Irish counterparts.

Case study two considers a shared USEuropean geography module that took place in Autumn 2012 with collaboration between UNC – University of Northern Colorado at Greely – and St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra. The interaction in this module was entirely online, via the Moodle VLE, and was facilitated by the AAG’s Centre for Global Geography Education1. In this case, the focus was specifically on interculturalism, globalization, and good citizenship related to people, places and landscapes. The course materials used had been developed by the CGGE for its National Identity module, which examines geographic

characteristics of national identity and interplay of culture, politics, and place. While the Geography colleague in UNC had previously engaged in a similar collaboration with a different European partner, this was the first time that staff and students from St. Patrick’s had been involved. Both cases can be seen within the context of the SPD Geography department’s internationalised curriculum, which it operates so as to allow non-mobile students to acquire intercultural and international skills at home, based on Nilsson’s (1999) concept of “Internationalisation at Home”, while also encouraging outgoing mobility.

Spring 2012

Initial contact and preliminary discussions between staff

Autumn 2012

Recruitment of SPD students; Staff formulate structure of pilot project

January -March 2013 SPD and HAN students engage online, planning and preparing fieldwork

April 2013

HAN students visit Dublin for face-toface component

Summer 2013

Staff follow-up, initial planning for second phase of project

Table 1. Timeline for Case Study 1: SPD-DCU and HAN – a combined virtual and face-to-face collaboration model.

Late Summer 2012

Autumn 2012

January 2013

Initial discussions between SPD and UNC staff, decision to proceed with pilot project

Students are briefed on the project, engage with materials and interact online over an intensive fourweek period

Staff follow-up, discussion of further implementation in Autumn 2013

Table 2. Timeline for Case Study 2: SPD-DCU and UNC – an online only collaboration model.

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American Association of Geographers: www.aag.org/cgge and National Identity module: http://cgge.aag.org/NationalIdentity1e/.

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Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Gerry O’Reilly, Ruth McManus

Although the two case studies are complementary and both ran in the same academic year, this was largely coincidental rather than resulting from a specific strategy.

The collaborations arose in the first instance, as is common in the academic world, from personal contacts between individuals in the relevant departments where the prospect of “some sort of interaction” was mooted. These preliminary discussions were followed up with formal proposals and a detailed programme of work was developed in each pilot. In case study one, the project was developed ab initio, whereas case study two involved “tried and tested” study materials. Both projects, however, shared certain common issues and concerns, as outlined below.

Besides agreeing on the intellectual content of the modules and encouraging student participation, major challenges in the exploratory nature of both shared modules were facilitating staff stakeholders to get to know each other and work together, and to gain an appreciation of the respective institutional, departmental and national cultures compounded by timetable issues and time zone differences, even between the Europeans. The use of ICT for student interactions was new to some of the staff involved, which also posed some initial concerns regarding trust in the technology and in the alternative methodologies required to facilitate learning in this environment. However, in the lecturers’ experiences in learning by doing, after debriefing, like the students they all agreed to continue and develop each project in subsequent years, building on their shared teaching and learning experiences.

Both projects reveal the need for new generations of student-teachers to learn not so much about ICT from a technical standpoint, as in the past, but more so how it can be integrated and applied to across national boundaries, constructs and curricula. This requires an increased awareness and application of their shared geographical empathy and stories, so that the world of the digital native is not separated by an imaginary wall from education and the classroom, as if the education environment constituted a separate world often lagging behind that of the student-teachers.

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2. Teaching and learning: empathetic education, discovery learning and the digital age In examining these two case studies, it is useful to consider two pedagogical aspects – empathetic education and discovery (or enquirybased) learning – and how they interact and develop different meanings in the digital age.

It has increasingly been recognized that there is more than one type of intelligence, with social and emotional intelligence becoming increasingly valued in the workplace (Goleman, 1996; Ioannidou and Konstantikaki, 2008).

Empathetic intelligence is based on a theory of relatedness which is dynamic in relation to thinking and feeling, and ways in which each contributes to making of meaning. It is built on person-centred situations and professional contexts. Salient skills, abilities and attitudes underpin effectiveness in contexts with enthusiasm, expertise, capacity to engage, and empathy itself. Empathy may be defined as a function of mind, brain and feeling, and its relatedness to narrative and imagination. The social usefulness of empathy and organization is crucial in developing cultures of learning. This is crucial in reflection in groups and individually, for students and lecturers, on practice and professional relationships (Arnold, 2005). This perspective on empathetic education must be forefront in an age of digital revolution.

Given the (emotionally) distancing effect of technology, it is all the more important that students develop their empathetic intelligence in order to engage effectively in projects such as the ones outlined here, as well as more generally in their work.

The overall approach of both case studies was on discovery learning. The emphasis, as in Naish et al’s research, is for students to become involved in “using their skills to undertake the enquiry”, with staff and students “working together to develop the geographer’s craft and to enhance personal competence” (Naish et al., 2002, p. 69). In this constructivist approach, applied in both case studies, students were not provided with the exact answers, but rather the materials necessary in order to find the answer for themselves. Learners were encouraged to draw on their own experience and prior Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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knowledge, as well as calling on that of their peers, in the group learning scenario. However, recognising the increasing debate in the literature concerning the value of discovery learning, particularly the work of Mayer (2004), the approach taken moved beyond unassisted discovery learning to utilise what Marzano (2011) has described as “enhanced discovery learning”. A key element in the success of the case studies was the degree to which students were prepared for the learning tasks and provided assistance where necessary, but with a “light-touch approach”, during the task.

Both case studies recognised the value of ICT and the necessity to adapt teaching and learning methodologies to reflect the changing nature of the working environment in the digital age. As information and data are becoming free “open” commodities, the power base is shifting to students and citizens. As such, the learning experience needs to evolve so that students are given the ability to access and utilise these sources and to mould them in an appropriate fashion. In other words, as educators it is increasingly important that we provide students with the tools to interpret digitally-available information, continuing the discovery approach but with a recognition of the need for sufficient scaffolding to support learning appropriately, as well as the skills required to harness and synthesise this data. For example, students may need support in utilising the various tools available to synthesise and make sense of all this geographic information as with mapping tools such as ArcGIS Online, infographics, YouTube and so forth (De Miguel González and Donert, 2014).

From teaching and learning perspectives, there is the immediacy of the information for trainers and students, asking for and getting help; its presence on the Internet (i.e. open) cannot be underestimated, and this is key to empowerment and the ability to promote a cause, issue or concern via social media whether local or global, but with the power to make the local issue global. Students can use the digital media to tell their narratives. Teachers need to be able to respond to the geo-media and information sources.

The following case studies explore how these Copyright© Nuova Cultura

different aspects of pedagogy were combined in real-world experience, to create an authentic and meaningful learning experience for students.

3. Case Study 1: SPD-DCU and HAN – a combined virtual and face-to-face collaboration model Discussions about potential fieldwork collaboration between SPD (Ireland) and HAN (Netherlands) began in Spring 2012 and it was agreed that a pilot project would be launched during the Autumn. The format of the project, which involved both online and face-to-face elements, was dictated in part by resourcing issues and also by the challenges of coordinating different calendars and programmes to facilitate travel. Although it was considered desirable that both cohorts of students (i.e. Irish as well as Dutch) would travel to the other country, this was not feasible in the first year.

Therefore, following discussions it was agreed that in the initial pilot phase students from HAN would be hosted by the Irish students, with the potential to further develop the project in subsequent years if the pilot proved successful.

For the Dutch students, the fieldwork module was a required part of their final year programme. In the case of the Irish students, the 2012-13 pilot project was operated on a volunteer basis, whereby participating students would earn credits in lieu of a different module.

In the late Autumn of 2012, a call was put out to the undergraduate Geography students at SPD inviting applications for the inter-university module, with numbers being limited to 15 students. The self-selective nature of the SPD student participation was important in order to maximize engagement; the response was positive, filling the quota number, but there was not a huge number of requests, perhaps indicating the general conservatism of the Irish students when faced with the “unknown” aspects of the pilot project.

Following an initial face-to-face meeting at the end of the 2011-12 academic year, staff colleagues in the two institutions communicated by email in December 2012 and January 2013 to agree the basic programme which would be followed. In January 2013 the student Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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participants in each institution were briefed on the exploratory nature of the project, and basic key ideas that had to be included in the organization and delivery of the fieldwork. The students were divided into self-selecting pairs which subdivided the work. Each pair was matched with a corresponding pair in the other institution. The “Online Forum” facility on the Moodle VLE was used to enable the students to communicate, while also facilitating light-touch monitoring by the geography staff. The virtual research and organization took place between January and April 2013, with students preparing not alone the intellectual content, but also all practical aspects including their travel and accommodation, maps, handouts and workbooks.

In April 2013, joint delivery took place in Ireland with four intensive fieldwork days in the urban environments of Dublin and Belfast, and in the Dublin-Wicklow Mountains, the glacial valley of Glendalough (Valley of the Two Lakes) renowned for its early medieval monastic settlement dating from the 6th century with surrounding forests, and the Boyne Valley with its salient glacial and fluvial features impacted on by 7,000 years of human habitation. In the division of labour, the Dutch students took the lead in the physical geography work, and the Irish had the leader role in human geography.

However, here a challenge for both teams was to blend, in as far as possible, the human and physical geographies in a meaningful way, rather than seeing them as completely separate entities. Three Irish and two Dutch lecturers were responsible for light-touch leadership, while the face-to-face fieldwork component was monitored by a German Professor on Erasmus staff mobility from the Faculty of Science and Geography Education, Cologne University2.

As previously noted, this first case study involved a combination of online and face-toface interaction. For the Geography staff involved, there were some concerns as to how the Dutch and Irish students would adapt to the latter. On the evening that the Dutch students 2

Daniela Schmeinck, Institut für Didaktik des Sachunterrichts, Universität zu Köln (University of Cologne).

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arrived in Dublin, a barbecue was organised at SPD to greet them. Despite staff concerns of awkward moments in getting the students to mingle, fearing that they might stay in the comfort zone of their own class friends and language-culture groups, exactly the opposite happened. Instinctively the students, recognizing each other from photos and Skyping, shook hands like old friends and engaged in hours of discussion and partying. Whereas staff had focused on the use of online interaction to produce shared fieldwork material, for the students who had used various digital media to communicate and collaborate, the interaction had moved beyond the purely academic realm. Thus the students had developed their empathetic intelligence, and become connected socially and culturally, as well as intellectually.

As Nairn et al. (2000) stress, fieldwork has the potential to play a flagship role in the context of internationalisation. Nonetheless, despite geography being the core material, vast differences in international and inter-cultural methodologies and approaches were commented on by students and lecturers alike, with much information being shared by both teams in informal settings. In relation to the student leadership and oral delivery of the fieldtrips, essentially none of the SPD students had training in public speaking or group management, which proved to be a drawback at times, nonetheless these skills visibly improved with each fieldtrip, partly due to informal feedback and mentoring from their HAN counterparts. Taking into consideration that the Dutch students were majoring in Geography, and not English language, a Dutch lecturer expressed her satisfaction that her students were also acquiring the skills of teaching geography through English in a non-judgemental environment, which had not been foreseen. Positive inter- and intragroup “learning by doing” took place among peers, along with the creation of digital material, and case-study and workbook material. While the latter is much part of the culture of the Irish students, this was not a feature of the Dutch system at the time, but has since been adapted by the Dutch student-teachers.

In developing the pilot programme, the collaborating staff built on each others’ strengths to enhance the learning opportunities for students.

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For example, the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment was already in use in SPD, and was introduced to the HAN colleagues in order to provide the main mechanism for prefieldwork communication. Similarly, staff in SPD learned from the fieldwork set-up in use in HAN, whereby the students were made responsible for the practical organizational aspects of their fieldwork, such as planning transport, accommodation and food. The project can therefore be seen as offering very real dialogue and on-going skills enhancement for staff as well as students.

The tasks undertaken by the students before, during and after the fieldwork experience reflect Harper’s (2004) experience of active learning in fieldwork. Active learning was represented in the preparation phase, which involved problem identification by consensus agreement, collection of information, analysis and synthesis, and in the in-field presentations to student peers and staff.

Furthermore, in both oral and written postfieldtrip evaluations, students were given an opportunity to reflect on the processes and learning that occurred, much as Harper (2004, p.

96) described.

A critical key to the overall success of the experimental project was the development of empathic intelligence over the months, without which many challenges in the field would not have been overcome. On the final morning of the fieldwork, staff and students from both institutions engaged in a formal debriefing session, which included the development of detailed recommendations on how to further improve the module. All participants considered the pilot project to have been a great success and all recommended that the programme be continued and further enhanced in future years.

This has been done, with a second visit by a new cohort of Dutch students to Dublin in April 2014, while the Irish students travelled to the Netherlands to follow up on the joint fieldwork experiences in Autumn 2014.

4. Case Study 2: SPD-DCU and UNC – an online-only collaboration model Geography and national identities constituted the core concept in the collaboration between the

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University of Northern Colorado (UNC) and St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra (SPD). In this case, the Moodle-based course was facilitated by AAG’s Centre for Global Geography Education (CGGE) and utilised existing teaching materials.

Participation was a course requirement for both student cohorts. Due to timetabling, staff availability and other institutional challenges, there were not equal numbers of students from each of the participating institutions. Some 60 Irish and 20 US students participated in this experimental linkage project, and there was light touch involvement from the module moderator based in Dublin. The organisation of both groups (within and between them) was somewhat similar to that described for the first case study, with teams of students in each institution being matched with, and subsequently interacting online with, a corresponding team of counterparts in the alternate location.

The methodology for case study two, which had already been developed by other users of the CGGE material, was to initially engage the students through icebreaker activities, following which the groups in each institution studied common material to which they responded in online forums following prompt questions. The underlying thematic question was: How are people's national identities connected to places?

For the students, a key to the learning process was the fact that they were interacting in a nonjudgemental environment with their peers, and their main mode of learning was through simple comparison and contrast of experience. In effect, through their online conversations, students were engaging in discovery learning with their peers, becoming empowered to develop their own geographical thinking and practice by building on their dormant skills and understanding. The CGGE conceptual framework being used introduced students to key concepts, theories and analytical approaches in geography, in order to provide them with the necessary background to think geographically about the issues under consideration. Regional case studies use a variety of spatial thinking activities to engage students in analysing issues from a geographical perspective. All of the CGGE modules were developed collaboratively by geographers from different countries with the intended use in connecting geography classes in Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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different countries using e-learning technologies (Solem et al., 2010). Naturally, the case study material supplied was adapted to the needs of the Irish and US students.

The themes explored in the AAG module are developed in four steps, beginning with the question : How is nationalism symbolized?, which uses focus material based on Europe. This is followed by a section considering how landscapes represent national identity, with an Irish focus study. The third step considered Why are public spaces sometimes contested?, which used two local case studies from the USA, followed by: How is globalization transforming the borders of national identity? Although this final step used an Asian case study, the Irish and US students adapted the definitional ideas and research to look at immigration in their home environments of Colorado and Ireland. Overall, student collaboration obliged them to collect, create, compare, and discuss data and issues representing national and regional cultural identities while using digital media. Grading of the students was based on their on-line participation materials, individual and small group, and on an extended essay-report.

5. Responses to case study 2 from the Irish students The collaboration between the Irish and US students took place over a relatively short timescale, compared to that of the first case study, and there was a shorter period of preparation available to the SPD staff, because of the timeframe within which the Irish department had partnered with US-based colleagues at UNC. For these reasons, a full evaluation and analysis mechanism had not been built in to the pilot project. However, when the Irish students were submitting their assessment material at the end of the pilot, they were also asked to write about their learning experience. This was relatively unstructured, with students being asked to produce a reflection of approximately 400 words, following two broad prompt questions, which they could choose to utilise or ignore.

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Write a reflection on the experience of exploring questions of national identity in the context of this international collaborative project (max. 400 words). e.g. including, but not limited to the following areas: What key insights did you gain?

What surprised you about the experience?

Table 3. Text of reflection task for Case Study 2, which yielded the student quotations discussed below.

The responses from the Irish students were read and broadly categorised by one colleague.

A selection of student quotes below is representative of the overall group. .

Students were asked what their expectations had been at the start of the pilot, when they were told what the project involved, and then asked to evaluate what their experience had been. In terms of expectations, there was a broad spectrum of responses, from apprehensive, nervous, daunted, uncertain, to excited and intrigued. It was not surprising that some of the Irish participants admitted to approaching the pilot with negative expectations, however the staff involved were astounded at the overwhelmingly positive response of students when asked to reflect on the overall experience. Without exception, every student said that they found the project worthwhile and valuable and that they were glad that they had been involved. A 100% positive response rate was thus achieved.

Students stated that they learned a lot and gained insights into their “… own sense of national identity… transcending stereotypes… local landscapes… different modes of learning”.

Regarding overall positivity students commented: “rewarding and insightful experience… very stimulating and enjoyable” and “I was surprised that I enjoyed the process so much, as at the beginning I hated the thought of undergoing this project”. As regards the nature of the activity: “something completely different to conventional assignments… its educational value was extensive” and “I was surprised at the high level of engagement in the collaboration and the interest my own posts generated”.

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In respect of the specific components of the work, they greatly valued the individual work and small group Virtual Tours that they had to create in order to introduce themselves to each other.

“The opening activity of composing a virtual tour of our locality was a lovely way for all members of the forum groups to get to know each other’s locality and to see what aspects of their locality are most important to them”.

“The virtual tour was very insightful; they showed us their landscapes, cultures and norms.

It helped us relate to these students and knowing why things are important to them was essential in our cyber relationships…”. These responses also suggest how the personal nature of the content helped the students to develop empathy and understanding of each other, transcending the potential barriers imposed by digital communication.

For many students, the online environment was seen as a positive encouragement to greater interaction and understanding, rather than a barrier, as these representative quotes indicate: “I loved the way we could express our opinions in a non-judgemental environment”. “What surprised me most is how involved I got. In the evening times I loved reading the various posts”.

“I was doubtful about how talking to students half way across the world would help with our understanding of geography, however having completed the task I fully understand why it was so worthwhile” “… it encouraged us to interact with one another”. “Everybody got really involved, participated well, and communicated with the international students and each other.

The forum allowed for an informal means of learning from peers in an enjoyable, pressure free zone”. “One thing that definitely surprised me in this experience was how different the American students were to us. They had no qualms or reservations about starting the forums, whereas I was more reserved in the beginning… I began to enjoy posting my points and discussing different topics”. “The informal style of this assignment made it easier to talk to them, and it became more like talking with old friends than a group of people who had to talk to each other for marks for a course” (Forums) “allowed for better learning as it gave us an Copyright© Nuova Cultura

alternative way of learning, away from lectures and normal group work…” “It felt like we were learning without knowing it”. The students valued the different type of interaction space created by the online environment, with frequent references being made to the “informality” and “non-judgemental” nature of the forum space.

As early as 2000, Rich et al. observed that international collaboration provided enhanced opportunities for cross-cultural teaching and learning. In particular, they pointed out that “ICTs have the potential to underpin rich communications among staff and students from all parts of the world, support the exchange of ideas and information and, perhaps more importantly, provide alternative viewpoints and perspectives that may question beliefs unchallenged in the domestic environment” (Rich et al., 2000, p. 266). This argument was clearly borne out by the comments of the Irish student participants in this case study. The following comments relate to four themes in turn: national identity; challenging stereotypes; “learning about ourselves” via other people; personal development. These examples particularly highlight the value of cross-cultural interaction, with the very simple methodology of comparison and contrast yielding valuable insights for the students.

Learning about national identity, students commented: “An opportunity to see the American’s perspective on the Irish nation state and to discuss relevant topics such as migration and national identity” “... I realised how although they live on the other side of the world, they are similar to us”. “... How interesting it became to read about the views that international students hold on the same issues that we were looking at”.

Reflecting on challenging stereotypes, students observed: “How intriguing to see what people from America thought defined their national identity, and how it compared to the stereotype I had of people from these countries”.

“What surprised me… was how narrowminded I was when it came to other countries

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(before this project)”.

“It showed me that issues, such as racism and judgement when it comes to migration matters, are the same throughout the world, regardless of the country”.

“I feel it broadened the horizons of all nationalities involved... and gave us the opportunity to understand how people feel about their respective countries…”.

Regarding “learning about ourselves” via other people, students reflected: “The most surprising part… was how much it taught me about Ireland”.

“Being able to see other people’s opinion on national identity, rather than just my own, really enforced the idea of the topic for me. …great to be able to interact with people and ask them why they composed their answer and what influenced them to do it”.

“I gained a lot from this experience… I never before thought of what made me Irish and having to articulate that to people from another country was both challenging and rewarding… I don’t think this project would have worked as well as it did had it not been an international collaborative project. This is due to the fact that it was discussing the features of our national identities with people from other identities which enabled us to learn during the process. It also helped widen my perspective…”.

On the subject of personal development and insight, students stated: “As a [student teacher], I now have the understanding of how important it is to gain knowledge of how others view their state and environments, not only for myself but also for my future pupils”.

“I hope that I can take what I learned from it and apply it to my own life and my studies of geography in the future”.

“I feel that I will have a more open attitude towards new people that I meet and I will take more of an interest in their culture and their upbringing”.

“I felt this project opened my eyes, to realise how much my life is affected by globalisation”.

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“I realised how interconnected we were…”.

As regards student recommendations for the future of such a collaborative shared module project, they suggested more equal numbers in each of the international sub-groups. The imbalance between the large class numbers of Irish students in contrast to the smaller Colorado class, three to one, debilitated certain aspects of deeper student communication. In addition to the relatively informal evaluation of the project by both Irish students and staff, the Dublin-based moderator produced a number of recommendations. Some of these were related to technical aspects of the project, such as the need for a separate website for the project, as well as potential for the moderator to access and adapt the AAG-CGGE materials more readily in order to provide additional material and data which was being requested spontaneously by the student participants. Students also recommended that more new “live” common materials be integrated into the website, especially regarding emigration.

In terms of empathetic intelligence and discovery learning, the moderator commented very positively on the way in which the structure of the project facilitated their development. He noted the potentially “excellent peer experiences: Irish to Irish (inter and intra group(s)), and Irish-US.” While in the students icebreaker activity “My own story” there was a rich self-discovery of contrasting rural and urban narratives, and “taken for granted worlds”, such as McDonald’s and other common global experiences, bridged the gap. Concerning stereotyping, transitivity became evident in witnessing both teams discussions of “the migrant” whether the Mexican in Colorado, or the East European or West African in Ireland.

Regarding the spatial perspectives, the small area of Ireland came to the fore in contrast to the actual and imagined large scale USA. Concerning lifestyles, the local remained highly significant, but there were vastly different concepts of social and cultural embededness amongst the Irish students themselves, and especially between the SPD-DCU and UNC students.

Despite a slow beginning in getting students to interact with each other, especially a wait and Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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watch approach from the Irish students, which had be brought to their attention, before a threshold was reached and then the communications and work really took off.

Students greatly valued the non-hierarchical free-environment teaching and learning methods used. The work had a positive impact on the Irish students’ confidence building related to communication and writing facilitated by their social media.

6. Conclusions The overwhelmingly positive experience of the two pilot projects outlined above has served to encourage the geography department at SPD to further develop innovative engagements and collaborations. More generally, it seems clear from these two contrasting projects that collaborative approaches and cooperative works are promising methods both for didactics and for geographical education’s epistemology.

Based on the student comments and staff observations, one common aspect of both projects which seems to have been greatly appreciated by the students is the freedom which it gave them to learn in a non-judgemental environment. Both experiences, which offered light-touch supervision by staff and provided the students with an organic approach whereby they evolved their own learning within the VLE (as well as face-to-face in the first case study), provided positive opportunities for enhanced discovery learning. While students were facilitated in their learning, through provision of materials and/or support structures, they were given the space to figure things out collaboratively, to work through the materials and to teach each other.

While only at the pilot phase, both projects revealed an enthusiasm by the students (after an admittedly slow start) and a potential for more creative use of online learning spaces. They challenged us, as educators, to develop a more positive approach to the online world, not simply to be seen as a pale imitation of face-toface experience, but as offering very real potential to learn in ways which would not otherwise be possible. The fact that students are

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increasingly comfortable with interacting online in their day-to-day lives, as “digital natives”, meant that they were more willing and able to engage with their peers online than might have been the case even a few short years ago. For the students, virtual engagement was not such an alien concept and they employed empathetic intelligence in order to build relationships with their overseas peers which facilitated real learning and interaction.

While this paper has focused on some of the key positive learning experiences of these two international collaborations, the challenges and difficulties of this form of education should also be acknowledged. As with any new project, careful planning is essential, as are clear explanations of tasks and instructions for students. Although both projects involve forms of discovery learning, both required extensive scaffolding to make them work effectively (Marzano, 2011). Communication lines between the staff facilitators in the different institutions must be open and honest. Despite best intentions, misunderstandings can arise, particularly in cross-cultural collaborations, and these need to be addressed with clarity and sensitivity. The use of different technologies which may not be familiar to all participants can also prove a barrier to participation, which makes it all the more important that adequate technical support is provided for all of those involved. This is in line with the findings of Reed and Mitchell (2001, p. 323), who pointed out that “working out principles of CL [collaborative learning] in a web-based environment creates learning challenges that are simultaneously related to pedagogy, performance and technical proficiency”. Hurley et al. (1999) also observed that, while the application of constructivistinspired teaching and learning strategies together with Internet communication tools served to facilitate geographically distant students in a dynamic process of collaborative inquiry and comparative analysis, this required considerable time, effort and resources.

Both pilot projects had a positive knock-on effect on the inter-departmental and interuniversity staff as well as on students. Regarding teaching and learning Geography, all students and participating staff in both projects recommend that they be enhanced and continued, with the key Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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tool being digital media, as driven by students own digital tools, apps and everyday usage and interests. However, the greater face to face contact between the HAN and SPD-DCU students and staff added a larger dimension to the overall empathetic teaching and learning experience.

Overall, the objectives of the pilot projects were achieved with students integrating their own “everyday digital skills” into teaching and learning Geography, as well as learning additional digital skills horizontally and transversally in peer learning. The centrality of empathetic themes targeting “own to wider cultural scales” and “contact with the “other” was achieved and acknowledged by the students themselves. In both cases, students valued the joint course experiences of working with students from other countries. The projects served to enhance internationalisation while also encouraging and sometimes challenging students and staff alike to reconsider their approaches to geographical thinking.

Acknowledgements Our sincere thanks to the colleagues in being the driving force behind the work on these two pilot projects and current paper: in SPD-DCU Geography Department, and especially Jonathan Cherry who coordinated several fieldtrips, along with Stephen Rigney who acted as moderator on the UNC pilot project for the Irish students; in the HAN-University of Applied Sciences, Geography Department, Marieke Kleinhuis and Roeland Van Westerop, and Ben Bartels, Director International Relations, Faculty of Education; and in the University of Northern Colorado, Phil Klein.

References 1. Arnold R., Empathic Intelligence: Teaching Learning Relating, Sidney, University of New South Wales Press, 2005.

2. De Miguel González R. and Donert K. (Eds.), Innovative Learning Geography in Europe New Challenges for the 21st Century, Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.

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3. Goleman D., Emotional Intelligence, why it can matter more than IQ, London, Bloomsbury, 1996.

4. Harper R., “The use of group work and presentations on field trips to facilitate active learning”, in Healey M. and Roberts J. (Eds.), Engaging Students in Active Learning: Case Studies in Geography, Environment and Related Disciplines, Gloucester, University of Gloucester, 2004, pp. 95-97, http://www2.glos. ac.uk/gdn/active/student.htm.

5. Herrick C., “Lost in the field: ensuring student learning in the ‘threatened’ geography fieldtrip”, Area, 42, 1, 2010, pp. 108116.

6. Hurley J.M., Proctor J.D. and Ford R.E., “Collaborative inquiry at a distance: Using the Internet in geography education”, Journal of Geography, 98, 3, 1999, pp. 128-140.

7. Ioannidou F. and Konstantikaki V., “Empathy and emotional intelligence: What is it really about?”, International Journal of Caring Sciences, 1, 3, 2008, pp. 118-123.

8. Kent M., Gilbertson D.D. and Hunt C.O., “Fieldwork in geography teaching: a critical review of the literature and approaches”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 21, 3, 1997, pp. 313-332.

9. Marzano R.J., “Art & Science of Teaching.

The Perils and Promises of Discovery Learning”, Educational Leadership, 69, 1, 2011, pp. 86-87.

10. Mayer R., “Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? The case for guided methods of instruction”, American Psychologist, 59, 1, 2004, pp. 1419.

11. McManus R. and O’Reilly G., “Internationalization and Geography Fieldwork: Opportunities for Skills Enhancement”, Journal of the Comenius Association, 20, 2011, pp. 20-25.

12. Nairn K., Higgitt D. and Vanneste D., “International Perspectives on Fieldcourses”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24, 2, 2000, pp. 246-254.

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13. Naish M., Rawling E. and Hart C., “The enquiry-based approach to teaching and learning geography”, in Smith M. (Ed.), Teaching Geography in secondary schools: a reader, New York, Psychology Press, 2002, pp. 63-69.

14. Nilsson B., “Internationalisation at home – theory and praxis”, European Association for International Education Forum, Spring 1999, unpaginated.

15. Parkes R. and Griffiths T., Comparative Education, Border Pedagogy, and Teacher Education in an Age of Internationalisation, paper presented at annual conference of Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA), Albury, 2008, http://newcastleau.academia.edu/RobertParkes/Papers/9769 0/Comparative_Education_Border_Pedagog y_and_Teacher_Education_in_an_Age_of_I nternationalisation.

16. Reed M. and Mitchell B., “Using information technologies for collaborative learning in geography: a case study from Canada”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 25, 3, 2001, pp. 321-339.

17. Rich D.C., Robinson G. and Bednarz R.S., “Collaboration and the successful use of information and communications technologies in teaching and learning geography in higher education”, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24, 2, 2000, pp. 263-270.

18. Solem M., Klein P., Muñiz-Solari O. and Ray W. (Eds.), National Identity: A module for the AAG Center for Global Geography Education, 2010. http://www.aag.org/cgge.

19. Trahar S., Teaching and Learning: the International Higher Education Landscape – some theories and working practices, Discussion Series, 2007, http://escalate.ac.uk/ 3559.

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Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 19-28 DOI: 10.4458/5196-03

Reading and interpreting the gateways in contemporary cities: an educational perspective Caterina Cirellia, Teresa Grazianob, Enrico Nicosiac, Carmelo Maria Portod a

Dipartimento di Economia e Impresa, University of Catania, Catania, Italy Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche e Sociali, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy c Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, dei Beni Culturali e del Turismo, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy d Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, della Formazione e degli Studi Culturali, University of Messina, Messina, Italy Email: cirelca@unict.it b

Received: January 2015 – Accepted: March 2015

Abstract This work aims at highlighting the teaching potentialities of urban geography, in particular the didactic value of gateways in contemporary cities. Therefore, after a reflection on the still fundamental pedagogical value of urban geography and its teaching tools, the paper provides a model of reading and interpreting the city through the study of connections between tourist flows and consumption models in specific urban places, that is to say, the traditional city gateways such as railway stations, ports and airports.

Keywords: Gateway, City, Waterfront, Airports, Railway Stations, Multifunctional Spaces

1. Teaching Urban Geography: the educational value of the city gateways

into multiple sub-sectors, related to the different aspects of geography, that is to say the cognitive, educational, methodological, teaching and assessing ones (De Vecchis, 2004, 2011).

The main goal of the didactics of geography is to “translate” for the school, through an appropriate scientific processing of results and outputs achieved by research, so that the objects, methods and aims of the discipline can participate entirely in the educational-teaching project. The task of transmitting the results of research for educational aims is then divided

Geography aims at thinking the geographical space as a set of territorial systems that have their own autonomy and, at the same time, are the results of continuous interactions with different geographical scales and territorial systems. Thus the territory is seen as the output of processes and social relations, by revealing to what extent human life is involved in economic,

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political and cultural processes.

It is also regarded as a spatial scale where the city gates play an important role within the relational processes. From the educational point of view, the territory highlights the ethical connotation of geography, since the discipline is not limited to a detached observation of the territory, but it helps to suggest solutions for its governance through ideas and guidelines, by indicating the resources and strengths to be leveraged and the challenges to be faced (Giorda, 2014, pp. 15-30).

The use of geographically expressed concepts and paradigms is still one of the most effective applications in teaching the discipline, since a well-conceived model can provide an accessible and holistic perspective about a multifaceted issue.

One of the main fields where geographical models and interpretation tools are usually exploited is the analysis of urban evolution, since the city structure, even though made even more complicated by current transformations at global level, can be easily read and interpreted through deeply-established geographical models.

Ranging from well-known traditional models (Kearsley, 1983; Corna Pellegrini, 2007) to the most recent and innovative ones, the study of the city evolution today represents one of the most appealing geographical fields due to the fascination it exerts on students of different levels as well as its capacity to represent the complexity of current global changes.

Since the sixties (age of astonishing transformations of urban structures), urban geography has been regarded as “the most important and rapidly expanding focus” of the geographical research, since many geographical schools had already understood “the fundamental educational value of urban geography as a subject which introduces pupils to basic geographical principles in terms of the most familiar environments”(Keeble, 1969, p. 18).

Today, the vitality of urban geographical research, both at the theoretical and methodological level, reflects the unprecedented patterns and practices of contemporary cities deriving from dynamics such as the effects of urban sprawl, the consequences of regeneration

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and redevelopment projects, the increasing role of finance in changing urban structure and the spatial implications of neo-liberalism.

Apart from the fundamental role played by fieldwork (Fuller et al., 2006; Dunphy et al., 2009), new technologies provide a wide range of tools (GIS, Google Earth etc.), many of them easily accessible, making it possible to read, interpret and consequently teach the evolution of city structure in a more innovative and appealing way if compared with the traditional models of teaching.

Contemporary cities have recently imposed their role as fundamental nodes of wider global networks to the point that their future is increasingly dependent on their capacity to support the innovative development of urban gateways. The presence of a city in a network of global relationships is related to the effectiveness of urban policies inspired by creativity and innovation that enable cities – not necessarily of a higher order – to carve out a leading role in the scenery of international relations (Short et al., 2000).

As a result, the future of the contemporary city is increasingly dependent on the ability to establish itself as a gateway city, regarded not only as a space shaped by the processes of cultural, political and economic globalization, but also as a place where traditional access points (airports, ports, railway stations, roads) contribute to shape the hierarchy of functions in a context of growing global competition.

Not surprisingly, one of the areas where the extent of current changes is ever more evident is the structure of transports and, consequently, the patterns of spatial organization that affect the performance of the cities in which there are terminals (Ahmed and Miller, 2007), determining the rank in the urban hierarchy at the regional, national or international level (Rodrigue et al., 2006).

Main international cities, such as the gateway cities, operate together as a single network system linked to flows of information, capital, new technologies, cultural and ideological influences. They not only play a role of modal interchange that allows an easy passage of travelers from one kind of transport to another,

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but rather they principally represent the core of the modern network city and are, at the same time, symbols of urban and territorial identity (Dematteis, 1991; Dupuy, 1991).

As a consequence, current economic structures of contemporary cities are shaping new urban spaces, where the national and international infrastructures of transports have not only to assure connection efficiency, but also to reorganize the functional hierarchies in order to promote tourism development (Rodrigue et al., 2006).

Moreover, recent projects of urban regeneration have been revealing unexpected potentialities of enhancement of such city gateways, due to the increasing presence of leisure and retail facilities within these places, which contribute to building the first tourist image of a city.

2. Waterfront and tourism, new potentialities of urban revitalisation Ports and waterfronts have been recently become among the most studied sub-fields of the geography, due to their strategic importance within global economic and urban networks.

They thus represent a highly attractive field from the pedagogical point of view.

Ports are among the oldest urban structures dedicated to the exchange of people and goods, as well as the meeting places for different cultures, perhaps the oldest examples of urban laboratory of cultural mediation.

The first theories about the processes of functional redevelopment of coastal areas date back to the sixties of the last century when the English geographer J. Bird considered the proximity of the sea as a factor of urban and suburban polarization. He proposed a model, called Anyport, to explain the dynamics in the process of development of the main ports of northern Europe, with particular reference to those located within estuaries, as in the case of London (Soriani, 1998).

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centuries due to the process of industrialization (Vallega, 1992).

During the eighties, in fact, after the case study of Baltimore reported in an article by Wrenn (1983), the theoretical frame was focused on a series of contributions dedicated to the transformations of urban waterfront, such as that of the French geographer Chaline (1988) who analyzed the London case. The English geographer Hoyle (1988) proposed a space-time model of the dynamics of the port-city relations organized in five stages (Hoyle et al., 1988) that explained the evolution of port cities from the Middle Ages (primitive Cityport) to the present day (the stage of expanding port between eighteenth and nineteenth century, the modern industrial Cityport and Maritime Industrial Development Areas “MIDs”). During this evolution the port is increasingly far from the city centre, due to the need for new spaces which are less dependent on the competition with other land uses (Soriani, 1998).

The beginning of the process of deindustrialization determined the final separation of roles between city and port, despite the progressive expansion of Brownfield sites in the surroundings of the old port areas. However, this will be the driving force for the functional redevelopment of many waterfront areas which rediscover a new level of relations at the expense of traditional port activities.

Thus, the contemporary port-city should be able to interpret the waterfront as a complex system, apart from considering it as a network of “geo-communities”, that is to say a specific complex of innovative milieus.

The re-appropriation of the highly original waterfronts of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Hamburg is not only a good example of port reorganization that allows the enhancement and reorganization of public spaces, but it also underlines the ability of these urban communities to question the old functional system, in order to imagine new driving forces of the urban economy.

The balance between old and new functions can promote the revitalization of the city centre, as happened in the London Docklands where the project has been characterized by the association of two images of the city, the one linked to the water activities and the other linked to the new urban Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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tertiary and quaternary economies at the core of the global city.

3. Railway stations as contemporary leisure places

During the Olympic Games in 1992 Port Vell in Barcelona was transformed into a huge new “public space” where pedestrians, leisure and extravagant architectural forms are the tangible signs of the renewal undertaken, by involving the whole metropolitan area (Nicosia, 2009; Rocca, 2010). Interventions would then be carried out on the waterfronts of Lisbon and Genoa to host international major events as – in some cases the only ones – potential tools of urban regeneration which may exert a positive impact on the capacity of local governance.

Within the wide sub-field of urban geography and geography of transports, railway stations have always represented a good example of the ability to attract geography students of different levels, due to their capacity to fascinate.

While the experiences of Bilbao and Liverpool show how the city can still have the ability to challenge the economic decline of the post-industrial city, the Harbour Place in Baltimore and the whole South Street Sea-port of New York clearly show the “spectacle” of the interventions as symbols of post-modernity (Harvey, 1993).

We should also remember the case of Dubai, where the coastal projects seem to indicate the culmination of difficult and complex research on the new dimensions of the 21st century city.

Beyond the already described experiences, European and Mediterranean cities should aim at achieving a clever interpretation of existing urban spaces in the process of the recreation of new urban waterfronts, by trying to enhance the sense of place.

Therefore, the processes of redevelopment of the waterfront, despite being the result of different models of development, share the same theoretical principle, based on an evolution of the contemporary city far from conventional patterns. The model of development should be smart, competitive, cohesive and sustainable, as warmly recommended also in the Territorial Agenda of the EU (2011).

Fieldwork in port areas, in cities of different dimensions and functions, can represent a useful tool for students to understand not only the current changes in waterfront areas but also wider transformations that have been affecting the whole economic system at global level.

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Railway stations have been changing their aims, functions and relationship with the surrounding urban fabric. Regarded as places to intercept flows of people and goods, as well as public places of connection between the rail system and the city, railway stations have a dual nature: the infrastructure that belongs to the local system and the functional specialized space.

Since the second half of the nineteen century, the architecture of railway stations has tended to combine the meaning of a new gate of the city and technological progress. More frequently abroad than in Italy, the façades of the stations are dominated by a tower, sometimes as a functional element for monitoring the line, more often as a symbol of the building. This is the case of the Prague Main Train Station, with its facade in Art Nouveau style (Ventura, 2004) and the Grand Central Station (more precisely Terminal) in New York, which opened in 1871, and today a multi-functional and global space both of transit and leisure, with its several restaurants (the most famous of which is the Oyster Bar) and fast food, as well as delis, bakeries, newsstands, a food market, a location of the New York Transit Museum, and more than forty retail spaces.

In the nineteenth century, moreover, the railway stations were built for major events such as the World Expositions. This is the case of Victoria Station, built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was when the railway line to the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway were created, and the Gare de Lyon in Paris, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. At the end of the century a prevailing language of classical architecture, adopted mainly in French stations, such as the Paris St Lazare, North, East, Lyon, Montparnasse, Orsay, and later even in Budapest, Zurich and Dresden. The railway line style is even typical of the great American

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stations, such as the Union Station in Washington and revised in some cases in Italy, such as in the Milan Centrale which is inspired by AssyrianBabylonian styles. In other circumstances, the railway line, which has become non-competitive, was gradually abandoned.

Today, many of the main railway stations of the past have been dismantled and redeveloped to assure the rationalization of the network. This is the case of the Penn Station in New York City, demolished to support a redevelopment project that has implied the covering of the tracks and the realization of Madison Square Garden. Another example is the Gare d’Orsay in Paris, abandoned for demolition in the seventies, later declared a national monument and then converted into a museum.

Moreover, we should remember the Promenade Plantée of Paris, a linear urban park located on the track of an old abandoned elevated rail line (ligne de Vincennes) which extends for more than 4 km from the Place de la Bastille.

These great architectural works, that have become fundamental axes of urban development, have often been used by many directors as locations for their films (de Spuches, 2002), so that they can be used as a useful teaching aid to show real examples in the classroom. Films and television are useful tools for teaching geography since they provide a great deal of information useful for the understanding of the world. The analysis of a film, through an interpretive key of geographical matrix, can play a significant role in the teaching plan (De Vecchis, 2011).

Among the different movies, we can mention Signori in Carrozza! (1951) by Luigi Zampa, Stazione Termini (1953) by Vittorio De Sica, North by Northwest (1959) by Alfred Hitchcock, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), directed

by Sidney Lumet, based on the novel by Agatha Christie, Train de vie (1998) by Radu Mihăileanu, Men in black (I and II 1997 2002)

by Barry Sonnenfeld, Before Sunset (2004) by Richard Linklater, some sequences of which were shot along the Promenade Plantée and the recent Midnight in Paris (2011) by Woody Allen.

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In contemporary cities, travelers are at the centre of the new concept of the railway station.

Commuters, tourists, users of the services in general ask for mobility needs to be satisfied with high quality services, but they also want to find social spaces where to meet and spend their free time in places that allow different sociability, which enhance and strengthen the local identity (Camasso, 2010; Ingallina, 2010; Nicosia, 2013).

The newly-built railway stations, technologically advanced, are also cleverly conceived in terms of appearance and design. The new spaces are designed for multiple uses and functions and their spaces are designed to be comfortable both for those who have to take a train and for those who simply want to buy a newspaper or have a cup of coffee. An example of redevelopment of European railway stations is that one of Almere, a Dutch town, where the train station has become a town square from which you can observe the passage of trains from a window; another example is Basel, where a shopping mall has been built in the railway station and finally Dortmund and Lucerne where cultural centers have been built near the railway stations (Pini and Boschi, 2004).

Today, even in Italy, the new organizational structure of the railway stations aims to expand, reshape and replace the spaces for passengers’ facilities. The Italian Railway Infrastructure Company of the State Railways Group has elaborated several redevelopment projects, in order to reinvent the public space of the railway stations by transforming them into “urban plazas” (Ministero delle Infrastrutture, 2007).

While the nineteenth century railway station traditionally fostered urban development, generating new ways of connection or redevelopment, nowadays the railway station is strictly linked to the development of areas devoted to the tertiary, so that they embody one of the first retail and leisure spaces of the gateway city.

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Caterina Cirelli, Teresa Graziano, Enrico Nicosia, Carmelo Maria Porto

4. Airports as multifunctional spaces Due to the current changes at global and local level, teaching geography in the postmodern age implies a holistic approach that takes into account the complexity of transformations (Morgan, 2002). A highly interesting subject from the pedagogical standpoint is the role of modern airports in reconfiguring interconnections within city systems as well as providing unprecedented patterns of the use of urban and suburban spaces.

Although located near the urban belt, at a certain distance from metropolitan centres, the airport has a significant influence on the surrounding socio-economic area as well as on the nearby city, linked together through a network of more or less integrated infrastructures and connections.

Today the airport plays the same role of reconfiguration of the socio-economic structures in the urban landscapes that was already played by the railway stations at the time of the first Industrial Revolution (Güller and Güller, 2001).

What is more, it acts as a magnet for local economy by linking the global network of interconnections and urban hierarchies. In addition to influencing existing settlements, changing ranks and functions in the hierarchy of urban nodes, an air terminal can establish itself as a player of urban development (Dematteis, 1996). It also nourishes hybrid forms of urbanization close to main agglomerations, by creating urban sprawl which connects semi-rural urbanized areas located between the existing settlements.

There are five categories of impacts linked to the economic activities of the airport, which interact with each other: the direct impact, which includes activities related to the air transport of goods and people inside the airport; the indirect impact, or activities outside the airport, but destined to users; the induced impact, determined by the multiplicative effects of the previous categories; the catalytic impact, which identifies the airport as a catalyst for investment, resulting in employment, income and tax revenues; the overall impact, or the sum of all previous categories.

Due to the growing importance of global airports, even in the geography of transport the Copyright© Nuova Cultura

analysis of the impact of air traffic and airport infrastructures is one of the most dynamic areas of research, which focuses primarily on concepts such as connectivity, accessibility, model development at different scales and the implications of the global economy (Graham, 1995; Vowles, 2006; Shaw and Hesse, 2010).

The ability of an airport node to act as a cohesive territorial element is particularly evident in the case of the Airport System, a system of airports of different sizes and functions making up an integrated infrastructure in a large metropolitan area. The London airports, which include London Heathrow, London Stansted, London Gatwick, London Southend and London City, is an example.

While these great Airport Systems are usually located in already very dense areas in terms of economic, political and social structures, on the other hand even a single airport located close to a medium-sized city is able to exert significant impact in terms of urbanization, patterns of spatial organization, employment implications and functional hierarchies (O’Connor and Fuelhart, 2012).

The performance of efficiency and accessibility guaranteed by air transport, in fact, represents a competitive advantage not only for the global cities (Sassen, 2010), but also for settlements of smaller size and rank that thanks to the presence of an airport can establish themselves as gateway cities at a national or international level (Short et al., 2000; Geurs and van Wee, 2004; Ahmed and Miller, 2007).

Thanks to an airport, these cities can also enable innovative processes for development, linked to knowledge economy, typical of the smart city or the creative city (Florida, 2005).

It is by no accident that the geography of the contemporary air system reflects the current geo-economic scenery. In addition to the development of regional hubs in Southeast Asia – Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok (O’Connor, 1995) – countries with “emerging” economies such as India, China or Brazil have understood the need for integration in the airline system as a prerequisite to intercept global flows of capital, goods, people and information (Hooper, 1998; Bowen, 2000; Jin, Wang and Liu, 2004).

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The airports based on a new concept include a wide range of urban values because of the proliferation of features and facilities linked to leisure and retail industries. In the international rankings of the most popular airports chosen by passengers – but also rewarded by experts – there are terminals such as those located in Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul that, in addition to the highest levels of accessibility and intermodal connections with other transport infrastructures, ensure passengers patterns of consumption and high-level services. In particular, despite being one of the largest freight hubs, the airport of Hong Kong, the first in the 2011ranking, boasts several lounge rooms, high-level restaurants, golf, 3D cinema, wi-fi, as well as a link to trains to and from the city centre that allows remote check-in from the railway station. The Singapore Changi Airport, the second in 2011, offers passengers the opportunity to benefit from swimming pools, spas, prayer rooms, roof gardens and retail arcades. The Seoul Incheon, ranked third, has private rooms for resting, free showers, spa, golf, ice-skating, roof garden, as well as a museum of Korean culture and open spaces for shows and live performances.

Thus, such hubs represent the first tourist sites of a gateway city, because passengers do not only pass through them, but they really visit and use them as leisure or retail spaces.

As a result, modern airports can no longer be considered as simple interchange nodes, because they are increasingly becoming multifunctional citadels of leisure, shopping and services. They are not only simple transit spaces, but they appear as a patchwork of specific micro-spaces where passengers are entertained, through a wide range of services that join the patterns of shopping centers with those related to the leisure industry (Adey, 2007), which helps to create the first image – even the tourist one – of the city.

From a pedagogical point of view, the indepth study of the impact of an airport can provide useful information about the functional role of the transport system and the nearby urbanized area. The study can be based both on the examination of flows based on official sources (data and statistics) and more innovative educational tools, such as pictures, videos, websites analysis. Through these tools it is Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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possible to grasp some factors that data do not underline, that is to say, aesthetic/architectural elements and the organization of leisure and service spaces within the airport system.

5. Conclusions Geography is a discipline that can make a significant contribution to addressing current urban changes on the local and global scale. Its teaching can promote a greater awareness of the socio-economic and cultural transformation of contemporary cities through the development of knowledge, skills and values in students that encourage an effective model of interpretation of city structure (see also Pasquinelli d’Allegra, 1998; Laneve, 2003; Wellen et al., 2006; De Vecchis, 2004, 2011). In particular, the analysis of gateway functions can provide a different model of understanding current urban systems.

The gateway functions do not necessarily depend on the status of a global city, but rather on the ability to develop innovative urban policies focused on intermodal ways of transport. It is especially in urban settlements of higher order that the integrated and systemic approach in urban planning and transport has allowed the “gates” of the city to serve not only as places of access, but as real multifunctional spaces, which have often turned out to be development potentials, even for tourism (Graham, 2000). In fact, the gateways of the contemporary cities contribute to building the first image of the city, apart from acting as one of the main players of the whole urban economy.

From the strictly didactical perspective, it could be interesting to organize a workshop about gateway cities, made up of a first theoretical stage followed by a tutorial one, based on the use of new technologies, and finally by fieldwork.

First of all, students can compare different city systems according to their transport networks and gateways, both at the global level and the local one, by calculating the centrality indexes as well as measuring specialization and polarization among cities.

The teacher can lead students in making this comparison of different gateway cities by Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Caterina Cirelli, Teresa Graziano, Enrico Nicosia, Carmelo Maria Porto

helping them to find shared definitions of urban systems at the different levels as well as harmonizing the spatially differentiated data.

Secondly, students can also use new technologies such as GIS to represent the territorial data through an interactive cartography (Azzari, Michelacci and Zamperlin, 2010).

Finally, the workshop can be characterized by final fieldwork in the gateways of some selected cities on the local scale, in order to study their main features and to compare them with the already gathered data and theoretical frameworks, as well as highlighting their functions within a wider network nodal system.

As a result, the students’ subjective look at the gateway functions can be a useful tool of analysis to filter the collected data according to the direct experience, in order to promote a more attractive way to approach Urban Geography, regarded as a field that every one can experience.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Acknowledgements Even if the paper was devised together by the Authors, C. Cirelli wrote paragraphs 1 and 5, T. Graziano wrote paragraph 4, E. Nicosia wrote paragraph 3, C.M. Porto wrote paragraph 2.

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Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 29-41 DOI: 10.4458/5196-04

Teachers’ in-service training in geographic information system (GIS) and different integration behaviors in lectures Jinn-Guey Laya, Yu-Lin Chia, Yu-Wen Chenb a

Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan Email: Yu-Wen.Chen@nu.edu.kz

b

Received: February 2015 – Accepted: April 2015

Abstract This project explores whether and how in-service training for Taiwan’s secondary school geography teachers has affected their adoption of geographic information system (GIS) in lectures. According to our survey analysis, active GIS adopters show a greater propensity for teaching about and with GIS. It does not matter whether GIS is mandatory in certain lectures; the active adopter would choose to use it for teaching.

Passive adopters would teach about and with GIS only in lectures for which its use is mandatory.

Compared with the other types, laggards are less likely to use GIS. The success of in-service training does not lie in its offering of GIS skills and knowledge. What is more important is that the training has been designed to cultivate teachers’ GIS technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) that makes teachers ready to use GIS in their lectures.

Keywords: Teachers’ in-Service Training, Geographic Information System (GIS), Teaching about GIS, Teaching with GIS, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

1. Introduction A geographic information system (GIS) is a system of hardware and software used for storing, displaying and analyzing spatially referenced data. In the research on geography education, experts believe that GIS can be useful for teaching geography (Kerski, 2003; Kerski et al., 2013). For instance, GIS can help visualize spatial data quickly and efficiently. This further allows students to observe the relationship

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between various spatial phenomena. Through this process, students can develop critical spatial thinking abilities and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) such as problem-solving and decisionmaking capability (Yap et al., 2008; Bednarz and van der Schee, 2006; Kerski et al., 2013).

In fact, GIS has been used in higher education since it came into existence in the 1960s. However, it is not until the early 1990s that GIS started to be used in secondary education (Kerski et al., 2013). In Kerski et al.’s Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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(2013) global survey of the usage of GIS in secondary education, they note that only very few countries have actually included GIS in formal national curricula with Taiwan, Finland, India and South Africa being these few examples.

Although the achievement of Taiwan in GIS education appears to be impressive (Kerski et al., 2013; Wang and Chen, 2013), this paper seeks to explore how this has been conducted from a practical perspective. In other words, it is one thing for GIS to be included in the national curriculum, and it is another for GIS to be actually used in secondary education. The concepts of “teaching about GIS” and “teaching with GIS” have been advocated by geography educators and researchers as essential elements in successful GIS integration into geography education (Kemp and Goodchild, 1991; Sui, 1995; Rød et al., 2010). If teachers focus on teaching GIS as a technology, such as how to handle, represent, visualize, and analyze spatial data, they are teaching about GIS (Sui, 1995). If the deliverance of geographic knowledge is the primary goal and GIS is applied to facilitate this process, teachers can be said to be teaching with GIS (Sui, 1995). In Kerski et al.’s (2013) global survey, they found that teaching with GIS is more widely seen in secondary education than teaching about GIS. We intend to uncover how teaching with GIS and teaching about GIS are practiced in Taiwan’s secondary schools. Furthermore, by showing how in-serving training has influenced GIS adoption in secondary education, we believe that the Taiwan experience serves as a good model for GIS promoters around the world to follow.

The implication of this paper is not just practical for GIS promotion. It also corresponds to some scholarly efforts in the GIS discipline to reconnect the technology with its root in geographic knowledge (Bertazzon, 2013; Schuurman, 2000; O’Sullivan, 2006). The importance of social and political conditions that enable the growth and spread of GIS is manifested in Taiwan’s experience.

In the next section, we begin by examining the national curriculum and the measures, including mainly in-service training, that have been set up to encourage GIS education in Copyright© Nuova Cultura

secondary schools. In the third section, we explore the implementation outcome, that is how teachers actually teach with GIS and teach about GIS in lectures. The data are from a 2011 national census conducted in Taiwan among approximately 1,530 senior high school geography teachers. The response rate was 47.52%. After data collection and organization, we were able to analyze data gleaned from 725 respondents. We found that teachers can be categorized into three types when it comes to their GIS adoption: active adopters, passive adopters, and laggards. The fourth section explores what leads to these variations in integration behaviors. We find out that inservice training for teachers has a significant impact on GIS adoption in secondary education.

The success of in-service training does not lie in its offering of GIS skills and knowledge. What is more important is that the training has been designed to cultivate teachers’ GIS technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) that makes teachers ready to use GIS in their lectures.

2. The promotion of GIS in secondary education As Kerski et al. (2013) rightly point out, to fully realize GIS’s potential in education, there needs to be support from the government and higher educational institutes. In fact, the creation of a stand-alone policy encouraging GIS usage in secondary education will not work well.

Various kinds of technological, societal and educational policies need to be set up to generate favorable conditions to effectively promote GIS adoption. Due to limited space, however, this paper does not tackle the complexity of various policy designs and social conditions that can help maximize GIS integration. Rather, we focus on the educational policy, that is, the inclusion of GIS in the national curriculum guidelines.

Taiwan’s senior high school education is approximately equivalent to 10th through 12th grade in the American system. The concept of GIS was first incorporated into Taiwan’s national geography curriculum guidelines in 1999. The guidelines called for a three-hour GIS class session for 12th graders wishing to major in the humanities or social sciences at university Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Jinn-Guey Lay, Yu-Lin Chi, Yu-Wen Chen

level. The proportion of GIS learning further rose in the 2006 and 2010 curriculum guidelines.

One-third of the geography course in the first semester of the 10th grade is related to GIS. GIS applications in various areas of life are taught in these classes (Lay et al., 2013a).

While the 1999 curriculum guidelines emphasize the teaching of GIS concepts, the 2006 and 2010 guidelines add examples of how GIS can be applied to monitor floods, diseases, mudslides, diseases, urban planning, among other topics. GIS application is stressed in thematic lectures on topography, medical geography, spatial planning, demography, and other aspects of the subject because these themes are believed to be helpful in stimulating students’ spatial thinking. Moreover, the 2006 and 2010 guidelines advocate hands-on experience in operating the relevant hardware and software. There is a trend toward projectoriented teaching which enables students to use GIS to solve problems in geography classes (Lay et al., 2013a).

Wang and Chen (2013) mention that, based on the national curriculum guidelines, learning GIS in high school is anticipated to be “cognitive, affective, and psychomotor”. Hence, apart from teaching concepts related to GIS (i.e., teaching about GIS), teachers are required to impart geographic knowledge by using (i.e., teaching with) GIS. While the curriculum was very ambitious, there was concern that teachers do not have sufficient professional knowledge, practical skills and experience to achieve these goals.

In Kerski et al.’s (2013) global survey, they found that insufficient GIS education for preand in-service teachers represents a hurdle to successful GIS implementation in secondary schools in countries such as South Korea, Norway, and Canada. In-service training for geography teachers is thus proposed as a vital measure to minimize the gap between policy ideals and practices.

In Taiwan, the Department of Geography at the National Taiwan University (NTU) is the major institution entrusted by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to undertake the promotion of GIS education, and it provides GIS training for teachers for that purpose (Chen, 2012). This Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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kind of top-down approach, with the financial support from the government, working in collaboration with GIS experts in higher education to design in-service training for high school geography teachers is in line with international practice. For instance, in the US National Research Council’s (2006) report on Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as a Support System in the K-12 Curriculum, this kind of cooperative model is also recommended.

It is important to note that a large number of Taiwan’s geography teachers hold a master degree. In fact, all of Taiwan’s geography teachers are legally required to major or minor in geography at university level in order to obtain the certificate for working as geography teachers later on (Lay et al., 2013a). This indicates that the nation’s geography teachers are not only educationally well prepared, but also specialize in the area that they teach. As the 2010 national curriculum guidelines in Taiwan make reference to teaching about and with GIS, these professional geography teachers would try to meet these expectations. It is equally important to note that although teachers can voluntarily decide to attend in-service training or not, the MOE does provide an “incentive” to encourage participation: that is, attendance can be recognized as a civil servant’s learning hours, which plays a role in a teacher’s promotion.

Apart from providing in-service training, the NTU’s Department of Geography is involved in creating teaching modules, software, geographic data, maps, Keyhole Markup Language Zipped files (KMZ) for customizing Google Earth pages, etc. Teachers are encouraged to use Google Maps, Google Earth, and other free online platforms or software (e.g., QGIS, gvSIG) as these free wares can lower the barriers to using GIS. This is particularly vital for schools where a shortage of GIS software and GIS-based resource packages exists. This development is also in line with practices in other countries, in which GIS and related spatial technologies (e.g., Google Earth, smartphones) are used for teaching and learning (Kerski et al., 2013).

GIS EDU (http://gisedu.tw) is a platform created by the NTU’s Department of Geography to freely disseminate learning materials and spread GIS-related news. The Department also Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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hosts competitions for drawing maps or creating teaching modules that are integrated with GIS. It is expected that competitions can incentivize teachers and their students to become more engaged in applying GIS to analyzing various social and natural phenomena. The usage of national competitions is acknowledged as a useful means to promote GIS in Kerski, et al.’s (2013) global survey. Apart from Taiwan, countries such as Canada and Australia also hold national GIS competitions.

After introducing the measures that aid the implementation of the national curriculum guidelines, we now turn to the question of whether these measures have made actual impacts. We expect a variation of integration behaviors to exist. The following section identifies three types of integration behavior in the classroom.

3. Three types of GIS adoption In this study, we try to differentiate teachers’ GIS integration into “compulsory” and “noncompulsory” units. The former category refers to the unit on cartography/geographic information in the 10th grade. Following the national curriculum guidelines, teachers should, in principle, teach about and/or with GIS in the compulsory unit. The matter of whether or not Taiwan’s high school geography teachers have met this expectation is to be investigated.

It is also interesting to explore whether teachers would teach about and with GIS in units for which GIS is not mandatory according to the national curriculum guidelines. Examples of “non-compulsory units” are human geography, world geography, Taiwan geography, and China geography.

Kerski et al. (2013) observe that teaching with GIS is more dominant in secondary education than teaching about GIS around the world.

However, we posited that most of Taiwan’s teachers may have more experience teaching about GIS than teaching with GIS because teaching concepts and principles are supposed to be easier than actually using the technology to explore geographic knowledge. The following empirical analysis will help clarify this.

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Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to construct the typology of integration (McCutcheon, 1987). The results revealed classes that are scoring patterns for the four manifest variables of teaching about GIS, teaching with GIS, using GIS in compulsory units, and using GIS in non-compulsory units.

These measures are specified below.

To assess teaching about GIS, teachers were asked to indicate whether they “teach how to use GIS,” “introduce GIS data,” and “teach how to collect GIS data”. Teachers with these experiences were coded 1, otherwise 0. Overall, 77% of teachers taught about GIS. Similarly, teaching with GIS was measured by inquiring whether teachers “use GIS to aid teaching” and “use GIS to make thematic maps for lecturing”.

Seventy percent of teachers taught with GIS. In addition, we investigated the usage of GIS in the compulsory unit. A respondent who used GIS in this unit was coded 1, otherwise 0. A large number of respondents (80%) have used GIS in the compulsory unit.

There are also lectures for which GIS is not compulsory; but if a teacher has used GIS in those sessions, this is an indicator of his/her usage of GIS as an aid in imparting geographic knowledge. Only 38% of the respondents have used GIS in non-compulsory units.

The missing data treatment method applied in this study is multiple imputation (Rubin, 1987).

Following Graham et al. (2007), 100 datasets were imputed for analysis. The statistical modeling program used in this study was Mplus Version 7.0. The statistical significance was determined at p < .05.

Since the four manifest variables in this study are dichotomous (i.e., 0/1), LCA was performed to discern the typology of GIS integration in teaching. In addition to entropy, the following information criteria were evaluated to determine the number of latent classes: Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), and sample-size adjusted BIC (SSABIC).

The lower the information criteria and the higher the entropy, the better the fit of the model. Table 1 shows that the three-class model is optimal as its AIC, BIC, and SSABIC are the lowest, while, at the same time, its entropy is the highest

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This third class is the rarest among all the classes (Figure 1).

among the one to four latent class models. # class 1 2 3 4

Loglikelihood

DF a

AIC

BIC

SSABIC

Entropy

-1680 -1534 -1515 -1513

11 6 3 1

3368 3085 3054 3054

3386 3127 3109 3118

3374 3098 3071 3074

NA .817 .837 .767

DF: Degree of freedom; AIC: Akaike information criterion; BIC: Bayesian information criterion; SSABIC: Sample-size adjusted Bayesian information criterion; NA: Not applicable; a: In two-, three-, and four-class models, the number of parameters estimated as either 1.000 or 0.000 was one, two, and five, respectively. Therefore, one, two, and five degrees of freedom were reclaimed for two-, three-, and four-class models, respectively.

Table 1. Model fit indices of one to four latent class models.

Source: Authors’ Survey.

In LCA, one assumes probabilistic rather than deterministic relationships between manifest variables and the latent construct. Thus, Figure 1 displays the probability of using GIS in teaching among the three distinct classes of GIS adopters: active adopters (class 1), passive adopters (class 2), and laggards (class 3).

As they appear to be opposite types, let us begin by looking at the first and third classes.

The first class of teachers, which comprises 38.07% of the respondents (276 teachers), is active in teaching about and with GIS. Whether or not GIS is required to be taught in certain lectures, the teachers in this class would use GIS in teaching (Figure 1). Because of their relatively extensive usage of GIS, they are termed active adopters (Bednarz and Witham, 2003).

The third category of teachers is the exact opposite. Made up of 9.97% (65 teachers) of the respondents, laggards do not teach with GIS. Teaching about GIS is supposed to be easier because, without actually knowing how to use it, one can simply describe and explain what GIS is and does. Nevertheless, to teach with GIS requires confidence and actual skills to apply spatial analysis and impart geographic knowledge. This is what laggards seek to avoid.

Moreover, laggards do not teach GIS in noncompulsory units. They only teach about GIS in the compulsory unit and with minimum effort.

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The second group of teachers demonstrates mixed experiences. The teachers in this second class, which consisted of the most respondents (384 teachers, 52.97%), have taught about and with GIS in lectures. However, as passive adopters, they only do so in classes in which GIS is compulsory (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Conditional probability of using GIS in teaching.

Source: Authors’ Survey.

The overall propensity of respondents to teach about, rather than with, GIS is well illustrated in Figure 1. This pattern is different from the more widespread pattern in the world in which teaching with GIS is dominant (Kerski et al., 2013). What this finding implies is that Taiwan’s teachers have made the existence of GIS known to their students, but they are not prone to actually employing GIS to deliver geographic knowledge. The cultivation and consolidation of teachers’ capability to use GIS in imparting geography is thus still an important task for the MOE and NTU in the years to come.

We will return to discuss this issue at the end of this paper.

Lastly, Figure 1 reveals that more teachers use GIS in the compulsory units than in the noncompulsory units. Active adopters are interesting as they use GIS in both the compulsory and non-compulsory units. Their usage of GIS in non-compulsory units is even slightly higher than it is in compulsory units.

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This is an encouraging development for GIS promoters as it demonstrates teachers’ efforts in applying GIS to various parts of their lectures.

4. What characterizes the three classes of GIS integration behavior?

To explore what led to the aforementioned three types of GIS integration behavior, we look into some commonly examined independent variables in both fields.

4.1 Hypotheses Although teachers’ education and technology integration are two separate fields, there is a synergy in the views shared by scholars in these disciplines. In various studies on technology integration in teacher education, it has been pointed out that teachers’ belief in applying technology is vital. The existence of the technology hardware, as well as the knowledge of how to use it, cannot lead to effective integration unless teachers believe in the value of integrating it. This echoes Voogt et al’s (2013) observation that knowledge and belief are intertwined. Belief about technology and pedagogical belief are important (Voogt et al, 2013). Teachers’ belief is generally understood to include dimensions such as self-efficacy, the value of improving students’ learning, and belief in the value of technology (Spotts, 1999; Zhoa and Cziko, 2001; Kim et al., 2013). In Spotts’s paper (1999), for example, it is found that highlevel technology users perceive greater benefits in using the technologies in class than low-level users.

In a similar vein, the concepts of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) have been proposed to study various kinds of technology adoption in the well-known technology acceptance model (TAM) (Cheung et al. 2000; Davis, 1989; Fulk et al., 1987; Kelman, 1958; Lee et al., 2003; Song et al., 2009). They have also been tested in the adoption of various e-learning systems, distance learning modules, and, most recently, in GIS (Lee et al., 2011; Sahin and Shelley, 2008; Tselios et al., 2011;

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Lay et al., 2013b; Chang et al., 2013). For instance, it has been found that when teachers believe that GIS can benefit teaching (i.e., PU), they are more likely to attend GIS workshops (Lay et al., 2013b). This also helps teachers to actually use GIS in lectures (Lay et al., 2013b).

Interestingly, PEOU does not seem to play a vital role in facilitating GIS usage (Lay et al., 2013b). Because the impact of PU and PEOU on the differentiation of GIS integration behavior has not yet been tested, we hypothesize a positive relationship here.

Moreover, because participation in GIS inservice training (i.e., GIS workshops) has been found to have a direct impact on GIS uptake (Lay et al., 2013b), we postulate that workshop attendance will lead to variations in GIS integration behavior.

4.2 Measures Davis’s (1989) six-item measurement of PU has been widely used for examining technology integration. Consequently, we adopted Davis’s measurement for our study. PU is assessed by teachers’ views on the following aspects: “accelerating teaching,” “improving teaching performance,” “increasing teaching productivity,” “enhancing teaching effectiveness,” “making teaching easier,” and “usefulness in teaching”.

Davis’s original seven-point scale is simplified to a five-point scale (i.e., strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree) (Malhotra and Galletta, 1999).

The measurement for PEOU was similarly adopted from Davis’s (1989) six-item measurement. The items are as follows: “learning to operate GIS would be easy,” “finding it easy to get GIS to do what I want GIS to do,” “interaction with GIS would be clear and understandable,” “finding GIS to be flexible to interact with,” “it would be easy to become skillful at using GIS,” and “finding GIS easy to use”.

To assess workshop attendance, respondents were asked to state the number of times they had attended GIS in-service training during the previous five years. We tested whether inservice GIS training affected the differentiation of GIS adoption behavior. Age, gender, level of education, and school types were controlled. In Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Jinn-Guey Lay, Yu-Lin Chi, Yu-Wen Chen

terms of age, respondents were divided into two groups of younger or older than 40. With regard to level of education, respondents were divided into those with a bachelor’s degree and those with a master’s degree or higher. Finally, regarding school types, we examined three kinds of differences: private vs. public schools, senior high schools (which are academic-oriented) vs. vocational schools, and lastly, GIS seed schools vs. non-GIS seed schools. Seed schools are high schools that are designated by the MOE to have their teachers trained in GIS first, and then gradually incorporate GIS into their geography classes (Wang and Chen, 2013; Lay et al., 2013a). With the support of the MOE, 30 seed high schools, out of approximately 500 high schools in Taiwan, have been set up to undertake the mission of promoting GIS. In fact, NTU began by cultivating teachers in these seed schools and is gradually expanding its coverage to include training for teachers in non-seed schools in Taiwan. It is anticipated that active adopters are more likely to come from seed schools than non-seed schools, while laggards may largely come from non-seed schools.

4.3 Analysis and discussions As summarized in Table 2, two main hypotheses are supported by the statistical data. That is, perceived usefulness of GIS and workshop attendance respectively leads to variation of GIS adoption behaviors. The hypothesis about the impact of perceived ease of use, however, is not supported.

Teachers who participate more frequently in GIS workshops tend to be active adopters, while laggards attend fewer GIS training sessions. In terms of PU, active adopters and passive adopters are inclined to perceive GIS as beneficial in teaching, while laggards are slightly less so.

PEOU does not seem to vary greatly among active adopters, passive adopters, and laggards.

Taking control variables into consideration, there is no significant association between gender and age and the differentiation of GIS integration behavior. Education level and school types, however, are associated with the three classes of GIS adopters.

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Continuous Variables (mean) Workshop attendance Perceived usefulness Perceived ease of use Categorical Variables (% b) Gender Female Male Age group >40 yrs <40 yrs Education Bachelor Master’s or PhD School type Non-GIS seed school GIS seed school School type II Private school Public school School type III Vocational school Senior high school

Active adopter

Passive adopter

Laggard Fa

3.9

3.1

1.5

21.0

23.6

22.7

22.2

7.6

20.8

20.7

20.0

0.9

Active adopter

Passive adopter

Laggard

36.7 40.7

54.5 50.0

8.8 9.3

35.5 40.0

55.0 51.5

9.6 8.5

34.1 41.0

52.9 53.0

13.0 6.0

36.6

53.2

10.2

46.7

51.4

1.9

34.5

50.5

15.9

39.5

53.9

6.6

25.2

68.0

6.8

40.2

50.5

9.3

P-Value <.001 .001

*** **

.425

χ2 c 1.37

P-value .505

1.63

.443

11.89

.003

**

9.58

.008

**

13.19

.001

**

10.92

.004

**

*** p<.001, ** p<.01, * p<.05; a: Between- and within-group degrees of freedom are 2 and 722, respectively; b: Row percentage; c: Degrees of freedom is 2.

Table 2. Profile of latent classes.

Source: Authors’ Survey.

To explore the relationship between these variables simultaneously, we used latent class path analysis (LCPA). To take classification uncertainty into account, the three-step approach was adopted (Vermunt, 2010). The key findings are summarized in Table 3. Differentiation in integration behavior is found to be significantly influenced by workshop attendance and PU. Education level and school types do have an impact on the differentiation of integration behavior. Their influence, however, is indirect through PEOU, PU, and workshop attendance.

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Workshop attendance has an impact on the types of adopters. This suggests that the topdown promotional efforts initiated by the MOE and NTU have been successful in encouraging teachers to become more active in using GIS. We will return to discuss this in detail in the next section of this paper.

findings on the importance of teachers’ belief in effective technology integration (Spotts, 1999; Zhoa and Cziko, 2001; Kim et al., 2013). PEOU also has an impact on PU, meaning that when teachers perceived GIS as easy, they would also be more likely to perceive the technology as beneficial for teaching.

Meanwhile, the indirect impact of GIS seed schools is worth mentioning. GIS seed schools appear to live up to the expectation of having their teachers attend in-service training, and this has indirectly contributed to variations of integration behavior. This development is in line with the recommendation made in the US National Research Council’s report (2006) which encourages the collaboration between GIS experts in higher education and teachers in “GIS-enabled schools”, akin to “seed schools” in Taiwan.

Unsurprisingly, teachers with higher educational backgrounds tend to perceive using GIS as easy. Interestingly, teachers from public schools are prone to perceiving the use of GIS as less easy than their peers in private schools. In Taiwan, private schools face more survival stress than public schools, resulting in an education that is highly exam oriented. The ultimate aim of private schools is to ensure that their students can obtain good grades in order to enter universities.

When teachers perceive GIS to be beneficial for teaching, they are more likely to attend inservice training, and, furthermore, to become active adopters. This echoes the existing general

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Relatively speaking, Taiwan’s public school teachers are less exam-oriented and have more flexibility in terms of imparting knowledge beyond what will be tested in exams. Public school teachers would have more chances to teach about and with GIS than their peers in private schools. The nature of private school education leads their teachers to care less about GIS. Interestingly, when public school teachers care about GIS, they also come to realize the difficulty of understanding and managing the system. GIS, after all, is a fairly specialized subject; therefore, becoming familiar with it takes time and effort. Concerns about the difficulty of mastering GIS compel public school teachers to register for workshops to fill the knowledge gap.

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2007). Their interactions result in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological content knowledge (TCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). These interactions are often depicted in a Venn diagram (Figure 2).

5. Discussion and conclusion This study provides evidence to support the position that, in offering GIS training, the efforts of the MOE and NTU are effective in encouraging teachers to become active adopters.

But the cultivation and consolidation of teachers’ capability to use GIS in imparting geography remains an important task for the MOE and NTU in the years to come because respondents are still more prone to teaching about, rather than with GIS as a whole.

In this concluding section, we aim to elaborate a bit more on why the NTU’s inservice training is working. The main reason, we argue, is that the workshop is not merely about introducing GIS. There is also emphasis on encouraging teachers to think about how they can make use of GIS in their lectures. The workshops direct teachers to developing technological pegagogical content knowledge (TPACK) which cannot be found in standard university courses.

TPACK is a concept which has been increasingly debated among scholars working on the nexus between education and technology (Niess, 2005; Cox and Graham, 2009; Loveless, 2011; Avalos, 2011; Chai et al., 2013). The concept points out the complexity of the interplay of technology, pedagogy and content in teachers’ professional knowledge (Koehler et al.,

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Figure 2. Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK).

Source: adopted and redrawn from Koehler et al., 2007.

The definitions of these knowledge domains are not without critiques and debates. However, it is broadly understood that PCK refers to teachers’ knowledge to represent content knowledge and adopt pedagogical strateges to make their lectures more comprehensible for students without the influence of technologies.

TCK, TPK, and TPACK, differently, are knowledge domains related to technologies.

TCK is the knowledge about how to employ technology to represent the content knowledge without considering its teaching. TPK refers to knowledge of the general pedagogical activities that a teacher can engage in using technologies.

Lastly, TPACK is the knowledge about using technologies to teach, represent, and facilitate knowledge creation of specific subject content (Cox and Graham, 2009; Loveless, 2011; Chai et al., 2013).

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Although TPACK appears to be an interesting framework, scholars have raised concerns about the occasional fuzziness of the actual constructs of these “knowledge domains” (Cox and Graham, 2009). Currently, exploratory factor analysis does not appear to support all these domains, either (Voogt et al., 2013). We do not intend to join the debate over the actual definitions of TPACK in this paper. Rather, we regard these concepts as orientation that can guide us when understanding teachers’ development of professional capacity and knowledge (Voogt et al., 2013). As Kersi et al.

(2013) argue, teachers’ professional development should embrace TPACK. A standalone course focusing on training GIS skills and knowledge (i.e., TK) is not useful. Rather, the training should lead teachers to understand the intersections among GIS (TK), geography (CK) as well as how to apply GIS in education (PK).

The fact that the NTU’s in-service training is designed in the spirit of TPACK makes the workshops popular among teachers in the first place. The NTU has been organizing in-service training for seven years. Every year, there are on average 16 workshops available for geography teachers throughout Taiwan. The annual total numbers of participants are 640, which is nearly half of the 1,530 or so senior high school geography teachers in Taiwan.

It should be noted that most high school geography teachers in Taiwan learned about GIS in their undergraduate and/or postgraduate education prior to becoming teachers. However, they generally lack a full grasp of GIS and a clear idea of how to apply it in their lectures. In other words, secondary school geography teachers should have taken courses in GIS (TK), geography (CK) and pedagogy (PK) respectively during their university education. Yet since they did not have the opportunity to take courses that teach them how to integrate these three knowledge domains, most teachers find it hard to include GIS in their actual teaching. The NTU’s workshop thus meets these teachers’ immediate aims.

The idea behind the NTU’s in-service training is to lead teachers to brainstorm and use their creativity to find the connections between GIS and their lectures. In most of the NTU’s Copyright© Nuova Cultura

workshops, at the end of the training session, teachers are required to present a lesson plan that demonstrates the integration of GIS into lectures. This approach is believed to be most efficient and meaningful for developing teachers’ TPACK (Spotts, 1999; Huang et al., 2011; Chien et al., 2012).

One of the teachers who has participated in the workshop, for instance, related that he has used free wares such as Google Earth to teach about the Hexi Corridor (also known as the Gansu Corridor) in China. Using the flight simulator of Google Earth (TK), he presented the oases, graben, and other geological landscapes along the Hexi Corridor (CK). This simulation invited students to join a discovery learning process in which they visually understand how oases and settlements develop along the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and why, for traders and the military, this route was a historically important section of the Northern Silk Road. Combined with problembased learning, the teacher asked students to discuss in teams, critically analyzing why cities such as Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang were formed as well as why the Hexi Corridor came to be.

This teacher understands the conceptual power of using the simulation of Google Earth to facilitate his teaching of the Hexi Corridor.

This is a positive example of how GIS in-service training has re-oriented teachers from traditional ways of teaching to education in the spirit of TPACK. It should be noted as well that teachers can obtain large amounts of spatialized data during the training. In preparation for the GIS workshops, the NTU’s team has turned large amount of tubular data into spatial data (e.g., agricultural data, electoral data). Teachers also get to learn how to turn tabular data into shapefile and further create maps during the training. According to the US National Research Council’s (2006) recommendations for promoting GIS, one of the key tasks is to strengthen the teachers’ capacity to spatialize nonspatial data. The NTU’s efforts are in line with this international ambition.

Lastly, making GIS software “teacher friendly” in terms of ease of installation, Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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maintenance and use has also been noted by the US National Research Council (2006) as crucial for GIS integration in education. Professional GIS software is indeed too complicated for secondary school teacheres. The NTU’s success hence also lies in helping teachers to use easy to operate free wares. This naturally broadens the accessibility of GIS to more learners and paves the way for cumulative learning. Once teachers feel comfortable with easier GIS software and develop interests in its advanced application, they can be more willing to try professional GIS software. With the current success in mind, the MOE and NTU should continue to generate good TPACK-oriented training models for geography teachers to develop professionally.

The Taiwan experience should also serve as a good model for GIS promoters around the world to follow in the future.

Acknowledgements

6.

7.

8.

9.

This study was funded by the Taiwan National Science Council. The funded project title is “A Study of GIS Diffusion Networks of Taiwan’s High School Teachers” (NSC-98-2410-H-002-153-MY3).

10.

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Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 43-52 DOI: 10.4458/5196-05

Competences and Geography.

A meta-cognitive approach Angela Carusoa a

Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Quantitative e Filosofico-Educative, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy Email: angycaruso@hotmail.com

Received: February 2015 – Accepted: April 2015

Abstract Geography helps knowing, educating, orienting; today it plays an educational role, aimed at developing the knowledge of space in order to observe, analyse and interpret the relationships between environment and human society (Ubertazzi and Forte, 2005a, p. 15). From an educational point of view, it contributes to the development of culture on one side and of the fundamental abilities and skills to achieve personal autonomy on the other. How to describe geographical knowledge from the perspective of constructivism? How to implement a competence-based didactic of geography? This contribution attempts to answer these questions by analysing the idea of competence in terms of pedagogy and didactics, thus examining constructivist didactic models which lead to new interchanges between knowledge, didactics and technology. The role of geography in competence training turns out to be fundamental, as it makes it possible to practice basic space skills, which are necessary to orient oneself in an active and responsible way in the world, and to recognize and face problems at different levels. Lastly, a practical example of competence-based didactics is presented, which proposes the analysis of a geographical region in a dynamic, interactive, laboratorial way; living relevance to meta-cognitive learning, which guides students to acquire: discovery strategy and methods, operational procedures to apply their knowledge, new solutions intuition and invention procedures.

Keywords: Competences, Constructivism, Meaningful Learning, Creative-Thinking, Meta-Cognition

1. Introduction. Educating to competences «Fatti non foste a viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza»1. Dante’s Ulysses

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Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, Inferno canto XXVI: “Be ye unwilling to deny the knowledge, following the sun of the unpeopled world. Consider ye the seed from which ye sprang; Ye were not made

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exhorts his fellows not to surrender and be satisfied with what they know, but to go further.

The desire to explore and discover is peculiar to human virtue, it is an actual “competence to act” which becomes real in the process of choosing, decision-making and researching, as well as deep understanding. to live like unto brutes, But for pursuit of virtue and of knowledge”.

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It is not exclusively about increasing “knowledge”, it is about raising the “knowledge potential” of individuals, which means their ability to know and look for that knowledge useful to solve a problem.

Rousseau, referring to his Emile, rephrases this idea with simple, immediate words: «I want to teach him living. Coming from my hands, he […] will be a man first of all: whatever a man must be, he will be able to be, if need be, like anyone: and as much as fortune may change his condition, he will always stay in his». He wants to teach his pupil to live, to use all the tools he was provided with during his education; a sort of “learning by doing”. This is topical in today’s debate on the competence-based approach.

Competence-based education developed in Europe, and stemmed from the need to validate and equate educational degrees; however, also with reference to pedagogy and didactics, the acquisition of competences is more and more necessary to raise open minds, able to adjust and to innovate.

In his White Paper “Learning: the treasure within” (Delors, 1994), which he drafted as the chairman of a UNESCO international commission of experts (between 1994 and 1996), Jacques Delors highlighted that school should move from ability to competence. The document states that technological progress drives towards the dematerialization of human work, which will be more and more characterised by the quantity and quality of the educational and cognitive elements the individual owns.

Now, what is competence? It can be defined as the set of knowledge, abilities and attitudes which allow an individual to achieve useful results to adjust in meaningful environments and which appears as the ability to face and master the problems of life by cognitive and social skills (Boscolo, 2002, 2012).

Competences generate when deploying in a certain context an orchestration of: declarative and procedural knowledge; cognitive, linguistic, manual, body skills and personal, interpersonal

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and social attitudes (Ambel, 2004)2. They can be classified as objective, subjective, intersubjective, or as disciplinary and transversal, with reference to rules.

Competence may be understood as the synthesis of four pillars of education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, learning to live together (Delors, 1994); conditions shall be created whereby each learning subject can achieve these pillars.

The competence-based approach contributes to developing thinking as it requires the development of cognitive processes, logical schemes, and mental procedures to collect and organize knowledge. As Edward De Bono (2004) states, we cannot teach thoughts but how to think.

The development of competence and thought is strictly connected, if the latter also requires the selection, organization and interpretation of knowledge; however, collecting declarations that support the competence-based approach is not enough, it is also necessary to explore “how”: how to project, how to develop and how to certify competences. The new didactic practices, such as reality tasks or situation-problems, are helpful in this sense (Petracca, 2010, pp. 10-16).

Competence-based education requires a revolution in spaces, times and methods of education, to adjust learning programs and environments to the real world.

The school of competence is propelled by school autonomy3, in which the institution plays a main role in its education, as it is free from the constraints of rules and is appointed to decide, organize and implement its methods, tools and teaching times in a responsible way. The curriculum, therefore, can be adjusted to the students’ educational needs and in line with the professional and cultural evolution of modern society (Crivellari, 2004).

“Integrated system of abilities, knowledge and attitudes that a subject consciously implements in specific real contexts to reach a target”.

3 School autonomy in Italy was established by art. 21 of Law No. 59 of 1997 and Decree of the President of the Republic No. 275/1999.

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2. Knowledge to build Statements such as “effective learning occurs in real situations”, “competences develop through experience and reflection” recall the constructivist approach, according to which the student is at the core of the educational process, rather than considering the teacher as the sole holder of universal and conceptual knowledge and thus as the focus of the educational method.

According to constructivism, people actively build their knowledge, through social cooperation and interpersonal communication, in close connection with the real situation in which they learn.

Bruner (1990) states that knowledge is “creating meaning”, which means that the subject activates a process of creative interpretation each time he/she wants to understand reality; this implies that students shall be given the opportunity to actively explore, according to their interests and reasons for learning.

Basing itself on these principles, the school should offer real-world learning environments, and education should be provided through authentic tasks, based on cases rather than on pre-established instructions, and should foster reflection and reasoning by building knowledge cooperatively.

Some didactic models come from these principles, among which the most famous are: - Learning community, it is a peculiar environment for cooperative research. Like in any scientific community, each activity is inspired by reflection on knowledge and the sharing of intellectual resources. The environment is seen as a virtual crossroad of proximal development areas with a variety of scaffoldings which support, stimulate, orient in different ways, yet there is space for the subject’s responsibility as he/she is continually oriented towards independence; participants go through different roads and at different speeds, and they keep sharing and mutually exchanging their experiences (Brown, 1994, 1996).

- Cognitive apprenticeship, it is a didactic method developed by the American researchers Allan Collins, John Seely Brown and Susan Newman, supporters of the pedagogic theory of social constructivism.

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They propose the organization of didactic activities like a traditional apprenticeship, on the model of the so-called “artisan workshop”, competence-based didactics, the “conceptualization of practice” through an approach which focuses on metacognitive aspects and on the different contexts where learning will be applied. An example of cognitive apprenticeship is given by practice communities, learning environments based on sharing, cooperation and mutual aid where knowledge is generated. The social and apprenticeship methods in these environments have further developed through multimedia technologies (Pontecorvo, 2000; Rogoff, 1990; Gagliari et al., 2010).

- Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments (C.S.I.L.E), it is a psychopedagogic model defined as “Knowledge Building Community”, developed by Bereiter and Scardamalia at the Centre for Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. In the current era of knowledge, it is fundamental to be able to creatively manipulate knowledge and always generate new knowledge when facing problems in everyday and professional life. Rather than learning for its own sake, this “Knowledge Building”-based approach aims at developing competences which allow people to move and act consciously and creatively, competences which make it possible to effectively use knowledge to solve problems connected to a situation; which implies the ability to recombine one’s own knowledge or to produce new knowledge to face problems (Cacciamani and Giannandrea, 2004). The class is therefore considered as a Knowledge Building Community, engaged into researching new valuable ideas for the community it belongs to. To this purpose, the work of each participant in the community shall be aimed mainly at improving the construction of new ideas to be made available to the community rather than at achieving a good individual performance. Learning is not the ultimate goal of research; it is an intermediate activity which provides the subject with useful understanding and procedures to push the community knowledge. Thus students are actual Knowledge Builders and the teacher is an expert involved in the knowledge building Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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process (Cacciamani, 2003). Special attention is paid to teachers’ training, as they need to be prepared to consider knowledge as being continuously negotiable and transformable rather than static (Ligorio, 2003). In this process, technologies play a fundamental role and Scardamalia and Bereiter have created an online multimedia workspace called CSILE/ Knowledge Forum designed to support progressive and collaborative learning at school making the social and individual processes to create meanings transparent (Varisco, 2002). The workplace is a sort of databank in which students can submit notes (written texts, graphs, images etc.) and organize forums by topics. The system requires using scaffolds, or predefined linguistic structures: the author must use labels for his/her notes so as to guide the note’s reading and writing, and to create meta-categories to build the speech. Through such an approach students can be involved in the building of knowledge from the first years of their school education, and become able to participate in complex discussions in several transversal fields at different stages of school education (Ligorio, 2003; Cacciamani and Giannandrea, 2004).

Didactic models inspired by constructivism blend knowledge models, didactic models and new technologies; emphasize the learning environment as a virtual meeting place, where learners play a main role in determining their career and goals.

3. How to promote geographical competences?

Meaningful learning aims at possessing competences. Geography plays a fundamental role in developing those competences, as it allows young students to use space and geocartographic skills, to orient themselves in the world in an active and responsible way, recognising and facing problems at different levels, starting by designing and implementing solutions in their life area (Pasquinelli, 2011, pp. 54-55).

“The development of the national educational standards forced lecturers in geography education to intensely rethink and discuss fundamental Copyright© Nuova Cultura

structures of their subject. The focus centres on the question how geographical education should be like in 21st century. In this process system competence turned out to be the basic concept for geographic education” (Rempfler and Uphues, 2011, p. 9).

During the Eugeo 2013 International Congress, the representatives of AIIG, of the European associations Eugeo and Eurogeo and the International Geographical Union (IGU), approved the Declaration on Geographical Education in Europe in Rome, whereby they engage to undertake “initiatives in the countries of Europe and with the relevant European institutions to provide standards and guidelines that will help authorities develop relevant syllabuses and school curricula, methods and approaches in Geography that: apply geographical knowledge, skills and understanding to the main issues linked with processes of change in society, nature and environment at local, national, European and global levels; and highlight the educational values and the role of geographical education in a changing world”.

The Declaration states the purposes of geographical education and warrants those studies and research, theoretical and methodological reflections, and didactic curricula which focus on primary topics such as geographical competences.

In order to achieve the above mentioned targets, it is necessary to design new training and refresher courses for teachers, who will be able to teach geography as a living, practical science, necessary for the life of individuals and communities (Giorda, 2013, pp. 155-156).

Linking geography to competences has fundamental meta-cognitive impacts on research (Borkowski and Muthukrishna, 1992), experimentation and innovation (Brooks, 2010, pp.

115-118). First of all it is necessary to revise the discipline epistemology; which means “simplifying” contents by choosing the peculiar units of geographical knowledge.

Gardner (1991) believes that a meaningful learning can only be achieved by focusing on the pillars of the discipline, or on its fundamentals: “I believe school tries to deal with too many subjects thus leading necessarily to a superficial understanding (or non-understanding). It is much more logical to devote most of time to key ideas, Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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productive ideas and basic issues allowing the students to go deeper into these notions and their related meaning”. Also according to Bruner (1986) the goal of education is not broad yet deep knowledge, which can be achieved turning general principles into examples. Again, Perrenoud (1999) states that competences do not turn their back on knowledge, as they cannot do without, but it is necessary to agree to teach less knowledge if competences are really to be developed.

In order to explain the condition of this discipline, Giulio Mezzetti (1979) uses the metaphor of the balloon. When the balloon falls due to a pressure drop, the only way to rise again is to throw off anything unnecessary to travel.

Applying this metaphor to geography it would be necessary to delete useless objects and identify the essential, or the specific structure.

The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) approved the new National Guidelines in 2012, providing disciplinary pillars to build the curriculum and granting total autonomy in the choice of contents; the starting and finishing line are established, and in-between it is up to the teacher, who has to design a disciplinary curriculum with colleagues appropriate to the relevant school context. Among the learning objectives there are four themes to be included in the geographic curriculum: orientation, geo-graphicity language, landscape, region and territorial system.

Once the content has been chosen, it must be made complex, through cognitive dissonances, paradoxes and questions. Research is fundamental, indeed proposing interesting topics for study and in-depth analysis can contribute to creating a positive attitude in students towards geography, especially if they are able to perceive the topics as relevant by making reference to their personal experience and as useful tools to understand issues which they believe important.

As Postman (1996) states, motivation can be stimulated by teaching the history of disciplines; which means explaining the origins of geographical knowledge: its evolution through history, telling about men who made geography, highlighting captivating anecdotes, and so on.

This will help students to understand the selection of contents and the relating methods, as Meirieu says (1987) “It is nonsense to teach Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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and learn how long is the earth diameter, yet how they calculated its length”.

Disciplinary integration is also important for geographical competences, and it can be achieved through didactic laboratories and didactic projects.

Generally speaking, project pedagogy is an educational activity which involves students in completing a project having an impact within and outside the school; by way of example: organizing a trip or an excursion, drafting a small tourist guide, preparing an exhibition, designing a website or blog, creating a botanical garden, shooting a didactic video or a photo-reportage etc.

Each of these activities stimulates the students to exploit their knowledge and skills, to coordinate values, attitudes, interests and, above all, creative thinking (Renshaw, 2011, pp. 64-66).

Student-led tasks, with minimal input from the teacher, can promote learner independence and encourage students to become creative geographers (Simmons and Mole, 2014, pp. 66-67).

Through this process, students internalize the working method and are able to use, and re-use it in different contexts.

“The project pedagogy favours the acquisition of complex competences, as students get used to consider the processes they learn at school as tools to achieve the purposes they can understand and which they care for. Furthermore, the tasks to carry out within an extracurricular project are almost always complex tasks. Students do not perceive them as clearly connected to a school discipline. It is difficult for them to activate strategies based on school habits: infact, they only need to guess how to act, because they immediately link the task to that method, even if they do not really understand it. Through the project pedagogy students become accustomed to interpret new situations using their own resources” (Rey, 2003, pp. 142-143).

The objective of a project-base didactic is not only the acquisition of a coded knowledge, but the internalization of a learning technique, a study method, which makes the subject independent in his/her own learning. This is the way to foster true knowledge which leads to acquiring more knowledge (Papert, 1980).

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Geography is significantly moving towards competences: promoting collaborative learning, supporting exploration and discovery, developing practice and reflection, organizing learning into complex and real situations, organizing laboratories.

Geographical learning is built cooperatively, blending the stimulus from the teachers and the curiosity, remarks or difficulties of the students.

Empathy with the discipline is achieved when learning is perceived as an important task to experience and to experience well, which is worthy devoting time to.

“Such considerations highlight how geography can arouse enthusiasm in students of different ages since it helps them to understand the processes and phenomena within their own living space and in places far away. Moreover, geography captivates the imagination and the desire to travel, to get to know new environments and cultures. Appropriate guidelines and teaching strategies, however, are required in order to pursue these aims. Particularly, ‘Knowledge and understanding of the world incorporates a number of aspects of geographical experience and learning’ (Catling, 2006, p. 65). Geography should therefore have an important role in the students’ education because of its specific topics and tools, and also because of its capacity to broach the problems in an interdisciplinary way, which gives input for link-ups with other disciplines” (De Vecchis, Pasquinelli and Pesaresi, 2011, p. 14).

4. From theory to practice Let us make a practical example of competence-based didactics: “The Japanese archipelago, from paper to reality”.

Locate the position of Japanese territory, remark its wide latitude extension (from 30° to 45° north latitude) and underline that this is the reason for its climate variety. Rainfalls are abundant as it is a marine region and it is exposed to monsoon flows. To conclude, the class might also copy the area of this Japanese region overlapping a tracing paper on the Asian map, and use different nuances to color its three main climate belts: the northern region, with snowfalls and subpolar winters and Siberian cold winds during summer; the central region, with a Copyright© Nuova Cultura

mild Mediterranean-like weather, although more rainy; the southern region, with humid subtropical climate, with an average of 2000 mm of rainfall per year and frequent typhoons.

Remember that there is also a difference between the Pacific side, with a hot and sultry climate, and the Asian side, which is influenced by cold, humid air blowing from the continent.

Then move to morphology and use the physical map of an atlas to point out that the country is characterised by several short, raging and irregular rivers. You may also create questions, to help to see relations among phenomena, such as: Why are Japanese rivers short and raging? (because of its uneven relief); where do these rivers flow to? (they flow perpendicularly to the mountains and to the coast); why are Japanese rivers irregular? (because rainfalls are not equally distributed due to the monsoons).

A further study might focus on the Japanese economy, with three aspects being underlined: the need for industrial expansion linked to demographic development, the inadequacy of agricultural resources, the role of Japanese trade in the world. Before starting, make an excursus, with links and comparisons, on the recent development of the country, which was based on a feudal economy until the mid-nineteenth century, with the emperor at the top of the pyramid including vassals, samurai warriors and, at the lowest level, craftsmen, merchants and peasants. In 1853, the United States ordered Japanese harbours to open to International trade, and the emperor Mutsuhito abolishes castes and starts modernizing the country. After World War II, Japan undergoes an exceptional reconstruction and the flow of huge American capital fosters its industrialization. Today Japan’s balance of trade is very favorable. Activities connected to domestic and foreign trade are concentrated in a few multi-service companies, called sogo shosha, which manage all the stages from purchase to transportation. Japan mainly imports raw materials for processing industry, fuels, minerals and food products. Exports instead consist of industrial, chemical and steel products. Once the topic has been introduced, you can involve the class in a laboratory: students will work in groups and draft a leaflet Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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to advertise Japanese products (Ubertazzi and Forte, 2005b, pp. 208-213).

Other in-depth analysis may focus on Japan’s urbanization by organizing a cartographic laboratory to examine the three metropolitan areas of Tokyo-Yokohama, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Nagoya; and on education, by comparing the Italian and Japanese school systems. Other laboratory activities can be developed on fashion, customs, music, technology, football4 etc.

Each stage of the project shall envisage a multidisciplinary laboratory involving different knowledge (e.g. geography, economics, English, arts, history etc) in order to enrich contents and generate meaningful learning.

The didactic procedure applied for the Japanese archipelago, also uses methods which can be applied to study any territory.

What is extremely important is that in each investigation project, students gain geographical understanding through the observation of the analytical landscape elements and its peculiarities, in order to rebuild regional, national and world pictures. Of course, any merely descriptive presentation should be avoided, highlighting the multiple connections between phenomena, facts and reality, wherever located.

In order to teach to think and act by competences, the method is fundamental, as well as frequent use of practical laboratories, which make it possible to use technical tools (compass, rain gauge etc.), codes to represent data (maps, graphs, diagrams), manual operations (photographs, maps, scale models), geographical reading (the diaries of travellers and explorers, travel writing etc.), different investigation methods (research, interviews, surveys, questionnaires), appropriate aids (film, documenttaries, slides, multimedia), network projects with other schools in Italy and abroad, activities outside the school. The following resources promote meta-cognitive learning, so that pupils acquire discovery strategies and methods, learn how to use practically their knowledge, gain intuition and develop new problem-solving procedures (Ubertazzi and Forte, 2005a, p. 18).

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5. Conclusions As discussed, in today’s school world, competence-based didactics is becoming increasingly important and has gained such a relevance that ministerial guidelines for teachers are oriented in that direction, especially with reference to the implementation of methodology and didactic strategies.

Sound studies have produced a rich and varied literature, also stimulating a number of in-depth analyses, debates and experimental proposals.

Specifically, this contribution has highlighted the fundamental role of geography in the school focused on competences, as teaching geography by competences “1. Enhances the ability of geography to face real problems of the contemporary world, involving knowledge, tools, methods and disciplinary skills in complex settings. 2. Trains to critical thinking and to assess the territory, places and the relations between humans and the environment from different points of view, projects and intentions, also in a time perspective and considering the consequences of different actions. 3. Develops geographical imagination and creativity (Daniels, 1992; Dematteis, 2004), which are important both to study places taking into account the values, social expectations and perception, and to design changes” (Giorda, 2014, p. 132).

From a meta-cognitive point of view, geographical knowledge offers a range of educational and didactic opportunities providing mental structures which can be easily applied also to other sectors of knowledge.

All these geo-potentials globally lead to rethinking the ancient static notion-based education and to designing a competence-based teaching/learning which embraces in-depth analysis, reasoning and research, providing students with a deeper critical judgement.

“It is in fact necessary to find innovative contexts of research and to promote laboratory applications where to merge a multiple series of skills to show the true face of geography” (De Vecchis, 2013, p. 6).

For further reference see: Morri and Pesaresi, 2007.

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Figure 1. Students at a meteorology lesson: anemoscope. Photo print (12.9x18 cm) belonging to the Indire photographic heritage. The title is on the rear of the photo: “anemoscope”. Students of the “Iacobucci” Elementary School in Campobasso are at the Vinchiaturo (Campobasso) weather station to study an anemoscope: a device to measure the direction of winds.

Figure 2. Girls at an open-air geography lesson. Photo print (12.6x17.8 cm) belonging to the Indire photographical heritage. The following description is written on the back of the photo “open-air geography: physical and political map of Italy drawn on the floor by students”. Students of the “De Amicis – Ravaschieri” Elementary School in Naples are drawing Italy on the school yard floor for an original lesson of geography.

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Italian Association of Geography Teachers

Angela Caruso

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colo della scuola dell’infanzia e del primo ciclo d’istruzione, Rome, 2012.

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33. Pontecorvo C., “Dinamiche dell'innovazione a scuola”, in Talamo A. (Ed.) Apprendere con le nuove tecnologie, Florence, La Nuova Italia, 2000.

34. Postman N., The end of education: redefining the value of school, New York, Vintage Books, 1996.

35. Rempfler A. and Uphues R., “System competence in geography education development of

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competence models, diagnosing pupils’ achievement”, European Journal of Geography, 3, 1, 2011, pp. 6-22.

36. Renshaw S., “Creative thinking and geographical investigation”, Teaching Geography, 36, 2, 2011, pp. 64-66.

37. Rey B., Carette V., Defrance A. and Kahn S., Les compétences à l’école. Apprentissage et évaluation, Bruxelles, De Boek, 2003.

38. Rogoff B., Apprenticeship in thinking: cognitive development in social context, Oxford, Oxford University, 1990.

39. Simmons M. and Mole K., “Becoming creative geographers”, Teaching Geography, 39, 2, 2014, pp. 66-67.

40. Ubertazzi M.T. and Forte G., Geolibro 1.

Libro del docente, Novara, De Agostini, 2005a.

41. Ubertazzi M.T. and Forte G., Geolibro 3.

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42. Varisco B., Costruttivismo socio-culturale, Rome, Carocci, 2002.

Italian Association of Geography Teachers

THE LANGUAGE OF IMAGES Edited by Elisa Bignante and Marco Maggioli

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 55-66 DOI: 10.4458/5196-06

Satellite images and teaching of Geography Javier Martínez-Vegaa, Marta Gallardob, Pilar Echavarríaa a

Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Spanish National Research Council (IEGD-CSIC), Madrid, Spain b Department of Geography, Concepción University, Concepción, Chile Email: javier.martinez@cchs.csic.es Received: October 2014 – Accepted: January 2015

Abstract Satellite images can be very useful for teaching Geography at all levels. We describe their advantages over other traditional sources of information on observation of the Earth, and present the Remote Sensing and Environment teaching guide, a resource available on the Internet. This can be complemented by other resources – videos and image repositories – to facilitate the teaching of Geography. Two examples are given to illustrate how satellite images can be used in classrooms to explain urban processes. One is explained on a global scale. The other is a research study that uses a number of thematic maps based on satellite images to illustrate how land use has changed in the region of Madrid (Spain) over recent decades.

Using a modeller based on neural networks, the land use scenario in the region of Madrid in 2025 is simulated. This graphic and cartographic material can be used by teachers to explain urban processes both globally and regionally. Processes that have already taken place can be discussed and related to environmental impacts. It is also possible to predict what might happen in the future if current trends continue. The aim is to involve students in order to increase their environmental awareness and encourage them to participate in the search for solutions to territorial problems.

Keywords: Satellite Images, Geography, Teaching Resources, Land Use and Land Cover Maps, Changes in Land Use, Future Scenarios

1. Introduction Previous studies (Chicharro and MartínezVega, 1992; Martínez-Vega, 1997; MartínezVega et al., 2011) have discussed the usefulness of satellite images for teaching Geography, from the most basic levels to graduate and postgraduate levels.

These sources of geographical information offer a number of advantages over other more Copyright© Nuova Cultura

classic sources, including the following.

1. They give a global view so that phenomena affecting the whole planet can be appreciated (general circulation of the atmosphere, marine currents, ecosystem distribution), differentiating phenomena that are distributed latitudinally, following a pattern of zonality, from those that are influenced by factors that disrupt the zonality.

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2. Multispectral and hyperspectral sensors provide information on regions that are not visible in the spectrum. It is thus possible to obtain global information on average ocean temperatures, helping to explain marine currents. It is also possible to map the burned areas because of the unequal spectral response in the wavelength near-infrared.

example of each class and giving the result of the photointerpretation. The aim of this guide was that it should serve as a reference for all those working on the project, especially for the photo interpreters and for those responsible for national land cover cartographic series who could apply or replicate this methodology in their countries.

3. They allow for multi-scale observation of the territory, from local to global scale, because of different satellite orbits, observation heights, fields of vision and spatial resolution.

There is now a land use and land cover cartographic series for the whole of the European Union (EU), drawn up at different times (1990, 2000 and 2006). This is a very useful tool for explaining and illustrating the changes that have taken place, especially in the most dynamic parts of the European territory. As we shall see below, this series of satellite images is a valuable source of geographical information for researchers who are working on the simulation of future scenarios on different scales: regional, national and continental.

4. Data acquisition frequency allows multitemporal observations. It is possible to monitor both dynamic processes that take place very fast on Earth, such as meteorological phenomena, and processes taking place over years such as deforestation and the shifting of the agricultural frontier.

5. Homogeneity of lighting conditions during the recording of images. Satellite images are recorded in a short time and, in the case of sun synchronous satellites, at a similar pass time, so that the acquisition conditions (time, height of the sun over the horizon, azimuth) are the same. This quality makes it easier to interpret satellite images than aerial photographs.

6. Other advantages include the digital format in which space information is usually recorded, making it easy to connect with other data in GIS (Geographical Information Systems). Also, this format makes it easier to receive images almost in real time, so that emergency managers can receive strategic information to mitigate the consequences of catastrophes caused by certain natural risks.

Many tutorials exist, but we shall stress only four.

The European Communities (1993) brought out a technical guide to the CORINE-Land Cover project. This produced, in a harmonised way, land use and land cover maps on a scale 1:100,000, with a common hierarchical legend based on the visual interpretation of Landsat or Spot images. The second part of the guide explains the 44 categories at level 3 of the legend. A satellite image is provided showing an CopyrightŠ Nuova Cultura

National Geographic (1998) published a very interesting world atlas based on images captured by different sensors and on mosaics built up from multiple satellite images. After the introduction explaining the technology used by Earth observation systems, the atlas covers the global phenomena (surface temperature of the sea and emerged land masses, sea level variability, differences between day and nighttime temperatures, precipitation, depth of terrestrial and marine ice masses, distribution and primary productivity of ecosystems, wind speeds, topography and bathymetry of the Earth, plate tectonics, hurricanes and other atmospheric phenomena) that are so worrying for public opinion, in the context of studies on global change. There is then a thematic review showing geo-forms, forces of nature, human impacts and a catalogue of cities by continent.

One of the earliest and best-known tutorials, which included a broad repertoire of Landsat satellite images, was the work by Short (1982). An updated version of this tutorial can be consulted at Short (2010). In this recent digital publication, the author suggests how Landsat images can be used to support a variety of geographical practices at different academic levels by illustrating several themes. It contains notes for both teachers and students. Users can download a computer program for digitally handling satellite images.

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The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS, 2009) also offers an on-line tutorial that includes a large number of satellite images with examples and exercises to aid learning on subjects related to Geography and Earth Sciences.

The purpose of this study is to reflect on the usefulness of satellite images for teaching Geography and other related disciplines such as Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences. It presents the Remote Sensing and Environment teaching guide, a tutorial designed for this purpose. Two examples will also be given to illustrate the process of urbanisation and the urban network on two scales – a global scale for the world as a whole and a regional scale focusing on the region of Madrid.

2. Remote Sensing and Environment Teaching Guide This work (Martínez-Vega and Martín, 2010) is another recent tutorial on satellite images, sponsored by the Spanish Remote Sensing Association.

The aims of this guide are the following.

1. To make known the physical principles of Remote Sensing and its advantages over other systems for observing the Earth and, above all, to provide a selection of environmental applications of Remote Sensing.

2. To provide good-quality visual teaching materials for teachers at university and secondary levels to explain the geographical phenomena and environmental processes that are of concern to society.

3. To facilitate access to other teaching resources, especially other images and space photographs available on the image servers consulted.

4. To make students and readers of the guide aware of the need to preserve the Environment and to adopt practices to respect it.

This tutorial has been created as a product within the National Cartographic Plan1. It is 1

The Spanish National Cartographic Plan (20132016), approved in December 2013 by the

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offered as an audiovisual pack on Remote Sensing and the Environment, comprising this tutorial and an introductory video (UNED, 2011) which are complementary and freely accessible on the Internet. It is linked to subject g in Annex III of the LISIGE2 and the INSPIRE Directive: Didactics, which covers physical and political aspects and any other information for teaching purposes.

As stated above, the guide is designed mainly for secondary school and university teachers on subjects related to Geography, Earth Sciences and Environmental Science. It also addresses the general public, that is, anyone interested in knowing more about techniques and tools for observing the Earth, the Environment, natural risks and the human footprint on the ecosystems of our planet.

This is a teaching resource containing extensive visual information: • 241 vertical, oblique and three-dimensional images obtained from sun synchronous and geostationary satellites, manned platforms and the International Space Station; • 42 field photos; • 14 maps; • 12 figures or sketches.

The latter support and complement the view obtained from space. The former illustrate various natural phenomena and risks and the various human impacts on natural resources. The images come from the websites of the most relevant space agencies (NASA, ESA, DLR, CNES, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, NSPO), consortia of private satellite image distribution enterprises (Spot Image, Digital Globe, GeoEye, Deimos) and other environmental, cooperation and research agencies (UNEP, USGS, NOAA, NCGIA, ITOPF).

The use of computers, digital whiteboards and video projectors in classrooms makes it easier to transmit knowledge and provide access to teaching resources.

Government, aims to share infrastructure, resources and geographic and cartographic information (topographic and thematic).

2 LISIGE is the acronym for Act 14/2010 on Spanish Infrastructure and Geographic Information Services (Official State Bulletin, nº 163, pp. 59628-59652).

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The tutorial has 7 chapters. The first contains a brief introduction. The second summarises the history of Remote Sensing. The third gives basic notions of Remote Sensing so that readers can understand the content of the guide. The fourth presents the advantages of spatial Remote Sensing as opposed to other traditional systems for observing the Earth. These introductory chapters complement the above-mentioned video (UNED, 2011).

The fifth chapter covers various phenomena and natural risks as seen from space (hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, sandstorms, landforms, rivers and water masses, glaciers). The sixth chapter analyses human activities (land cover models, urbanisation processes, mining activities). It also covers the human imprint on the land and on the Environment (deforestation, forest fires, draining of wetlands, eutrophication of water masses, oil spills at sea). A number of very significant impacts are singled out and their environmental consequences are discussed.

The last section lists manuals and tutorials on Remote Sensing so that the readers, students and teachers using the guide can expand their knowledge on this technique for observing the Earth.

The contents of this teaching guide are useful for teaching Geography.

In secondary education in Spain, satellite images and geological photography are used to show singular geographical and geological elements (impact craters, volcanic craters), geomorphological phenomena (rivers, coasts), meteorological phenomena. Some images allow for comparative analysis of evolution over time of ecosystems (glaciers) and certain processes (desertification, fires).

Other Spanish-speaking countries (Mexico, Argentina) also use satellite images to teach Geography in secondary education. These are considered useful tools for giving a panoramic view of the Earth’s surface. The aim is that students should learn to use satellite images together with other geographical information in order to understand territory on a local, regional, national and global scale.

In higher secondary education (Bachillerato), Copyright© Nuova Cultura

this tutorial could be useful for teachers of Earth and Environmental Science (2nd year). The examples that illustrate the guide can be used as teaching resources, at least for topics related to the main environmental problems – spatial remote sensing, radiometry, mineral deposits, impact of mining, volcanic risks, seismic risks, flooding risks, gravitational risks, general circulation of the atmosphere, risk situations caused by rainfall, atmospheric pollution, water contamination, water management, land and water ecosystems, impacts of agricultural and cattle-rearing, forest management, protected areas and the impact of erosion.

The tutorial might also be useful for teaching Geography (2nd year) to explain matters related to the relief of Spain, climate zones, biogeographic regions, hydrographic network and basins, the urbanisation process and urban networks, agricultural landscapes and the relation between Geography and the Environment.

University entrance tests usually include questions based on satellite images and aerial orthophotographs.

The contents of this tutorial are also related to several subjects covered in university degree courses on Geography.

For example, based on the syllabus for the Degree in Geography and Land Planning of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the images in this guide and in the repositories listed in it can be used to explain a wide range of subjects including Territory and the Environment, Climatology (1st year), Geomorphology and Hydrogeography, European Geography, Urban Geography, Rural Geography, Biogeography, Spanish Geography, Cartography and Representation Techniques (2nd year), Remote Sensing and Photointerpretation, Geographic Information Systems, Environmental Planning (3rd year) and Land Planning (4th year) or Regional Geography of Madrid (optional).

In the similar degree course offered by the University of Zaragoza (Spain), it would be useful to use multitemporal images illustrating the changes taking place in the world’s large metropolitan areas and conurbations for the subject of Urban Processes and land organisation (2nd semester).

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In the traditional subjects of Regional Geography and even in the descriptive subjects of European Geography and World Geography, the visual resources in this tutorial could be of use to the teacher when explaining topics of interest related to the main morphostructural units of relief, the atmospheric factors of climate (air masses, anticyclones and depressions), natural landscapes, the coastline and hydrographic network, urban networks, land use and land cover, agricultural landscapes and forests, etc.

Finally, satellite images are used regularly as a source of information to develop thematic mapping of land use and land cover in the compulsory subject of Visual Analysis in the Master courses on Geographic Information Technologies at the Spanish universities of Alcalá and Zaragoza and the Ecuadorian university of Azuay.

The teaching guide in Remote Sensing and

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the Environment is available in pdf format on various websites. Access is free. Originally, it was located on the website of the Spanish Remote Sensing Association and in the institutional repository of the Spanish National Research Council (Digital CSIC) but recently it has been placed on the Research Gate platform.

The statistics on these repositories and data on distribution of two complementary editions in CD format produced by the CSIC and Ibercaja show that since 2010 it has been downloaded 4,705 times (Figure 1). Downloads from the Spanish Remote Sensing Association’s website have not been taken into account because there is no access to such statistics.

75% of downloads of the tutorial took place in Spain and Latin America. It is significant that 8% of downloads were in the United States. This is perhaps because of the role of Spanish as a second language there.

Figure 1. Downloads of the teaching guide on Remote Sensing and the Environment between 2010 and 2014.

The abscissa axis is shown on a logarithmic scale.

Source: CSIC, Ibercaja and Research Gate.

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3. First example of application

4. Second example of application

We would like to give an example for Geography teachers of how it can be used on a global scale. Figure 2 shows a striking mosaic of multitemporal images from the DMSP satellite (Defence Meteorological Satellite Program) obtained by the OLS sensor (Operational Linescan System). Because of its high radiometric sensitivity, even at night, scientists were quick to realise how useful it could be for generating a map to locate permanent lights on Earth. The lit-up areas correspond to the most urbanised areas although these are not necessarily the most highly-populated.

A study is presented below that can be used

by Geography teachers to explain, on a regional scale, the intense changes taking place in land use and land cover in the functional regions organised by a large metropolis such as Madrid.

Satellite images, GIS and simulators provide geographical information and tools for analysing, both visually and cartographically, the changes that have taken place and those that can be expected over coming decades. This information is very useful when decisions have to be taken by land planners and for designing a territorial strategy. This is a clear example of the connection between research and teaching.

This mosaic shows not only the distribution of the human population in the world but also patterns of human occupation on the continents.

It is very useful for explaining patterns of urbanisation in the world and imbalances in the urban network on a global scale.

Regarding human occupation of territories, there is a clear preference for coastal as opposed to inland areas of continents and for the strip between parallels 35º and 70º in each hemisphere.

There also seems to be a relation between lighting and socio-economic development, because it is not only the developed countries of Europe and America that are very well-lit but also the highlypopulated emerging countries in South-East Asia.

There is also a relation between the “light lines” and the main communication networks.

The latter have sometimes determined or guided urban development along them. In other cases, they are the result of urbanisation. Examples can be seen in Africa, along the river Nile, and in the United States, where parallel light lines cross the Mid-West towards Denver and the Rocky Mountains. In Russia, light radii converge in Moscow, indicating centralised settlement. In Central Asia, the Trans-Siberian track creates a stream of light, another example of planned expansion. In the southern hemisphere, light corresponds to ports and the colonial past.

In comparison with urbanised areas, there are also vast uninhabited or weakly occupied spaces: deserts, polar areas and large tropical and boreal forests, all of which are dark. This is the anecúmene.

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The region of Madrid is located in the centre of Spain (Figure 3). It has a surface area of 8,026 km2 and a population of 6,448,272 inhabitants. This is the highest population density in Spain (803 inhabitants/km2). Since the early 1990s, there has been marked demographic growth (+21%) and intense expansion of urban, industrial and commercial areas and of infrastructure (Plata Rocha et al., 2010).

Infrastructure has been key in structuring the territory. It has led to widespread improvement in accessibility throughout the region. The region’s agricultural land, forests and Protected Areas are subject to great urban, industrial and recreational pressures which pose a threat to their extension and their value (RodríguezRodríguez and Martínez-Vega, 2013). This process of urban sprawl is representative of the far-reaching changes that have taken place in Mediterranean metropolitan regions.

Gallardo (2013, pp. 141-260) has studied changing land use in the region of Madrid over four time periods that represent recent decades.

She has drawn up and harmonised, using a common legend and scale, the 1982 regional map of vegetation and land use and the maps from the European CORINE-Land Cover Programme of 1990, 2000 and 2006 (LópezVizoso, 1989; Feranec et al., 2010). The latter were drawn up using visual analysis of images from the Landsat and Spot satellites. Figure 4 summarises the land use and land cover map for 2006. A legend at an intermediate level between levels 1 and 2 is given to make it easier to read.

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Between 1990 and 2006 urban areas are seen to have grown by 72% and industrial and commercial areas doubled in size. Forests gained over 4% of the regional area. Agricultural land, however, lost 13%.

Subsequently, Gallardo (2013, pp. 261-351) drew up a future scenario for land use and land cover for 2025. This is a spatially explicit and dynamic model in raster format. It uses the Land Change Modeler (LCM) that is based on a neural network method and on the spatial and time trends for land use in the region recorded between 1990 and 2006. It relates the explanatory variables with changes in land use and land cover. The amount of change is modelled using a Markov chain analysis. The dependent variables are simplified land use and cover (urban, industrial and commercial, arable land, heterogeneous agriculture, forest, shrub and pastures, others).

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Two independent groups of variables were considered: biophysical (altitude, slope, lithology and distance from rivers and reservoirs), and socio-economic (mainly accessibility measured in terms of distance and time to travel to towns, airports, motorways and main roads and the railway network). Verburg et al. (2004) considered that accessibility is the most explanatory and determinant factor for changes in land use and land cover. Between 1990 and 2006 urban areas are seen to have grown by 72% and industrial and commercial areas doubled in size. Forests gained over 4% of the regional area. Agricultural land, however, lost 13%. Subsequently, Gallardo (2013, pp. 261-351) drew up a future scenario for land use and land cover for 2025. This is a spatially explicit and dynamic model in raster format. It uses the Land Change Modeler (LCM) that is based on a neural network method and on the spatial and time trends for land use in the region recorded between 1990 and 2006. It relates the explanatory variables with changes in land use and land cover.

Figure 2. Mosaic of multitemporal images of the Earth, registered by the Operational Linescan System (OLS) of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite.

Source: www.visibleearth.nasa.gov.

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Figure 3. Location map of the region of Madrid.

Source: elaboration of P. Echavarría.

The amount of change is modelled using a Markov chain analysis. The dependent variables are simplified land use and cover (urban, industrial and commercial, arable land, heterogeneous agriculture, forest, shrub and pastures, others). Two independent groups of variables were considered: biophysical (altitude, slope, lithology and distance from rivers and

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reservoirs), and socio-economic (mainly accessibility measured in terms of distance and time to travel to towns, airports, motorways and main roads and the railway network). Verburg et al. (2004) considered that accessibility is the most explanatory and determinant factor for changes in land use and land cover.

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Figure 4. Land use and land cover map for the region of Madrid in 2006.

Source: elaboration of M. Gallardo and P. Echavarría.

In addition, a number of restrictions that limit the implementation of certain land uses were taken into account, such as environmental legislation (protected areas, water police zones, infrastructure protection zones, burned areas that cannot be reclassified for a period of 30 years).

Statistically, between 2006 and 2025, urban and industrial and commercial areas are each expected to increase their surface area by 33%, and forests by just +0.72%. However, arable land is expected to decrease by -9.35% and general agricultural land by -0.87%.

Certain factors (neighbouring areas) that may encourage the location of certain land uses were also taken into account.

Geographically, figure 5 shows a simulation of trends and spatial distribution of land uses in the region of Madrid.

Demand for each land use and land cover is determined by a transition matrix indicating the probability of change from one use to another.

This shows the extensive artificialisation of the region if recent trends continue.

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politan area, towards the south and south-east, following the main transport lines. They are expected to fill the current non-urban interstices.

There is also likely to be scattered growth in the mountainous areas to the north-west of the region as a result of increasing numbers of second homes.

The traditional urban network of the region of Madrid, which is of a concentric-radial type, is likely to be reinforced, even though the main central area is growing and becoming more compact, with the main radii being located along the radial motorways.

Industrial and commercial uses will mostly spread towards the south, south-east and east of the metropolis following the axes of the A4, A3, A2 motorways and towards the airport. Both categories will gain ground from arable land. In the south-west of the region, agricultural land will also lose surface area as a result of the abandonment of marginal lands, which will be invaded by grasslands and scrub.

teachers anywhere in the world. For use in the classroom, all that is required is a device for visualising the images and a connection to the Internet.

The teaching guide on Remote Sensing and the Environment can serve as the basis for enjoyable, visual teaching of Geography, in a similar way to other teaching initiatives (Sevilla, 2004). It can be used in combination with other complementary materials, as proposed in the Spanish National Cartographic Plan: on-line videos (UNED, 2011), DVD and VHS (Chuvieco, 1995), repositories of space images and cartographic repertoires.

In this way it is possible to meet the objectives laid down in the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA) regarding more active teaching methodologies, based on the use of computer resources in classrooms (Marrón, 2011). Active teaching is necessary to replace the traditional, deep-rooted, memory-based teaching of Geography.

In summary, far-reaching changes can be expected in land use in the form of gains, losses and interchanges. These processes will have important implications for the region’s geography.

Land planners must be prepared and must plan to avoid possible environmental impacts.

The teaching guide presented in this study may help students and future teachers to achieve the following basic targets: skills of perception, orientation, systematization and understanding of space, the values of environmental and social commitment and skills in using Information and Communication Technologies.

5. Discussion

For this to be possible, certain impediments that still exist in some schools need to be corrected.

Satellite images are undoubtedly a useful tool for teaching Geography at every stage of education. As sources, they provide very visual, up-to-date information that is easy to understand.

The fact that they are dynamic means that they provide sequences and set of images that illustrate very variable multitemporal geographic processes, from those occurring in just a few hours (meteorology) to those occurring over decades (deforestation, urban growth). Their spatial coverage gives multi-scale information.

Geography teachers can investigate or explain processes occurring on a local scale as well as other more global phenomena.

In addition, the satellite images available in the repositories referred to in the guide are freely accessible.

x

Little interest on the part of teachers in didactic innovation.

x

Incomplete teacher training and lack of information on new resources and training possibilities.

x

Incomplete provision of digital equipment to support teachers in their work.

x

Poor Internet connections preventing such online resources from being used in an agile way.

x

Paper continues to be the dominant support in classrooms. Paper maps are still used more than digital maps, aerial orthophotographs, satellite images or the teaching guides, tutorials and videos that are available on the Internet.

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6. Conclusions Today’s teachers and students have at their disposal a wide range of resources for teaching and learning Geography. We are convinced that greater use of such resources in classrooms will make it easier to achieve the objectives and skills laid down in syllabuses.

It will also change the way in which Geography is learnt. Learning by rote should be abandoned and replaced by a more modern

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method that takes up the advantages of the teaching resources available on the Internet, especially satellite images. The new generations of students will have better skills and will be trained to take an active part in solving environmental problems in the places where they live.

In this way, students can be useful collaborators for managers and planners of the territory.

Figure 5. Land use forecast for 2025 in the region of Madrid.

Source: elaboration of M. Gallardo and P. Echavarría.

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Acknowledgements Gallardo, M. was sponsored by a JAE-Predoc grant (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC). The Remote Sensing and Environment teaching guide is an activity that forms part of the National Environmental Remote Sensing Network (CGL200907983-E/CLI), financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

10.

11.

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Sevilla B.S., “Proyecto Videoteca Virtual ATEI”, Cuadernos de Documentación Multimedia, 15, 2004, http://multidoc. rediris.es/cdm/viewarticle.php?id=30&layou t=html.

Short N.M., The Landsat Tutorial Work Book. Basics of satellite Remote Sensing, Washington DC, NASA, 1982.

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NASA”, 2010, http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

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Verburg P.H., Overmars K.P. and Witte N., “Accesibility and land-use patterns at the forest fringe in the northeastern part of the Philippines”, The Geographical Journal, 170, 2004, pp. 238-255.

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MAPPING SOCIETIES Edited by Edoardo Boria

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 69-78 DOI: 10.4458/5196-07

Teaching Cartography with Comics: Some Examples from BeccoGiallo’s Graphic Novel Series Giada Peterlea Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Geografiche e dell’Antichità, University of Padua, Padua, Italy Email: giada.peterle@gmail.com

a

Received: March 2015 – Accepted: April 2015

Abstract This article suggests the use of comics, particularly of graphic novels, as valuable instructional tools for teaching cartography. Of particular interest is the idea that comics can be used to develop students’ geographical competencies, their ability to think actively about cartographical issues, and their capacity to interact with “maps as mappings” (Dodge, Kitchin and Perkins, 2009). The theoretical references used to conduct the deep interdisciplinary proposal and analysis include: the growing field of literary cartography, recent post-representational theories in cartography, and the emerging field of “comic book geography” (Dittmer, 2014). The article reads comics as maps and analyzes their map-like features to demonstrate that both maps and comics ask the reader-user to be actively engaged to decipher, orient, and practice them.

Proposing to read “maps as comics”, “maps of comics”, “maps and mappings in comics”, and “comics as maps and mappings”, the article suggests the possible practical employment of comics in cartography classes. Furthermore, this study uses examples from BeccoGiallo’s comic series to demonstrate that graphic novels may help students become more aware map readers and users, by being involved in an active spatial practice. Finally, this article focuses on the unexplored educational potential of graphic novels by exploring the improvement of students’ understanding of post-representational cartographical approaches through comic use.

Keywords: Literary Cartography, Post-Representational Cartography, Graphic Novel, Comic Book Geography, Mapping, Teaching Cartography

1. Introduction This article’s main aim is to suggest the use of comic books, particularly of graphic novels, for teaching new understanding of cartography. By highlighting the intrinsic spatial essence of the grammar of comics, this article compares comic books and maps as a useful teaching tool.

Fundamental theoretical references for the Copyright© Nuova Cultura

proposal of teaching cartography through and with comic books will be reflections on the educational potential of comics (VV.AA., 2005, p. 1), the gradual convergence of cartographic and literary theory within the interdisciplinary field of literary cartography (Papotti, 2012; Rossetto, 2014; Ryan, 2003), and finally the recent advancement of postrepresentational cartographic theories (Caquard, 2015; Dodge, Kitchin and Perkins, 2009).

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2. Teaching with comics and graphic novels It is evident that the benefits of the employment of comic books are not a new aspect for educationists, as a 1944 issue of the Journal of Educational Sociology was devoted to The Comics as an Educational Medium. As argued almost 70 years ago, it was a natural development that a popular and widespread medium such as comics would be utilized in the direction of instruction (Sones, 1944, p. 234).

Nevertheless, despite often being included in literature, history, and sociology classes, comics remain little recognized as instructional tools (Kleeman, 2006, p. 145), particularly in teaching geography. Nonetheless, in recent years, there has been an increasing number of works indicating the educational value of comic books, and the growing academic interest in this field reflects a recent renaissance of the use of comics in classrooms (VV.AA., 2005, p. 2).

The volume Teaching the Graphic Novel, edited by Stephen E. Tabachnick in 2009, well illustrates and explores the theoretical, social, aesthetic, and pedagogical issues that the graphic novel has posed for literature teachers (Tabachnick, 2009, p. 2).

It suggests some compelling reasons for adopting comics in teaching other disciplines as well. Indeed, as Charles Hatfield indicates in his chapter Defining Comics in the Classroom; or, The Pros and Cons of Unfixability, the intrinsic “interdisciplinary” or even “antidisciplinary” essence of comics nudges us “out of accustomed habits of thought and into productive grey areas where various disciplines overlap and inform one another” (Hatfield, 2009, p. 23). This is tremendously helpful in bringing students closer to the capacity of going beyond disciplinary limitations and boundaries (Mandaville and Avila, 2009, p. 249), thereby creating connections among different disciplines. Moreover, “graphic novels fit students’ sensibilities at a deep cognitive level” (Tabachnick, 2009, p. 4) by connecting the language they adopt in with what they use outside the classroom, thereby engaging “today’s visually oriented students” (Mandaville and Avila, 2009, p. 246) with a combination of visual and textual communication. Therefore, comic books perfectly embrace the contemporary Copyright© Nuova Cultura

“cognitive shift” toward a hybrid form of visualand-textual-reading encouraged by the everyday languages of the Internet, Power Point, and cell phone screens (Tabachnick, 2009, p. 4).

Being motivational and instructional materials that can add relevance, diversification, and enjoyment to teaching as well as to learning (Kleeman, 2006, p. 146), comics – particularly graphic novels – are taken as required readings into courses teaching urban studies, memory, autobiography, cultural and postcolonial studies, and even geopolitical geography. Despite the illustrated compelling pedagogical reasons for studying with comics, they have never been considered as educational tools that could also be employed for teaching cartography thus far.

3. Teaching post-representational cartography with(in) comics In her 1949 article An Experiment in the Use of Comics as Instructional Material, Katharine H. Hutchinson referred to the possibilities comics could offer, among others, to geography teachers.

However, Hutchinson simply alluded to the geographical elements emerging from comic books in the form of direct references or by implication in the characters and setting of the stories (Hutchinson, 1949, p. 240). Being apparently the most simple and immediate, this approach continues to prevail for the employment of comics in geography classes. However, this approach merely looks for explicitly mentioned geographical references, without aiming to deeply analyze the geographies that emerge from the peculiar spatial structure of the comic book itself1. In his article, Not Just for Fun: Using Cartoons to Investigate Geographical Issues written in 2006, Grant Kleeman moves forward in the consideration of the possible contribution of comics to the learning and teaching of geographical themes. As Kleeman states, “the communicative power of cartoons lies in their ability to present often-complex issues, events 1

For more information on the peculiar geographies emerging from different contents and forms of literature, and generally in fiction, see the analysis developed by Marc Brosseau in his seminal article “The City in Textual Form: Manhattan Transfer’s New York”, 1995, pp. 89-114.

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and social trends in a simplified and accessible form” (Kleeman, 2006, p. 145) that helps students in approaching geographical subjects.

From an academic perspective, in recent years, “comic book geography” is growing as a new, independent cultural geographical area of research. First indicated in Jason Dittmer’s 2010 seminal article Comic Book Visualities: A Methodological Manifesto on Geography, Montage and Narration, comic book geography has definitely been confirmed as an independent field of study with the publication of the volume entitled Comic Book Geographies in 2014, which was edited by Dittmer himself. This contribution, together with Juliet J. Fall’s studies on geopolitical issues in comics (Fall, 2006), were able to highlight the value of using comics in cultural geographical studies, thereby drawing geographers’ attention to the unforeseen possibilities comics offer them for understanding the contemporary experience of space (Dittmer, 2010, p. 223).

Aiming to proceed a step further in this promising field, I suggest here that the “spatial grammar of the comics page” (Dittmer, 2010, p.

235) can open not only geography, but even cartography up to new understandings. In my view, a cartographic appreciation of comics may disclose unforeseen strategies and innovative methodologies for teaching cartography. This aim responds to the need for renewal and change in the field of map-related pedagogy that Patrick Wiegand calls for in his 2006 volume entitled Learning and Teaching with Maps. Indeed, as Wiegand affirms, despite the incredible popularity maps have come to enjoy in previous decades, map education was not able to respond to the fast mutation of cartographic thinking (Wiegand, 2006, pp. 1-2). More specifically, the aim here is to demonstrate how the particular structure of comics, relying on a deep engagement of the reader, could help students in developing their own mapping and reading-amap skills. As Wiegand reports, if “problem solving, making inferences and decision making (especially with interactive mapping tools) is under-researched” (Wiegand, 2006, p. 2), in educational cartography, comic books appear to be a useful pedagogical tool for the development of map and geo-information science pedagogy.

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In fact, comics appear to intrinsically mirror and structurally embrace recent advancements toward a post-representational approach to cartography2. This new perspective understands maps not as merely static, fixed, and detached representations, but as dynamic, contingent, and embodied practices. While maps are always “inbecoming” entities, which come into being only when someone engages with them (Del Casino and Hanna, 2006; Dodge, Kitchin and Perkins, 2009), comic books are graphic objects that have to be read to truly gain their realization.

Following Dittmer (2010, p. 223), who indicates that the visualities of comic books are profoundly spatial in both representational and non-representational aspects, one could see the possible connection between comic books and post-representational cartography3. Comic books reveal their “map-like” nature in manifold ways: through the alternation of both visual and antioptical elements within/between panels (Dittmer, 2010, p. 228); through the intrinsically spatial organization of the page; through the spatial choices the author has to make “in the distribution of spaces and occupation of places” (Groensteen, 2007, p. 21) while composing the story. Furthermore, not only being able to represent but also perform and enact (Round, 2014, pp. 130-139), comics display a truly postrepresentational essence that emerges through the performative nature of their reading practice.

The gutters between panels present the reader a story that is full of holes, which are gaps in the meaning he/she has to fill up to find his/her “pathway to follow” (Groensteen, 2007, pp. 710). By alternating reticence and representation, linearity and discontinuity, comics like maps offer the reader a space for being involved in the construction of spatial meanings. The reading experience becomes an actual mapping- and

2

For a review of the state of the art of non- and postrepresentational studies see Cadman, 2009; for a particular focus on post-representational cartography see Caquard, 2015.

3 A great example of hybridization between comics and cartographical theory is the chapter by John Krygier and Denis Wood “Ce n’est pas le monde (This is not the world)” in Dodge, Kitchin and Perkins, 2009.

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orientation-practice4. According to Marie-Laure Ryan, a reader is always required to do the mapping of the salient features of the fictional world (Ryan, 2003, p. 335). This process is heightened in comics. Indeed, passing through the spatial structure of the comic book is like attempting to construct a mobile map for the reader that recomposes all the fragments in a coherent constellation. As Charles Hatfield asserts, if there is no “right” way to read the comic page (Hatfield 2005, p. 65), I would suggest that this “plurivectorial narration” (Groensteen, 2007, p. 108), which permits multidirectional movements of the reader’s eyes through the page, represents the main postrepresentational feature of comics. From an educational perspective, making the experience of reading a “plurivectorial narration” could also encourage students to create their spatial strategies and tactical choices, thereby helping them in developing their own cartographical skills.

Not only a “motivational tool” that catches students’ attention, comic books could be employed in geography and cartography classes to help students in becoming more active “critical thinkers” as well as “viewers” (Kleeman, 2006, p. 146; Versacci, 2001, pp. 6465). Referring to Versacci’s article’s title, How Comic Books Can Change the Way our Students See Literature, in the last paragraph of this article, I attempt to further demonstrate “how comic books can change the way our students not only see cartography but even engage with maps.” By mentioning a few examples from BeccoGiallo Editions, I suggest how comic books could be usefully employed in teaching cartography.

4. “The comic book and the map”:

examples from BeccoGiallo’s editorial series Recently, the connections between cartography and fictive literary narrations have engaged literary critics as well as map theorists, thereby providing new resonance to the 4

For the interpretation of the encounter between the reader and the book as a “geographical event” see Hones, 2008.

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interdisciplinary field of “literary cartography.”

The hybridization between the book and the map is at the base of the theoretical and methodological exchange that I suggest for considering the relationship between comics (as fictional narratives) and maps. Furthermore, I will take into account the 2014 article entitled Theorizing Maps with Literature, in which Tania Rossetto highlights the unforeseen insights offered by fictive works of literature to map theory from a post-representational cartographic perspective.

In order to suggest some of the still unexplored ways in which comics could be employed in maps-related pedagogy, I begin first from the theoretical frame proposed by Davide Papotti in his Il libro e la mappa.

Prospettive di incontro tra cartografia e letteratura (The Book and the Map: Perspectives for an Encounter between Cartography and Literature) appeared in the volume Piani sul mondo. Le mappe nell’immaginazione letteraria (Plans on the World: Maps in the Literary Imagination) edited by Giulio Iacoli and Marina Guglielmi (2013). Second, I select a few representative graphic novel examples from BeccoGiallo’s Editions. In fact, with their specific attention to “reality comics” and “graphic journalism”, BeccoGiallo’s publications appear particularly suitable for the purpose of teaching concrete geographical subjects through comic books’ creative representation and engagement with maps and cartography.

Beginning with Papotti’s (2012) suggestion, I further analyze “the comic book and the map,” thereby shifting the attention from the relationship between literature and cartography to that between comics and cartography. The analysis is developed through the following four sections: “maps as comics,” “maps of comics,” “maps and mappings in comics,” and “comics as maps and mappings.”

First, I suggest that it is possible to read “maps as comics” by inviting students to reflect on the process of reduction, simplification, and symbolization of the reality that maps undertake (Mori, 1990, p. 5), by comparing it with the ways in which comics use visual elements to

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condense, concentrate, and symbolize the story they tell.

Second, I propose to realize “maps of comics”, referring in particular to the renowned method elaborated by Franco Moretti for producing a “cartography of literature” (Moretti, 1997). Therefore, a “cartography of comics” could elaborate a cartographical projection of the geographical spaces and places mentioned within comic narration. On the one hand, this could help students in researching, selecting, and then visualizing the geographical information contained in the graphic novel by developing their personal cartography of the narration. On the other hand, this could also open up new possibilities for the critical analysis and comprehension of the comic book itself. Figure 1, taken from Destinazione Freetown (Destination Freetown) (2012) by Raul Pantaleo and Marta Gerardi, demonstrates how the insertion of a map representing the protagonist’s journey back home from Italy to Sierra Leone helps readers in locating, summarizing, and assimilating the geographical data inserted throughout the comic book. This graphic novel is the first of a trilogy published with BeccoGiallo by Pantaleo, Gerardi and, from the second volume on, Luca Molinari, which I consider particularly useful for the proposal of teaching geography and cartography with comics. Indeed, being part of the architecture studio Tamassociati, the three authors show not only a deep attention to motifs related to geography, urbanism, and the “resistance of places” to abusive urban speculation, but also a great capacity for playing with maps and plane or three-dimensional representations of spaces (Figure 1).

Indeed, the second volume of the trilogy, Architetture resistenti. Per una bellezza civile e democratica (Resistant Architectures. For a Civil and Democratic Beauty) (2013) is helpful in introducing the third section, which proposes to look for “maps and mappings in comics.”

Like in literary texts, the appearance of “cartography in comics” could be “literal” or “textual” (Papotti, 2012, p. 84). In the first case, the cartographic element is literally inserted

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within the comic book. In the second one, the cartographic element is implicitly mentioned and evoked throughout the narration. Inspired by post-representational approaches to maps, teachers could search not only for the reproduction of maps (cartographic images) within the comic’s narration, but also for the representation of mappings, that is of the disparate practical involvements the characters have with maps. From this perspective, Figures 2 and 3, selected from Zeina Abirached’s Il gioco delle rondini (The Game of the Swallows) (2009), represent the intimate cartography of the protagonist’s collapsing city map during a warnight in Beirut; Figure 4, from Architetture resistenti, exemplifies the potentiality of comics to shift from the depiction of a map to that of an active engagement with it. If employed as instructional tools, Abirached’s mental maps could help in teaching how cartographies can be (re)interpreted, manipulated, and reshaped through personal perceptions and projections of space. Furthermore, Pantaleo’s, Gerardi’s, and Molinari’s pages will illustrate how cartography not only depicts but also invites the reader to perform the map by (visually) visiting the places located on it (Figures 2, 3, and 4).

The fourth cartographic educational use of comics that I would like to suggest is based on the “map-like” features of comics; I propose to understand “comics as maps and mappings” in a post-representational sense. Like works of literature, “comics as maps” transmit an informative content and respond to a “call for orientation” (Papotti, 2012, pp. 77-78). As mappings, through their peculiar spatial and even “cartographical” grammar, comics create emergent cartographies, thereby offering students an actual cartographical experience that resembles actual cartographic engagement. On the one hand, the comic book reader performs a mapping practice by reading the maps represented in the plot; on the other hand, he/she is forced to find an orientation in the space of the comic book itself, and collecting visual metaphors and symbols which, as coordinates, direct his/her reading strategies.

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Figure 1. Pantaleo R. and Gerardi M., Destinazione Freetown (Destination Freetown). Source: BeccoGiallo, 2012.

Figure 2. Abirached Z., Il gioco delle rondini (The Game of the Swallows), pp. 22-23. Source: BeccoGiallo, 2009.

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Figure 3. Abirached Z., Il gioco delle rondini (The Game of the Swallows), pp. 26-27. Source: BeccoGiallo, 2009.

Figure 4. Pantaleo R., Gerardi M. and Molinari L., Architetture resistenti. Per una bellezza civile e democratica (Resistant Architectures. For a Civil and Democratic Beauty). Source: BeccoGiallo, 2013.

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It is not only the “internal maps” (Ryan, 2003, p. 339), already inserted by the authors, but also the spatial architecture of the comic book itself that require a cognitive involvement (Ryan, 2003, p.

335) from the reader in creating his/her own reading map. This may help students in developing their mapping and orientation skills. The last example, in Figure 5, is picked from Terre perse.

Viaggio nell’Italia del dissesto e della speranza (Lost Lands: Voyage into Italy’s Collapse and Hope, the third volume of the trilogy by Pantaleo, Gerardi, and Molinari). It could be used in the classroom as an example of the different, personal, mobile, and contingent ways in which readers themselves could engage with maps. In fact, by being superimposed on a human scale map and portrayed while literally walking on and through it, the protagonists invite the reader him/herself to be engaged in the cartographic experience within the comic book (Figure 5).

5. Conclusions

The article began by enumerating the merit of comics in enabling students to be more engaged and making even difficult subjects easier to understand. It also goes a step forward by analyzing “comics as maps,” since both require an active engagement of the reader-user to be deciphered, oriented, and practiced. Through comics, students can become more aware map-readers and users by being forced to transcend the binaries of representation and practice, authoring and reading (Rossetto 2014, p. 520). Most of all, they can be encouraged to go beyond the (only apparently) inert materials that lie on the page and on the map.

Further, this article focused on the benefits derived from the use of comics and graphic novels as a means of improving students’ understanding of post-representational cartographical approaches. Of particular value is the extent to which comics can be used not only to develop students’ geographical competencies (Kleeman, 2006, p. 151) but also their ability to think actively about cartographical issues and maps.

This article considered the growing educational and instructional employment of comics and proposed their use in the teaching of cartography.

Figure 5. Pantaleo R., Gerardi M. and Molinari L., Terre perse. Viaggio nell’Italia del dissesto e della speranza (Lost Lands: Voyage into Italy’s Collapse and Hope). Source: BeccoGiallo, 2015.

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Acknowledgements I am grateful to the BeccoGiallo Publishing House, and especially to Guido Ostanel and Claudio Calia for providing me with their relevant and informed suggestions for individuating the case studies of this article.

References 1. Abirached Z., Il gioco delle rondini, Padua, BeccoGiallo, 2009.

2. Brosseau M., “The City in Textual Form: Manhattan Transfer’s New York”, Cultural Geographies, 2, 1995, pp. 89-114.

3. Cadman L., “Non-Representational Theory/ Non-Representational Geographies” in Kitchin R. and Thrift N. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, vol. 7, London, Elsevier, 2009, pp.

456-463.

4. Caquard S., “Cartography III. A Postrepresentational Perspective on Cognitive Cartography”, Progress in Human Geography, 39, 2, 2015, pp. 225-235.

5. Del Casino V.J. and Hanna S.P., “Beyond the ‘Binaries’: A Methodological Intervention for Interrogating Maps as Representational Practices”, ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 4, 1, 2006, pp. 34-56.

6. Dittmer J., “Comic Book Visualities: A Methodological Manifesto on Geography, Montage and Narration”, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35, 2, 2010, pp. 222-236.

7. Dittmer J. (Ed.), Comic Book Geographies, Mainz, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014.

8. Dodge M., Kitchin R. and Perkins C. (Eds.), Rethinking Maps: New Frontiers of Cartographic Theory, London, Routledge, 2009.

9. Fall J.J., “Embodied Geographies, Naturalised Boundaries and Uncritical Geopolitics in La Frontière Invisible”, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 24, 2006, pp. 653669.

10. Groensteen T., The System of Comics, Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 2007.

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11. Hatfield C., Alternative Comics: an Emerging Literature, Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 2005.

12. Hatfield C., “Defining Comics in the Classroom; or, The Pros and Cons of Unfixability”, in Tabachnick S.E. (Ed.), Teaching the Graphic Novel, New York, Modern Language Association, 2009, pp.

19-27.

13. Hones S., “Text as it Happens: Literary Geography”, Geography Compass, 2, 5, 2008, p. 1301-1317.

14. Hutchinson K.H., “An Experiment in the Use of Comics as Instructional Material”, Journal of Educational Sociology, 23, 4, 1949, pp. 236-245.

15. Iacoli G. and Guglielmi M. (Eds.), Piani sul mondo. Le mappe nell’immaginazione letteraria, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2012.

16. Kleeman G., “Not Just for Fun: Using Cartoons to Investigate Geographical Issues”, New Zealand Geographer, 62, 2006, pp. 144-151.

17. Krygier J. and Wood D., “Ce n’est pas le monde (This is not the world)”, in Dodge M., Kitchin R. and Perkins C. (Eds.), Rethinking maps: New Frontiers of Cartographic Theory, London, Routledge, 2009, pp. 189-219.

18. La Porta F., Uno sguardo sulla città. Gli scrittori italiani contemporanei e i loro luoghi, Rome, Donzelli, 2010.

19. Mandaville A. and Avila J.P., “It’s a word!

It’s a Picture! It’s Comics! Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Comics”, in Tabachnick S.E. (Ed.), Teaching the Graphic Novel, New York, Modern Language Association, 2009, pp. 245-253.

20. Moretti F., Atlante del romanzo europeo: 1800-1900, Turin, Einaudi, 1997.

21. Mori A., Le carte geografiche. Costruzione, interpretazione e applicazioni pratiche, Libreria Goliardica, Pisa, 1990.

22. Pantaleo R. and Gerardi M., Destinazione Freetown, Padua, BeccoGiallo, 2012.

23. Pantaleo R., Gerardi M. and Molinari L., Architetture resistenti. Per una bellezza civile e democratica, Padua, BeccoGiallo, 2013.

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24. Pantaleo R., Gerardi M. and Molinari L., Terre perse. Viaggio nell’Italia del dissesto e della speranza, Padua, BeccoGiallo, 2015.

25. Papotti D., “Il libro e la mappa. Prospettive di incontro tra cartografia e letteratura”, in Iacoli G. and Guglielmi M. (Eds.), Piani sul mondo. Le mappe nell’immaginazione letteraria, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2012, pp.

71-88.

26. Rossetto T., “Theorizing Maps with Literature”, Progress in Human Geography, 38, 4, 2014, pp. 513-530.

27. Round J., “We Share our Mother’s Health: Temporality and the Gothic in Comic Book Landscapes”, in Dittmer (Ed.), Comic Book Geographies, Mainz, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014, pp.127-140.

28. Ryan M.L., “Narrative Cartography: Toward a visual narratology”, in Kindt T. and Müller H.H. (Eds.), What is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of

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a Theory, Berlin, Walter De Geuyer and Co., 2003, pp. 333-364.

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Versacci R., “How Comic Books can Change the way our Students See Literature: One Teacher’s Perspective”, The English Journal, 91, 2, 2001, pp. 61-67.

VV.AA., “Using comics and graphic novels in the classroom (The council chronicle)”, NCTE National Council of Teachers of English. A Professional Association on Educators in English Studies, Literacy, and Language Arts, 2005, http://www.ncte.org/ magazine/archives/12203.

Wiegand P., Learning and Teaching with Maps, Abingdon, Routledge, 2006.

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GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND (PRACTICAL) CONSIDERATIONS

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 81-94 DOI: 10.4458/5196-08

The New Italian Glacier Inventory: a didactic tool for a better knowledge of the natural Alpine environment Claudio Smiragliaa, Roberto Sergio Azzonia, Carlo D’Agataa, Davide Maragnoa, Davide Fugazzaa, Guglielmina Adele Diolaiutia a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy Email: claudio.smiraglia@unimi.it

Received: June 2015 – Accepted: June 2015

Abstract A glacier inventory is an important instrument to better know the Alpine glacierized environment. After the glacier inventory realized by the Comitato Glaciologico Italiano (CGI, 1959-1962), only regional and local glacier inventories have been developed. In this work, we briefly present the New Italian Glacier Inventory which has been developed by analyzing high resolution color orthophotos acquired in the 2005-2011 time frame. In the New Italian Glacier Inventory 903 glaciers are listed, covering a total area of 369.90 km2. The largest part of the glacier area is located in the Aosta Valley Region (36.15% of the total), followed by the Lombardy Region (23.71%) and by the Province of Bolzano (23.01%). The highest number of glaciers is in Lombardy (230), followed by the Province of Bolzano (212), the Region of Aosta Valley (192), the Province of Trento (115). About 84% of the total glacier inventory is given by glaciers under 0.5 km2 covering only 21% of the total area. Glaciers wider than 1 km2 are about 9.4% of the inventory, but they cover 67.8% of the total area. In the biggest size class (>10 km 2) three glaciers are found. Only 25 glaciers (2.8% of the census as a whole) were classified as “valley glacier” and the largest part (57.3%) was classified as “mountain glacier” and “glacieret” (40%), confirming that the Italian glacier resource is distributed into many small ice bodies with only a few large glaciers.

Keywords: Alpine Glaciers, Glacier Inventory, Italy

1. Introduction Glaciers and their evolution can be defined as an important instrument to better know the Alpine environment and the impacts of climate change. Moreover, they are also precious landscape elements and valuable freshwater, energy and tourist resources. A glacier inventory is a widely applied tool to list and collect the main glacier features in a database (both quantitative Copyright© Nuova Cultura

and qualitative information). The New Italian Glacier Inventory is a project realized at the “Ardito Desio” Earth Science Department of the University of Milan by the Glaciology staff. The project was aimed at giving the most correct, updated and complete information needed to manage the high mountain areas of Italy in the best way and in particular to answer the following crucial questions: How many actual glaciers are there in Italy? What is the present

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Italian glacier coverage? How strong and fast has the climate change impact been on the cold and frozen water resource of the Italian Alps?

Elements and data to answer the above listed questions can be given only through a large scale analysis based on the most recent remote sensing and GIS techniques. The analysis was supported by the scientists who have been so keenly studying glaciers over the last decades and the managers and policy makers who have been in charge of the mountain territory and its fresh water resource. Only with the skills and knowledge of all these people has it been possible to produce a reliable, robust and complete picture of the actual Italian glaciation.

Our workflow was based on the main outlines and recommendations provided by the WGMS (World Glacier Monitoring Service) to permit worldwide comparisons (Paul et al., 2009).

2. The inventories of the Italian Glaciers Italy has a long tradition in realizing glacier inventories. After the first glacier database realized

by Carlo Porro in 1925, the most important work dealing with this context was the Italian Glacier Inventory, developed by the Comitato Glaciologico Italiano (CGI) in cooperation with the National Research Council (CNR) (1959-1962).

This inventory, mainly based on the analysis of maps and field surveys, reported 838 glaciers which covered a total area of about 500 km2 (CGICNR, 1959, 1961a, 1961b, 1962).

At the end of the 70s (XX century) the CGI was involved in the World Glacier Inventory (WGI) (Haeberli et al., 1989; Serandrei-Barbero and Zanon, 1993), which is hosted by the WGI web site (www.wgms.ch/). The total area of the Italian glacier in the WGI was about 600 km2, and also a numeric increase of glaciers was reported. The Italian data put into the WGI was taken from aerial photos. At the end of the 80s the CGI was appointed by the Environment Ministry of the Italian Government to develop a new glacier inventory. In that database the total area of the Italian glaciers was about 480 km2, indicating an actual decrease with respect to the CGI inventory and the WGI (Ajassa et al., 1997). This was the last Italian global glacier

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inventory. Afterwards, only local and regional inventories were published (among the others: Desio, 1967; Zanon, 1990; Servizio Glaciologico Lombardo, 1992; Comitato Glaciologico Trentino, 1994; Bonardi et al., 2012; Diolaiuti et al., 2012a). The project “The New Italian Glacier Inventory” was developed to fill this scientific gap and to produce an actual updated database listing the whole Italian glaciation (Smiraglia and Diolaiuti, 2015) (Figures 1 and 2).

3. Methods and source of data High resolution orthophotos were the main source of information for data collection, mainly with regard to glacier area. Indeed, to sketch out glacier boundaries and calculate glacier areas, recent color orthophotos have been analyzed, which were kindly made available by regional and local administrations. The orthophotos are derived from high resolution aerial photos mainly acquired at the end of the summer when glaciers show the minimum snow mantle. The orthophotos, surveyed between 2005 and 2011 are purchasable products, with a planimetric resolution specified by 1 pixel (pixel size = 0.5 m); the planimetric accuracy is ±1 m.

The color orthophotos have been used as base layer in a GIS (Geographic Information System) environment to draw and map glacier boundaries and then to calculate glacier areas. These data together with other important information (e.g.: glacier name, identification code, coordinates, etc.) were put into the database of the New Italian Glacier Inventory. To assess the potential error affecting the input data the approach introduced by Vögtle and Schilling (1999) has been followed. Taking into account the high quality and resolution of the orthophotos and the accurate manual mapping, the glacier area data put into the inventory should feature an error of less than ± 2% of the actual value. A check of the glacier data was performed based on existing regional or local inventories, recent maps and by performing field surveys. The last validation of all the New Italian Glacier Inventory data was carried out by a team of experts by the Italian Glaciological Committee and the technical personnel of local administrations.

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Figure 1. The cover of the New Italian Glacier Inventory. The New Italian Glacier Inventory is an open access database. The digital copy of the book (text, reporting tables, diagrams and maps) is available on line at http://users.unimi.it/glaciol.

Figure 2. An example of database table. The glaciers of Monte Rosa in Aosta Valley. Source: Smiraglia and Diolaiuti, 2015.

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4. Some results from the New Italian Glacier Inventory On the Italian side of the Alps about 1/5th of the Alpine glaciarized area is found with a total area of 369.90 km2, a considerable value if compared to the Alps as a whole (2050 km2, Paul et al., 2011). The total number of Italian glaciers is 903, a large value with respect to the Alpine census (3370 glaciers, Paul et al., 2011); they show an ample distribution, from the Maritime to the Julian Alps (Figure 3). The glacier size and type covers a wide range as well: from the largest Italian glacier, the Adamello ice plateau, to the large valley glaciers the Lys and Forni, to the small mountain glaciers and glacierets (also on the Apennine chain two small glacierets were found).

The largest part of the Italian glaciation was seen to be located in the Aosta Valley Region (36.15% of the total area), followed by the Lombardy Region (23.71%) and the Province of Bolzano (23.01%). In the other regions minor values of glacier area (the minima in the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 0.05%, and in the Abruzzo Region, 0.01%) were found.

With regard to the glacier number, the highest one is found in Lombardy (230), then in the Province of Bolzano (South Tyrol) (212), in the Aosta Valley (192), in the Province of Trento (Trentino) (115) and Piedmont (107).

The smallest number of glaciers was found in Veneto, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia and in Abruzzo (38, 7 and 2 respectively) (Table 1).

The mean area value featured by each glacier Region clearly indicates that in the Italian glaciation the small ice bodies are predominant: the average value is 0,41 km2 and at regional level the range of the mean values goes from 0,70 km2 (Aosta Valley) to 0,09 km2 (Veneto).

As regards the 903 Italian glaciers, the largest part of their area shows a predominant North aspect (NW, N and NE) (Figure 4A). 61% of the glacierized area and 54% of the glaciers show a North, North-West and North East aspect.

To better know the size distribution of Italian glaciers, the surfaces were sorted into seven classes, already used in previous glacier inventories (i.e.: <0.1 km2; 0.1-0.5 km2; 0.5-1

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km2; 1-2 km2; 2-5 km2; 5-10 km2 and >10 km2; Paul et al., 2004) (Figure 2). The size distribution of the Italian glaciation it is not too different from the one found in other sectors of the Alps and other glacierized mountain chains (Paul et al., 2004; Racoviteanu et al., 2008; Diolaiuti et al., 2012a, 2012b) with a prevalence of a wide number of small ice bodies (i.e.: <1 km2) and only a few large glaciers (i.e.: >10 km2). From this size classification, the number of ice bodies less than 0.5 km2 constitutes about 84% of the Italian glacier number, but covers only 21% of the total area. Glaciers wider than 1 km2 collect about 9.4% of the total number, but cover 67.8% of the total area. In the largest size class (>10 km2) only three glaciers were found: the Forni Glacier (11.36 km2) in Lombardy, the Adamello Glacier (16.44 km2) in both Lombardy and the Province of Trento, and the Miage Glacier (10.47 km2) in the Aosta Valley.

Moreover the type classification offers a similar picture of the Italian glaciers. Indeed, only 25 glaciers (2.8% of the total number) were classified as “valley glacier”, while most of the glaciers was classified as “mountain glacier” (i.e. 517 glaciers corresponding to 57.3%) and “glacieret” (i.e. 361 ice bodies corresponding to 40%), thus further underlining the fact that the Italian glaciers are distributed in many small ice bodies with only a few large glaciers (Figure 4B).

Moreover the New Italian Glacier inventory also includes an updated bibliography on Italian glaciers. In fact, an updated reference list is a fundamental scientific and didactic tool which supports any development in scientific research, including glaciology.

In conclusion the development of a new Italian Glacier Inventory database will hopefully produce favorable effects, according to Müller and Scherler, 1977, 1) to improve the knowledge of water budget and hydrological cycle at a local, regional and global scale; 2) to make valuable data available to technicians and scientists for the management of the freshwater resource (civil use, irrigation and hydropower) and to develop actual risk management strategies; 3) to contribute to the analysis of environmental processes and natural phenomena linked to climate and its variations.

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The New Italian Glacier Inventory is an open access database. The digital copy of the book (reporting tables, diagrams and maps) is available online at http://users.unimi.it/glaciol. The glacier outlines are visible on the web-GIS SHARE GEO network developed by the EvK2CNR Association which is periodically checked and updated (http://geonetwork.evk2cnr.org/).

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All these materials represent a precious tool to develop didactic activities aimed at showing students and young people the actual Italian glaciers and at evaluating its changes over time mainly due to climate variations. The students could develop maps and perform data analysis for assessing magnitude and rates of glacier retreat, describing regional and local glacier coverage in their search for relationships, if any, with other environmental variables.

Figure 3. Map distribution of the Italian glaciers. Source: Smiraglia and Diolaiuti, 2015.

Region Piedmont Aosta Valley Lombardy Trento Bolzano Veneto Friuli-Venezia Giulia Abruzzo Italy

Number of glaciers

Cumulative area (km2)

Percentage Region contribution to the total area

107 192 230 115 212 38 7 2 903

28.92 133.73 87.71 30.96 85.12 3.23 0.19 0.04 369.90

8% 36% 24% 8% 23% 1% 0% 0% 100%

Percentage Region contribution to the total number of glaciers 12% 21% 25% 13% 23% 4% 1% 0% 100%

Table 1. Surface area and number of the Italian glaciers according to the Region or Province where they are located.

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Figure 4. A) Aspect frequency distribution. The percentage of glacier area (black line) and glacier number (black dotted line) in 45° aspect bins are reported. North is the preferred aspect. B) Type frequency of the Italian glaciers. In the legend the percentage value (%) with respect to the total number of glaciers. The labels on the graph are the number of glaciers belonging to each type class.

Figure 5. The glaciers of Piedmont. The Coolidge Glacier in the Monviso mountain group. Source: M. Palomba – CGI Archive, 2005.

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Figure 6. The glaciers of Piedmont. The Sabbione Meridionale Glacier in the Monte Leone-San Gottardo mountain group. Source: D. Cat Berro, 2011.

Figure 7. The glaciers of the Aosta Valley. The Tribolazione Glacier in the Gran Paradiso mountain group.

Source: Fondazione Montagna Sicura – RAVA, 2014.

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Figure 8. The glaciers of the Aosta Valley. The Miage Glacier in the Mont Blanc mountain group, the largest Italian debris covered glacier. Source: C. Smiraglia, 2012.

Figure 9. The glaciers of Lombardy. The Forni Glacier in the Ortles-Cevedale mountain group, the largest Italian valley glacier. Source: C. Smiraglia, 2013.

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Figure 10. The glaciers of Lombardy. The plateau of the Adamello Glacier in the homonymous mountain group, the widest Italian glacier. Source: C. Casarotto, 2009.

Figure 11. The glaciers of Trentino. The Lares Glacier in the Adamello mountain group. Source: C. Casarotto, 2010.

Figure 12. The glaciers of Trentino. The Agola Glacier in the Brenta mountain group. Source: C. Casarotto, 2007.

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Figure 13. The glaciers of South Tyrol. The Cevedale Glacier in the Ortles-Cevedale mountain group. Source: P. Bruschi, 2009.

Figure 14. The glaciers of South Tyrol. The Malavalle Glacier in the Breonie Occidentali mountain group.

Source: L. Franchi, 2008.

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Figure 15. The glaciers of Veneto. The Antelao Superiore Glacier in the Antelao-Marmarole mountain group.

Source: Regione Veneto – ARPAV, 2007.

Figure 16. The glaciers of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The Montasio Ovest Glacier in the Montasio-Canin mountain group. Source: R.R. Colucci, 2009.

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Figure 17. The glaciers of Abruzzi. The Calderone Glacier in the Gran Sasso Massif, the unique ice body of the Apennines. Source: R. Tonelli, 2011.

Figure 18. The extinction of the Italian glaciers. The Galambra Glacier in the Moncenisio mountain group (Piedmont): on the left, a 1954 postcard; on the right, 2009, extinct. Source: Bogliaccino – SMI archive and M. Tron.

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Figure 19. The reduction of the small cirque glaciers. The Sforzellina Glacier in the Ortles-Cevedale mountain group (Lombardy), on the left 1929 (Source: A. Mentasti, Archive P. Casati); on the right 2014 (Source: C. Smiraglia).

Figure 20. The shrinkage of the small Eastern glaciers. The Canin Glaciers in the Montasio-Canin mountain group (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) 1893 and 2011. Source: A. Ferrucci and R.R. Colucci.

Acknowledgements The New Italian Glacier Inventory project has been developed in the framework of a cooperation between the CopyrightŠ Nuova Cultura

University of Milan, Sanpellegrino Spa brand-Levissima and the EvK2CNR Association. This project also benefited from the precious cooperation of the Comitato Glaciologico Italiano and several regional and local Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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partners. This work was also performed in the framework of the PRIN project 2010/2011 (2010AYKTAB_006), local leader C. Smiraglia. The project was accredited and recognized by the World Glacier Monitoring Service, which is the organization which developed and is presently managing the World Glacier Inventory.

References 1. Ajassa R., Biancotti A., Biasini A., Brancucci G., Carton A. and Salvatore M.C., “Changes in the number and area of Italian Alpine glaciers between 1958 and 1989”, Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria, 20, 1997, pp. 293-297.

2. Bonardi L., Rovelli E., Scotti R., Toffaletti A., Urso M. and Villa F., I ghiacciai della Lombardia, evoluzione ed attualità, Milan, Hoepli, 2012.

3. Comitato Glaciologico Italiano – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Catasto dei Ghiacciai Italiani, Anno Geofisico Internazionale 1957-1958. Elenco generale e bibliografia dei ghiacciai italiani, Turin, Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, vol. 1, 1959.

4. Comitato Glaciologico Italiano – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Catasto dei Ghiacciai Italiani, Anno Geofisico Internazionale 19571958. Ghiacciai del Piemonte, Turin, Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, vol. 2, 1961a.

5. Comitato Glaciologico Italiano – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Catasto dei Ghiacciai Italiani, Anno Geofisico Internazionale 19571958. Ghiacciai della Lombardia e dell’OrtlesCevedale, Turin, Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, vol. 3, 1961b.

6. Comitato Glaciologico Italiano – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Catasto dei Ghiacciai Italiani, Anno Geofisico Internazionale 19571958. Ghiacciai delle Tre Venezie (escluso Ortles-Cevedale) e dell’Appennino, Turin, Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, vol. 4, 1962.

7. Comitato Glaciologico Trentino, I ghiacciai del Parco Naturale Adamello-Brenta, Trento, Nuova Stampa Rapida, 1994.

8. Desio A., I ghiacciai dell’Ortles Cevedale, Turin, Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, 1967.

9. Diolaiuti G., Bocchiola D., D’Agata C. and Smiraglia C., “Evidence of climate change impact upon glaciers’ recession within the Italian alps: the case of Lombardy glaciers”, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 109, 34, 2012a, pp. 429-445.

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10. Diolaiuti G., Bocchiola D., Vagliasindi M., D’Agata C. and Smiraglia C., “The 19752005 glacier changes in Aosta Valley (Italy) and the relations with climate evolution”, Progress in Physical Geography, 36, 6, 2012b, pp. 764-785.

11. Haeberli W., Bösch H., Scherler K., Østrem G. and Wallèn C.C. (Eds.), World Glacier Inventory – Status 1988, AHS-UNEPUNESCO, 1989.

12. Müller and Scherler (1977) – Instructions for the compilation and assemblage of data for a world glacier inventory, Zurich, Temporary Technical Secretariat for World Glacier Inventory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

13. Paul F., Kääb A., Maisch M., Kellenberger T. and Haeberli W., “Rapid disintegration of Alpine glaciers observed with satellite data”, Geophysical Research Letters, 31, 21, 2004.

14. Paul F., Barry R.G., Cogley J.G., Frey H., Haeberli W., Ohmura A., Ommanney C.S.L., Raup B., Rivera A. and Zemp M., “Recommendations for the compilation of glacier inventory data from digital sources”, Annals of Glaciology, 50, 53, 2009, pp. 119-126.

15. Paul F., Frey H. and Le Bris R., “A new glacier inventory for the European Alps from Landsat TM scenes of 2003: challenges and results”, Annals of Glaciology, 52, 59, 2011, pp. 144-152.

16. Racoviteanu A.E., Arnaud Y., Williams M.W. and Ordonez J., “Decadal changes in glacier parameters in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, derived from remote sensing”, Journal of Glaciology, 54, 186, 2008, pp. 499-510.

17. Serandrei-Barbero R. and Zanon G., “The Italian Alps”, in Williams R.S. and Ferrigno J.G. (Eds.), Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World – Europe, USGS Professional Paper 1386-E, Washington D.C., 1993.

18. Servizio Glaciologico Lombardo, Ghiacciai in Lombardia, Bergamo, Bolis, 1992.

19. Smiraglia C. and Diolaiuti G. (Eds.), The New Italian Glacier Inventory, Bergamo, Ev-K2CNR, 2015.

20. Vögtle T and Schilling K., “Digitizing Maps”, in Bähr H.P. and Vögtle T. (Eds.), GIS for Environmental Monitoring, Stuttgart, Schweizerbart, 1999, pp. 201-216.

21. Zanon G., I Ghiacciai del Veneto, Treviso, Canova, 1990.

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TEACHINGS FROM THE PAST Edited by Dino Gavinelli and Davide Papotti

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 97-113

La question Kantienne un lieu ou le passage d’une Géographie à l’autre Guy Merciera a

Université Laval, Québec, Canada À Jacques Bethemont Non locus virum, sed vir locum ornat.

1. Introduction1 Le renouveau de la pensée occidentale amorcé au XIIIe siècle sous l’impulsion du rationalisme atteignit sa pleine envergure au XVIe et au XVIIe siècle. La fréquentation assidue des auteurs de l’Antiquité gréco-romaine était désormais de rigueur, d’où le nom de Renaissance que prit cette période. La cohabitation de la foi et de la raison y était devenue le leitmotiv de la vie intellectuelle.

L’esprit scientifique en tira grand avantage, s’épanouissant à un rythme tel que l’Église romaine, aux aguets, s’en inquiéta. Pendant ce temps, l’Europe enchainait les guerres, les unes suscitées par la religion, les autres par la compétition que se livraient les royaumes et les têtes couronnées. Le Traité de Westphalie de 1648, qui préludait les États nationaux à venir, offrit un certain répit. Cette stabilité relative aidant, le XVIIIe siècle raviva encore davantage la flamme rationaliste. Les philosophes assumèrent alors que l’être humain ne pouvait plus 1

Le lecteur doit prendre note que le présent texte est conforme à la nouvelle orthographe.

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négliger l’espoir du bonheur terrestre et qu’il fallait, pour l’atteindre, que l’éducation et la liberté, ferments de progrès social, fussent le lot de tous. Aussi se donnèrent-ils comme mission de répandre ces Lumières – comme on désignerait ce siècle – sur le peuple.

L’époque de la Renaissance et des Lumières fut propice à la science, qui y gagna en méthode, en instrumentation et en théorie. La philosophie de la science valida la nécessité du doute raisonnable, de l’observation et de l’expérimentation. Discipline reine de l’époque, l’astronomie réfuta le géocentrisme hérité de l’Antiquité, tandis que les sciences naturelles prenaient leur envol. La géographie, pour sa part, renoua avec le programme disciplinaire qu’avaient jadis formulé pour elle Ératosthène (~276-~194 av. J.-C.) et Ptolémée (90-168 apr.

J.-C.). À l’affut des connaissances qui, grâce aux Grandes Découvertes, s’accumulaient, elle donna également libre cours à sa passion encyclopédiste. Ainsi, la géographie redevintelle, à la Renaissance, cette science dérivée de l’astronomie et vouée à l’étude de la position, de la forme et de la composition de la Terre, de ses parties et des éléments : peuples et villes, mers et fleuves, plaines et montagnes, etc. La cartographie en tira grand avantage, en même temps que se multipliaient les ouvrages – au titre de la géographie universelle ou de la géographie régionale – décrivant de mieux en mieux les différentes régions du monde.

Le problème de la géographie n’était toutefois pas aussi simple. Car il ne suffit pas à cette discipline de définir la position, la forme et la composition de la Terre, de ses parties et de ses éléments en procédant à des mesures, en Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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dressant des cartes et en rédigeant des descriptions. Comment en effet résister à la tentation d’expliquer pourquoi tel phénomène se produit dans telle région et ne se produit pas dans telle autre. La tentation est particulièrement grande concernant la condition physique des êtres humains et, plus encore, leurs tempéraments, leurs mœurs et leurs institutions, voire leur destinée. D’Hippocrate (~459-~370 av. J.-C.) à Ptolémée, l’Antiquité ne rata pas l’occasion de disserter à ce sujet, livrant une première version d’un déterminisme géographique, la théorie des climats, qui aujourd’hui parait bien dérisoire. Le Moyen Âge non plus ne put y résister, ni la Renaissance, qui virent se perpétuer cette tradition de rapporter les traits multiples de l’humanité aux diverses conditions de la nature.

Même Montesquieu (1689-1755), au milieu du XVIIIe siècle, lui qui pourtant croyait en la liberté et la défendait, y succomba en perpétuant cette théorie d’un autre âge. Il y avait là un atavisme qui, à défaut de mieux, assumait la part d’explication du monde qui semblait revenir de droit à la géographie. Mais vint un moment, vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle, où la discipline, sous le feu croisé de la philosophie et des sciences naturelles, eut enfin la possibilité d’échapper à son vieux réflexe. Sans qu’elle eût à renoncer à son légitime désir de fournir des explications, elle fut invitée à reformuler la problématique de la détermination géographique des phénomènes terrestres. L’ouverture consistait en un retour, suggéré par Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804), à la fameuse question du lieu (qu’est-ce qu’un lieu? en quoi est-il différent des corps qui l’occupent et des évènements qui s’y déroulent? agit-il sur ces corps et ces évènements? si oui, comment?), question que les Anciens, et au premier chef Aristote (384-322 av. J.-C.), avaient jadis énoncée. Kant en eut l’intuition davantage qu’il n’en tira de résultats probants. Il n’en demeure pas moins que la géographie y trouva l’impulsion nécessaire pour s’engager dans une nouvelle voie. Il en résulta un projet disciplinaire présageant le profond renouvèlement que connaitrait la géographie au XIXe siècle et qui, encore aujourd’hui, reste d’actualité. Or comment s’opéra, de la Renaissance aux Lumières, cette évolution de la géographie? Comment se conjugua-t-elle à la révolution scientifique en cours durant la même période? Quelle part y tinrent les dynamiques Copyright© Nuova Cultura

politiques et économiques qui marquèrent l’époque?

Quelle empreinte y laissa l’effervescence culturelle du moment qui, d’une forte matrice religieuse, fit émerger, à la faveur d’une philosophie animant la flamme de la raison et de la liberté, une véritable passion pour l’individu? Tel est le portrait que nous voulons ici brosser en nous attachant tout particulièrement à deux auteurs : Bernhardus Varenius (1622-1650) qui, au XVIIe siècle, mit à jour la géographie des Anciens; et surtout Kant qui, au siècle suivant, enjoignit à la géographie de revisiter la problématique du lieu et de prendre la place qui lui était destinée dans le nouveau concert des sciences.

2.1 Renaissance : une société en movement. Être soi-même face à Dieu et face au monde À la Renaissance, l’emprise de l’Église romaine sur les esprits s’effrita passablement.

D’une part, elle dut affronter la réforme protestante qui, en plus de la diviser, encourageait, au sein même de l’institution religieuse, l’épanouissement de la pensée personnelle. La Réforme revendiqua en effet une pratique religieuse plus intime, où la relation du croyant à Dieu n’était plus soumise au magistère ecclésial. Le mouvement donna lieu à une contreréforme (concile de Trente, 1545-1563) qui renforça la ferveur religieuse chez les catholiques, tout en attisant leur opposition au protestantisme et aux protestants. D’autre part, la science devint, aux yeux des philosophes, plus crédible que la religion pour expliquer l’existence du monde, à condition, toutefois, qu’elle améliorât sa méthode en y ajoutant, comme le recommanda Francis Bacon (15611626), observation et expérience. Il en résulta des tensions, parfois vives, entre l’Église et les savants. En témoigna éloquemment la condamnation de Galilée (1564-1642) en 1633 pour avoir soutenu, à la suite de Copernic (14731543), que la Terre tourne autour du soleil, et non le contraire, comme on le croyait généralement à l’époque. Plus encore, l’essor de la science diffusait la conviction, relayée avec force par Descartes (1596-1650), que chaque personne, si elle savait conduire correctement son intelligence, pouvait, sans recourir à la doctrine chrétienne, comprendre la réalité

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terrestre, à l’exception, peut-être, de l’âme humaine, qui se rapporterait davantage à Dieu qu’à la nature.

2.2 Bourgeoise, monarchie et empire Aux mouvements qui animaient la vie de l’esprit, s’ajoutaient ceux de l’économie et de la politique. Le commerce prenait alors de l’élan, contribuant à l’épanouissement de la vie urbaine et à l’affirmation de la bourgeoisie. Cette classe sociale montante s’associa aux monarques qui, ayant à organiser et à équiper leur royaume tout en entretenant une cour fastueuse, étaient en quête de moyens financiers toujours accrus. Or ces moyens, l’aristocratie et le système féodal peinaient à les fournir depuis que l’exploitation agricole cédait le pas à l’échange marchand.

Ainsi, la marginalisation économique du monde rural mettait en cause les anciennes alliances politiques et en favorisait de nouvelles. Dès lors, l’aristocratie perdit son ascendant politique au profit du roi et de bourgeoisie, qui se gonflait de marchands, de courtiers et de banquiers. En Europe, quatre grandes monarchies, soutenues par une bourgeoisie en plein essor, s’imposèrent : en France, en Angleterre, en Espagne et au Portugal. Prélude à des États-nations existant encore aujourd’hui, ces entités se constituèrent du XVe au XVIe siècle en véritables empires dont l’appétit territorial instigua maint conflit en Europe et dans le Nouveau Monde.

En contractant alliance avec la bourgeoisie, les monarchies se transformèrent en défenseurs du grand commerce international et de la production nationale. Il en résulta une doctrine, le mercantilisme (le colbertisme en France), prônant la constitution, au bénéfice de quelques privilégiés, de monopoles sur l’extraction de ressources naturelles, sur la production de biens et sur leur commercialisation. Ces monopoles avantageaient la bourgeoisie nationale dont l’apport au trésor public était devenu essentiel. À ce mercantilisme correspondait un impérialisme visant à s’assurer la possession de richesses et le contrôle de marchés dans les territoires que les Grandes Découvertes offraient à la colonisation.

Si elles servaient un intérêt économique et politique, les Grandes Découvertes n’étaient pas

moins liées à l’élan missionnaire de l’Église. En effet, la ferveur religieuse était alors très vive, stimulée par un long combat, dans la péninsule ibérique, contre l’occupant musulman. Les Portugais s’étaient libérés des envahisseurs au milieu du XIIIe siècle, mais les Espagnols ne les expulsèrent complètement qu’en 1492, lors de la prise de Grenade, juste avant le départ de Christophe Colomb (1451-1506) pour l’Amérique. La Reconquista avait pris, comme les Croisades, un caractère de guerre sainte, qui se perpétua dans la contreréforme, visant à faire obstacle au protestantisme, et dans une nouvelle vague de persécutions contre les juifs. Elle stimula également un prosélytisme qui trouva une destination privilégiée chez les peuples du Nouveau Monde.

2.3 L’apport géographique des Grandes Découvertes Au-delà de leurs fins économiques, politiques et religieuses, les Grandes Découvertes du XVe au XVIIe siècle eurent un impact majeur sur la pensée géographique. Elles favorisèrent d’abord le développement des méthodes de mesure de la Terre. L’apport à ce titre se constitua au fil d’une pratique assidue de la navigation au long cours, où se perfectionna la détermination des localisations, des distances et des directions, grâce de nouveaux outils tels que le compas magnétique, le sextant (pour la mesure des latitudes) et l’horloge (pour la mesure des longitudes). Ce perfectionnement de la mesure de la Terre contribua grandement à la cartographie. Au XVe siècle, toutes les cartes du monde s’inspiraient de la carte de Ptolémée. Or les informations issues des découvertes contribuèrent à en corriger les erreurs. Par exemple, le contournement de l’Afrique depuis la première expédition de Vasco de Gama (~1460-1524) permit une meilleure description du pourtour de ce continent et, surtout, l’on sut enfin que l’océan Indien et le Pacifique n’étaient pas entourés d’un continent, comme l’indiquait à tort la carte de Ptolémée. De même, en 1507, on représenta pour la première fois l’Amérique, que Colomb avait abordée quinze ans plus tôt. Bref, les informations nouvelles que les découvertes apportèrent furent introduites au fur et à mesure sur la carte. Ces mises à jour furent

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particulièrement nombreuses au XVIe siècle, alors que les navigations au long cours se multipliaient. Incidemment, la cartographie connut à cette époque une révolution technique grâce à la conception de nouvelles méthodes de projection. L’apport le plus important à ce titre fut celui de Mercator (1512-1594) qui, en 1569, mit au point son fameux système de projection (cylindrique tangente). Cette invention s’avéra un outil essentiel aux navigateurs, car elle facilitait le tracé des itinéraires en donnant pour droite sur la carte tout parcours direct entre deux points sur le globe. Enfin, les Grandes Découvertes générèrent une foule d’informations sur les différentes régions du monde et sur les peuples qui les occupaient. Parce que souvent mêlées de fantaisie ou d’exagération, les premières descriptions qu’on en fit étaient souvent, il est vrai, peu crédibles. Le rationalisme en éveil inspira toutefois un empirisme de plus en plus rigoureux – quoiqu’encore sensible aux mythes par moment –, si bien que l’on en vint à des descriptions plus fidèles dont se nourrissait une géographie encyclopédiste en constante progression.

3.1 Une science et une géographie renaissantes. Renouveau cosmologique À la Renaissance, malgré certaines réticences de l’Église romaine, l’esprit scientifique suivait son chemin. L’attention de la science porta en premier lieu sur la cosmologie. Dès le début du XVIe siècle, la conception géocentrique de l’univers, héritée de Ptolémée, commença à être remise en cause. Le premier à véritablement ébranler le géocentrisme fut Copernic, lorsqu’il publia, en 1543, De la révolution des orbes célestes. Copernic prouva que le système de Ptolémée était plus logique si l’on plaçait le Soleil, et non la Terre, au centre. En 1618, Kepler (1570-1630) perfectionna l’idée de Copernic en démontrant que la course des planètes n’était pas circulaire, mais elliptique.

En 1623, Galilée apporta une série d’observations astronomiques qui appuyaient les conceptions de Copernic et de Kepler. Plus encore, Galilée soutint que l’univers pouvait être décrit à l’aide de lois mathématiques.

Finalement, en 1686, Newton (1643-1727) formula ses lois de la gravitation qui permettaient d’expliquer le système hélio-

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centrique. Ainsi, en un siècle et demi, le monde occidental traversa une révolution scientifique majeure qui remit en question toute la conception de l’univers. Non seulement la façon de se le représenter était complètement modifiée, mais aussi la manière d’en concevoir l’origine, le fonctionnement et la destinée était complètement modifiée. La Terre n’était dès lors plus le centre de l’univers, qui lui-même n’était plus l’œuvre de Dieu – du moins pas directement –, mais une simple réalité physique dont l’être humain pouvait comprendre les causes naturelles.

3.2 La géographie et le nouvel esprit scientifique Jusqu’au début du XVIIe siècle, la géographie demeura plus ou moins en marge de l’essor scientifique qui animait l’Occident à la Renaissance. Elle se contentait, à la manière de Pierre d’Ailly, d’un rappel systématique des géographes de l’Antiquité, surtout Ptolémée. Les œuvres les plus significatives à cet égard sont celles de Sébastien Münster (1489-1552), de Philippe Clüver (ou Cluverius, 1580-1622) et de Nathanaël Carpenter (1589-~1628). Bientôt, toutefois, la géographie épousa pleinement le nouvel esprit scientifique, comme en témoigne l’œuvre d’un Hollandais d’origine allemande, Bernhardus Varenius (Bernhard Varen). Disciple de Descartes, Varenius réactualisa le programme scientifique de la géographie de l’Antiquité tout en l’accordant à la nouvelle cosmologie. Formé à la philosophie, aux mathématiques, à la physique et à la médecine, Varenius s’installa à Amsterdam en 1647. À cette époque, les marchands amstellodamois entretenaient des relations commerciales privilégiées avec le Japon. Aussi Varenius publia-t-il une description de ce pays et de sa région (Descriptio regni Japonia et Siam). Le livre, édité en 1649, était destiné aux marchands, afin de leur mieux faire connaitre cette partie de l’Orient. En le rédigeant, Varenius comprit que la validité d’une telle description exigeait toutefois de recourir à une méthode rigoureuse. Cette réflexion lui inspira un second ouvrage, Geographia Universalis (1649-1650), qui conféra à la géographie un cadre conceptuel et théorique plus systématique. La proposition était innovatrice

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dans le contexte de l’époque, même si elle s’inspirait grandement d’Ératosthène et de Ptolémée. Son œuvre, qui fit autorité pendant un siècle, illustre parfaitement comment la géographie eut, à la Renaissance, le souci de renouer avec son héritage gréco-romain tout en s’adaptant aux besoins et aux connaissances de son temps.

3.3

La géographie de Varenius

Pour Varenius, « la géographie est une partie des mathématiques, où on explique l’état de la Terre et de ses parties, qui regarde la quantité, à savoir sa figure, sa position, sa grandeur et son mouvement »2. Cette définition plutôt stricte, où la Terre est conçue principalement comme un corps céleste, établit la géographie comme élément de la cosmologie, comme on le faisait dans l’Antiquité. Partant de là, il distinguait la géographie universelle de la géographie particulière. La géographie universelle étudie « la Terre en général et en explique les propriétés, sans entrer dans le détail particulier des pays ».

La géographie particulière, de son côté, s’intéresse à « la situation et la constitution de chaque région séparément ». L’objet de cette géographie particulière est plus spécifiquement la description de « la Terre, et principalement sa surface et ses parties extérieures ». L’étude de régions implique que l’on retrouve, pour chacune d’elles, les propriétés suivantes : les propriétés célestes (position latitudinale et longitudinale et données climatologiques); les propriétés terrestres (description géologique, géomorphologique et biogéographique); et les propriétés humaines (qui concernent les habitants des lieux en matière politique, culturelle, religieuse, économique, etc.; bref, tous les éléments de la géographie humaine).

Varenius s’intéressa aussi aux méthodes de la géographie, qui sont, selon lui, « les principes d’où l’on tire les arguments pour prouver les propositions en géographie ». D’après Varenius, les méthodes de la géographie relèvent de trois domaines différents : les mathématiques (géométrie, trigonométrie et arithmétique); l’astro2

Cette citation de Varenius et celle qui suivent sont tirées de la version française de sa Géographie générale rééditée en facsimilé en 2010 par Nabu Press.

nomie; l’observation (surtout en géographie particulière où la connaissance des propriétés terrestres et humaines n’est possible que par l’observation directe ou indirecte). Il insista tout particulièrement sur la qualité et la précision des démonstrations mathématiques et astronomiques, car ce sont les seules qui, en raison de leur exactitude, conduisent, selon lui, à une connaissance proprement scientifique. Quant à l’observation, parce que moins rigoureuse, elle ne peut d’après lui déboucher sur une connaissance scientifiquement rigoureuse.

4.1

Avènement de la modernité. Des nations en éveil

L’Europe renaissante se déchirait au nom de la religion, tandis que ses royaumes se décomposaient et se recomposaient au gré des guerres et des changements d’allégeance. Quant à la compétition commerciale, elle dégénérait en conflits qui, souvent, redessinaient la carte des colonies. Dans ce contexte, l’idée même de paix prit tout son sens. Elle formait un projet que les philosophes devaient concevoir, que les diplomates devaient mettre en œuvre et que les souverains devaient garantir. Elle transparut avec évidence dans le Traité de Westphalie de 1648, qui mit un terme à la guerre de Trente Ans. La négociation de ce traité fit apparaitre que l’existence d’un État était moins le privilège d’un roi qui veille à ses intérêts qu’une nécessité propre à une nation qui désire vivre en paix. Dès lors monta un souffle nationaliste, doublé d’un nouvel idéal politique. Vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle, le mouvement aboutit à une vive critique du pouvoir monarchique et aristocratique et inspira des révolutions. En 1776, la population des colonies britanniques d’Amérique du Nord, animée d’un vif sentiment national et convaincue d’être abusée par la couronne d’Angleterre, entra en rébellion et déclara l’indépendance des ÉtatsUnis d’Amérique. Après la Révolution américaine, éclata en 1789, de l’autre côté de l’Atlantique, la Révolution française qui renversa la royauté et proclama la souveraineté du peuple dont les seuls maitres ne devaient plus être, soutenait-on, que la raison et la liberté. Investie de cette mission, la France, sous la férule de son empereur nouvellement installé, Napoléon 1er (1769-1821), s’engagea dans une vaste entreprise

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guerrière afin d’abattre toutes les monarchies d’Europe. Si l’œuvre napoléonienne pouvait flatter la fierté nationale des Français et susciter l’admiration de nombreux étrangers, elle fut toutefois combattue par les monarchies européennes et sévèrement réprimée lors du Congrès de Vienne de 1815, qui fit payer cher à la France d’avoir enflammé l’Europe et menacée ses têtes couronnées. Malgré tout, ce mouvement révolutionnaire témoignait d’un changement bien engagé en faveur du droit des peuples à se gouverner eux-mêmes, de sorte qu’il inspira par la suite plusieurs autres libérations nationales, dont celles issues de la Révolution bolivarienne, enclenchée en 1810 qui, à terme, permit à maint pays d’Amérique latine de conquérir leur indépendance.

4.2

Une industrie naissante

Parallèlement à cette poussée nationaliste, le XVIIIe siècle donna lieu, en Occident, à une première révolution industrielle. En décuplant la force productive, la machine à vapeur transforma en profondeur le monde du travail. Cette transformation favorisa d’une part la concentration de la production au sein de grandes unités où se réalisait une division technique du travail de plus en plus poussée. La mécanisation aidant, la production, au XIXe siècle, s’industrialiserait en commandant une maind’œuvre abondante et peu qualifiée. Au-delà de la dimension proprement technique, la révolution en cours concernait la concentration de la propriété des moyens de production aux mains de la bourgeoisie qui, jusque-là, avait plutôt œuvré dans le commerce et la finance. En contrepartie, les travailleurs n’avaient plus que leur force de travail qu’ils offraient aux propriétaires d’usines en retour d’un salaire. Ces propriétaires souhaitant que les salaires fussent les plus bas possible, il résulta de cette division sociale du travail un antagonisme entre la bourgeoisie et le prolétariat, antagonisme que l’État hésitait à arbitrer, laissant les deux classes s’affronter parfois violemment3.

3 Il fallut attendre la fin du XIXe siècle, quand le parlementarisme s’ouvrit à l’ensemble de la société, pour que l’État se décidât à intervenir, proposant une à une des mesures permettant de ménager les intérêts des

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4.3

Une philosophie de l’individu

Alors que les diplomates cherchaient à définir les conditions pratiques de la paix, les philosophes s’en emparèrent afin d’en faire la théorie. Ils conçurent que la paix véritable supposait que l’individu, autant voire davantage que le peuple, y trouvât son compte. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704) et Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), parmi plusieurs autres, avancèrent que l’État ne doit pas s’opposer à l’individu, puisqu’il en est l’émanation. En effet, selon eux, l’État n’est pas autrement, du moins s’il n’est pas dévoyé, que la manifestation du contrat social que les individus passent entre eux pour s’assurer que leur intérêt privé soit le bien commun que poursuit l’État. Dans ce contexte, l’individu se comprend comme un être raisonnable destiné à choisir librement ce qu’il entend faire pour satisfaire ses propres intérêts et ceux de ses cocontractants au sein de l’État. Son obligation, selon Kant, consiste à ne pas éluder les trois questions fondamentales auxquelles toute personne libre et rationnelle est confrontée : « Que puis-je savoir? Que puis-je faire? Que m’est-il permis d’espérer? » (Critique de la raison pure, 1781). Quant à son action, elle devait, toujours selon Kant, respecter cet impératif catégorique : « Agis de façon telle que tu traites l’humanité, aussi bien dans ta personne que dans tout autre, toujours en même temps comme fin, et jamais simplement comme moyen » (Fondation de la métaphysique des mœurs, 1785). Selon une telle philosophie, l’individu pensant librement s’impose comme le principe même de la complétude humaine : l’ignorance devient alors un manquement et le savoir, un achèvement.

salariés sans toutefois remettre en cause les principes du système capitaliste gouvernant leur condition. Resta toutefois longtemps la tentation d’un renversement complet de ce système. On y parvint dans certains cas, instaurant des régimes communistes où l’État, s’appropriant l’ensemble des moyens de production, conduisait directement l’économie. L’expérience ne fut finalement pas concluante puisque l’on substituait simplement une bureaucratie publique à l’entreprise privée, sans que les travailleurs, bien qu’ils fussent officiellement au pouvoir par l’entremise du parti unique devant les représenter, n’échappassent réellement à leur condition salariale.

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5.1 L’essor des sciences naturelles au XVIIIe siècle. La matière dans ses substances premières Au XVIIIe siècle, l’esprit scientifique élargit son champ d’investigation. Les sciences naturelles, tout particulièrement, progressèrent rapidement, déclinant chacune à sa manière cette grave question que Voltaire (1694-1778) sut formuler avec autant de pertinence que d’ironie : qu’est-ce que la matière, d’où vient-elle et… pourquoi la religion et la philosophie nous en apprennent si peu à ce sujet? S’attelant à la tâche, la chimie, grâce à Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1794), fournit une réponse inédite et propulsa la science dans une nouvelle ère. Depuis l’Antiquité, on soupçonnait que la matière, sous ses formes diverses, n’était qu’un composé d’une substance élémentaire.

Anaximandre (~610-~546 av. J.-C.) appela cette substance apeiron; Épicure (341-275 av. J.-C.) la nomma atome. Pendant des siècles, des curieux étudièrent les solides, les liquides et les gaz qui abondent sur notre planète, les désagrégeant ou les amalgamant pour comprendre leur composition ou pour en tirer des mélanges et des extraits utiles. D’autres, qui souvent étaient les mêmes, rêvaient de transmuter les métaux vils en métaux nobles, au premier chef le plomb en or. Si la chimie des uns et l’alchimie des autres restaient tâtonnantes, en mal d’une connaissance sure des fondements de la matière, la métallurgie et la minéralogie en tirèrent tout de même avantage. Lavoisier sortit la chimie de cette enfance. Expérimentant sur la combustion, il découvrit le rôle qui tient l’oxygène, substance qu’il associa également à la respiration des végétaux et des animaux, de même qu’à la rouille. Il montra comment une réaction chimique permet à la matière de changer d’état en demeurant telle qu’elle est (loi de la conservation de la matière). Faisant en 1789, dans son Traité élémentaire de la chimie, la synthèse de ses découvertes, il établit un classement des substances simples qui préfigurait le tableau périodique des éléments conçu au XIXe siècle et encore pertinent aujourd’hui. La matière, telle qu’on la voit depuis toujours sous forme d’air, de terre, d’eau et de feu, devenait ainsi une série limitée d’exacts assemblages chimiques qu’une science – la chimie moderne – savait enfin définir et expliquer.

5.2 Classification des plantes et des animaux Le progrès scientifique au XVIIIe siècle se manifesta aussi dans le domaine de la classification des plantes et des animaux, soit l’anatomie comparée. L’exploration des contrées lointaines accélérait la découverte d’un grand nombre de plantes et d’animaux inconnus qu’il fallait étudier et identifier. John Ray (16271705), en 1691, esquissa le premier une classification des organismes vivants. Inspiré par Ray, le Suédois Carl Linnæus (ou von Linné, 1707-1778) conçut un système – toujours en usage aujourd’hui – de classification des plantes, différenciant les classes, les ordres, les genres et les espèces. Du côté des animaux, ce ne fut qu’au début du XIXe siècle que le chevalier de Lamarck (1744-1829) en proposa une nomenclature détaillée. En France, le comte de Buffon (1708-1778), Georges Cuvier (17691832) et Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (17721844) contribuèrent également à l’œuvre classificatoire des sciences naturelles, qui cherchaient ainsi à comprendre le monde comme un système logique.

5.3 L’histoire naturelle Si l’on s’attachait, au XVIIIe siècle, à classifier les éléments qui composent la matière et les êtres qui peuplent le règne animal et le règne végétal, on s’interrogeait également, comme Lamarck, sur leur origine. Aussi, à la classification qui tâchait de camper chaque substance, plante ou animal dans la catégorie appropriée, se juxtaposa bientôt la volonté de comprendre leur métamorphose. Certains, comme le poète et naturaliste Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), s’attachèrent à comprendre comment une plante, issue d’une simple graine, prend forme. D’autres, dont le comte de Buffon (1708-1778), envisageaient une histoire naturelle qui spéculait sur la capacité des êtres naturels à évoluer d’une espèce à l’autre.

La réaction chimique de Lavoisier finit par expliquer, comme il vient d’être mentionné, le changement d’état de la matière. Mais qu’en était-il de la Terre elle-même, des plantes, des animaux?

Dès la fin du XVIIe siècle, un débat éclata sur l’origine de la Terre, des continents et des

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océans, opposant les naturalistes aux défenseurs de la conception biblique, selon laquelle, conformément au récit de la Genèse, la Terre a été créée en six jours. Le géologue britannique John Woodward (1665-1728) fut le premier, en 1695, à concevoir que la Terre avait été constituée sur une très longue période. Observant la composition des roches sédimentaires, où l’on trouve des traces fossilisées de vies animales et végétales antérieures, il découpa, comme on le fait encore aujourd’hui, l’évolution de la Terre selon une séquence d’ères géologiques. Quant à la formation du relief terrestre, deux thèses s’opposaient : le catastrophisme et l’uniformitarisme (ou actualisme). La première thèse considérait que les montagnes, les vallées, les bassins océaniques avaient été créés lors d’un cataclysme. La seconde soutenait que les paysages étaient plutôt modelés par l’érosion. La thèse de l’érosion l’emporta, ce qui permit d’établir des rapports entre la nature des roches (la géologie) et les formes du relief (la géomorphologie). On énonça ainsi le principe de l’érosion différentielle, liant l’érosion au degré de résistance des matériaux géologiques. De l’érosion, on passa à la dynamique fluviale, de sorte que Pierre Louis Gabriel, comte de Buat (1734-1809), put établir en 1786 qu’il y a un équilibre entre la vitesse du courant d’un cours d’eau et la granulométrie des alluvions qu’il transporte.

On ne manqua pas non plus, au XVIIIe siècle, d’entrevoir que les espèces végétales et animales avaient elles aussi évolué. Le comte de Buffon (1707-1788) en formula une première théorie pour le règne animal en suggérant que les espèces seraient issues d’une génération spontanée, mais qu’elles étaient susceptibles de transformations limitées, ce qui n’était pas incompatible avec le récit biblique. Le chevalier de Lamarck, pour sa part, avança que les espèces se transforment sous l’impulsion d’une nécessité et que cette transformation se perpétue grâce à l’hérédité. Si les fossiles attestaient bien que d’anciennes espèces avaient cédé la place à de nouvelles, les hypothèses de Buffon et de Lamarck, aussi ingénieuses fussent-elles, demeuraient largement spéculatives. Elles n’en annonçaient pas moins la théorie darwinienne de la sélection naturelle qui, au siècle suivant, aurait un impact scientifique et culturel majeur.

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6.1 La géographie au siècle des Lumières.

La géographie comme science naturelle La géographie, au XVIIIe siècle, se traça discrètement un nouvel horizon épistémologique.

Certes, l’esprit de Varenius, qui relayaient les géographes anciens, subsistait. De même, l’entreprise encyclopédiste d’une géographie collectionneuse d’informations sur les diverses parties du monde se poursuivait, à travers l’œuvre d’Anton Friedrich Büsching (1724-1793) notamment. Mais la discipline, se découvrant la vocation d’étudier la nature et tout ce qu’elle rassemble – y compris l’être humain –, en vint à revendiquer le statut de science naturelle. Se constitua ainsi une géographie physique dont Philippe Buache (1700-1773) formula une première synthèse. La synthèse géographique de Buache reposait sur le postulat que les éléments de la nature s’organisaient selon un principe géographique. En effet, pour que la géographie fût invitée au concert des sciences naturelles, il fallait qu’elle pût révéler une dimension fondamentale de la nature. Comme pour les Anciens et leurs suivants qui avaient soutenu la théorie des climats, cette dimension, d’après Buache, tenait à l’organisation des phénomènes naturels selon une base régionale. Mais pour Buache, la véritable région naturelle, celle qui structurait fondamentalement la spatialité des éléments naturels, était le bassin hydrographique. Si la postérité a contesté ce choix du bassin hydrographique – sans toutefois l’abandonner complètement –, la conviction de Buache que la nature, obéissant à une loi géographique, s’organisait régionalement fit florès.

6.2 Une géographie au risque de son propre atavisme Partageant la conviction de Buache, Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804), éminent philosophe, mais aussi professeur de géographie , offrit lui aussi une nouvelle synthèse de cette discipline. Sur le strict plan des connaissances géographiques, cette synthèse ne fut pas autrement que navrante. Kant y conserva à peu de choses près le schéma traditionnel d’une géographie traitant à la fois de l’universel et du particulier. Ainsi examina-t-il d’abord, sous l’angle de la géographie mathématique, la Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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question « de la forme, de la grandeur et du mouvement de la Terre ainsi que des rapports de celle-ci avec le système solaire dans lequel elle se trouve » . Une fois le contexte astronomique établi, il procéda à une description générale de notre planète en considérant l’eau, la terre et l’atmosphère. Fidèle à son époque qui n’avait plus peur de concevoir notre monde comme étant la suite d’une longue évolution, il y ajouta une section sur « l’histoire des grandes transformations que la Terre a autrefois subies et qu’elle éprouve encore ». Il enchaina, dans une longue partie fortement empreinte d’encyclopédisme et livrée sous la forme d’une nomenclature, sur les éléments que « contient la Terre », à savoir les hommes, les animaux, les végétaux et les minéraux. Il termina son exposé en décrivant sommairement le monde, région par région, selon un ordre continental. L’ensemble, à vrai dire, ne constitue qu’un banal travail de compilation qui atteste, finalement, que Kant s’intéressait davantage à la géographie qu’il n’était géographe. Certes, Kant sut y faire part de découvertes scientifiques relativement récentes.

Par exemple, il reprit l’explication des marées formulée par Newton, de même qu’il présenta l’hypothèse selon laquelle le vent résulterait des différences de température entre les lieux, préfigurant ainsi le concept de gradient de pression atmosphérique. Il reste que le résultat, au total, ne manque pas de décevoir. Le bilan est particulièrement triste au chapitre de la description régionale. Les notices sont superficielles et passablement décousues, mais surtout l’anecdote y emporte souvent le tout, comme si la curiosité pour les mirabiliae – comme les appelait Pline l’Ancien – était plus importante que la connaissance des endroits où elles prennent place. On s’étonne par ailleurs de la condescendance fréquemment affichée face aux peuples étrangers. Si parfois le jugement en la matière cherche une explication dans la traditionnelle théorie des climats, que la géographie trainait encore à l’époque, il ne s’agit, en plusieurs cas, que de simples préjugés administrés sans même d’excuses. On pourrait oser croire que, dans ce fatras, Kant, pourtant propagateur d’un cosmopolitisme généreux et émancipateur, en perdit ses repères. Retenons simplement que sa géographie n’avait pas encore les moyens adéquats de subsumer rationnellement la diversité des êtres et des choses répartis à la surface de la Terre.

6.3 Le projet géographique de Kant Au vu des connaissances produites ou rassemblées, le bilan de la géographie kantienne apparait peu reluisant. On aurait tort, cependant, de s’arrêter là, car on oublierait que le philosophe de Königsberg en profita pour introduire dans cette discipline une idée qui allait, à terme, la révolutionner. Insistant sur la nécessité de trouver la juste place de cette discipline parmi les autres sciences, Kant la conçut en effet comme une condition essentielle à la connaissance de la nature et de l’homme. La raison en est que, selon lui, toute connaissance d’un phénomène qui ne tient pas compte correctement du lieu où il prend place est nécessairement lacunaire. Et il en est de même s’il s’agit de l’homme, car il est impossible, selon lui, de comprendre l’être humain quand on ne comprend pas aussi son habitat, la Terre.

Bien qu’il donnât l’impression de réitérer ainsi la théorie des climats (pour laquelle, il est vrai, il y succomba par ailleurs), Kant n’en conservait en l’occurrence que l’ambition explicative, qu’il canalisa plutôt vers une théorie du lieu. Cette théorie du lieu, il est vrai, Kant la pressentit davantage qu’il n’en acheva la formulation. Il n’en demeurait pas moins que le projet était lancé. D’autres, par la suite, surent le reprendre et en firent le principe même d’une réforme de la géographie. Or qu’en est-il de ce projet géographique de Kant? Pour en prendre l’exacte mesure, il faut se rapporter à l’introduction de sa Geographie physische , où il est exposé. Considérant son haut intérêt, cette introduction mérite certainement d’être commentée, ne seraitce que brièvement, comme dans les lignes qui suivent, afin de circonscrire l’assise épistémologique, la visée cognitive et le principe analytique de l’énoncé géographique de Kant, qu’il importe, en l’occurrence, de distinguer de sa géographie.

7.1

La géographie selon Kant. L’assise épistémologique

Dans l’introduction de sa Geographie physische, Kant aborde la question de la géographie en posant le problème plus général de la connaissance. Comme la géographie, d’après lui, y tient une place spécifique, il lui importe d’abord et avant de rappeler d’où

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provient la connaissance et comment elle s’organise. Le philosophe précise à cet effet qu’il y a deux sources de la connaissance, la raison pure et l’expérience. La première est propre de l’intelligence humaine qui, selon Kant, peut formuler logiquement des idées dont la vérité ne dépend pas de l’expérience. Cette dernière, qui puise dans la capacité des sens de tirer des informations utiles, n’en est pas moins un levier cognitif fondamental. L’expérience confère en effet à la connaissance une base empirique qui, selon Kant, « instruit la raison ».

Ainsi les deux sources de la connaissance ne sont pas indépendantes; elles se confortent plutôt mutuellement.

kantienne, ne peut être conçu tel un simple agrégat de phénomènes naturels et humains dont la connaissance constituerait, au mieux, une encyclopédie. En l’espèce, insiste le philosophe, « le multiple est dérivé du tout », si bien que ces phénomènes n’ont de réalité que grâce au système qu’ils composent. C’est pourquoi on ne peut espérer connaitre pleinement le monde qu’en le concevant d’emblée comme un ensemble cohérent. Sans cette prémisse – sans ce « concept architectonique » –, il ne saurait y avoir, soutient Kant, d’espoir d’une entière compréhension scientifique de « la totalité des objets de notre expérience ».

Pour situer la géographie dans l’ordre épistémologique, Kant indique ensuite que l’expérience est perception sensitive du monde par l’homme lui-même. Or ce monde se divise en deux, selon que la perception de l’homme porte sur ce qui est à l’extérieur ou à l’intérieur de lui. Il en résulte deux domaines fondamentaux de la connaissance empirique, la géographie physique, qui concerne le monde externe à l’être humain, c’est-à-dire la nature, et l’anthropologie, qui s’attache à son monde intérieur, soit à son âme. Bien que distincts, ces deux domaines n’en sont pas moins en étroite relation puisqu’ils ne sont, finalement, que les deux faces d’un même monde. En effet, dans cette perspective où il est question de sens et d’expérience, l’homme ne peut être réduit à sa dimension spéculative, qui se rapporte à ce qu’il doit être et veut être et qui, en quelque sorte, peut le projeter hors du monde. Au contraire, l’anthropologie, soutient Kant, doit être pragmatique, afin de saisir l’homme en action au sein même du monde. Autrement dit, c’est la part du monde que l’homme porte en lui-même qui est en cause. Cette part est assimilable à la nature, qui compose l’autre part du monde, sans toutefois se restreindre à la physiologie (les propriétés et le fonctionnement de ses organes).

C’est pourquoi, plus largement, l’anthropologie kantienne commande « un point de vue cosmologique », où l’homme et la nature, pardelà la frontière que l’âme érige entre eux, partagent une même condition et s’interpénètrent constamment.

7.2 Décrire la nature

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Selon Kant, la raison peut rendre compte de la nature de deux manières. La première, qui adopte le point de vue du temps, consiste à faire le récit d’évènements « qui se sont déroulés les uns après les autres ». La seconde, en se référant plutôt à l’espace, « est la relation d’évènements qui se produisent les uns à côté des autres ».

Ainsi se distinguent deux disciplines, l’histoire et la géographie, qui poursuivent le même objectif de décrire la nature.

Même si elles partagent le même but, l’histoire et la géographie n’en gardent pas moins leur caractère respectif. Car si toutes les deux doivent saisir la diversité des phénomènes, la première s’attache davantage à leur succession, tandis que la seconde s’intéresse plutôt à leur combinaison. Ainsi, l’histoire tend à décrire l’incessante transformation d’une condition naturelle que la géographie, pour sa part, tient pour une totalité qui, au moment même où elle est considérée, contient sa propre raison d’être.

En découle une réflexion sur la préséance d’une discipline sur l’autre. Le débat à ce titre ne porte pas sur leur importance relative, mais sur leur place dans la formation de la connaissance.

En effet, chacune étant fondée sur une dimension fondamentale de l’expérience, l’espace pour l’une et le temps pour l’autre, « la géographie et l’histoire remplissent la totalité du champ de nos connaissances », de sorte qu’elles ne sauraient être autrement qu’égales en valeur.

Il n’en demeure pas moins que la succession des

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phénomènes, qui est l’objet de l’histoire, n’est percevable – c’est-à-dire objet de notre expérience – que si elle se rattache à des phénomènes actuels. Ainsi, l’histoire, affirme Kant, ne saurait exister sans la géographie qui, dans les faits, en est le « substrat ». Il faut de plus tenir compte, explique le philosophe, de la difficulté pratique de constituer la géographie et l’histoire en tant que corpus de connaissances empiriques. Or, rappelle le philosophe, il est plus réaliste de penser faire l’expérience des phénomènes qui, dans le temps présent, sont rassemblés dans l’espace, que de ceux qui se sont enchainés au fil du temps, surtout si on veut remonter à des époques avant l’invention de l’écriture . Cette deuxième raison renforce l’idée que la géographie soit, sur le plan pédagogique, « la propédeutique de la connaissance du monde ».

7.3 L’expérience du lieu La raison, d’après Kant, exige une description ordonnée de la nature. Deux options se présentent à cet effet. La première, dite logique, divise les connaissances selon les concepts. La seconde, qualifiée de physique, retient le critère du temps et plus encore celui de l’espace, d’où son rattachement à la géographie.

Or, aux yeux du philosophe, cette seconde option sert plus efficacement à constituer des connaissances empiriques témoignant au mieux de l’expérience.

La connaissance dont l’ordre procède des concepts est, à l’époque de Kant, en pleine effervescence. C’est en effet elle qui, à la manière de Linné, classe les espèces en les différenciant en fonction de leurs caractères.

L’exercice est purement logique puisque la séparation des espèces – par exemple selon que le quadrupède possède des sabots fendus ou non – reste une opération de la raison pure. Il en résulte des catégories qui forment un vaste registre unissant des phénomènes – par exemple le wapiti et le cerf élaphe – pourtant séparés dans l’espace ou dans le temps. Ce registre, que Kant désigne système de la nature, a l’avantage de rapporter en une seule sorte des phénomènes qui partagent une chose en propre. Ainsi, on sait pourquoi, par exemple, un lézard n’est pas un crocodile.

Aussi logique et utile soit-il, le système de la nature reste toutefois, selon Kant, en deçà des plus hautes attentes de la science. Son défaut est de nier la puissance du lieu fondée sur la singularité de l’espace et du temps qui, en chaque expérience, donne à la nature sa pleine réalité. En négligeant de considérer le lieu, on se prive en fait de la capacité de comprendre l’unité qu’un phénomène forme, à l’endroit même où il se manifeste, avec un autre phénomène, voire avec plusieurs autres. Ainsi, d’après Kant, c’est le lieu, davantage que l’espèce, qui est le véritable enjeu de la connaissance empirique.

Dès lors, s’il y a un système de la nature, il y a plus encore un « théâtre de la nature » qui fait que le lézard et le crocodile par exemple, lorsqu’ils coexistent dans un même lieu, représentent, dans leur réalité physique, une seule espèce – espèce géographique pourrait-on dire – et non pas deux. Kant fait ainsi comprendre que cette espèce géographique n’est pas déterminée par la nature ambiante, comme le prétend la tenace théorie des climats, mais par une entité – le lieu – qui en est distincte et qui a ses qualités propres et sa puissance spécifique.

De fait, la réalité de cette entité ne réside pas dans les qualités intrinsèques des phénomènes rassemblés dans une portion de la surface terrestre, mais dans leur seule coexistence.

Ainsi, le lieu n’est pas un phénomène qui s’ajoute en la circonstance; il est plutôt l’état de la relation de ces phénomènes concomitants. Or comprendre cette concomitance, la dynamique qui la caractérise, tel est, d’après Kant, le plus grand défi de la connaissance empirique et il revient à la géographie de le relever.

8. Conclusion Contrairement à sa géographie, le projet de Kant d’une théorie du lieu eut un fort impact.

Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) y fit écho dans sa philosophie de l’histoire et des géographes influents s’y rallièrent. D’abord Alexandre de Humboldt (1769-1859) et Carl Ritter (17791859) proclamèrent, sur cette base, l’avènement d’une nouvelle géographie, que bien d’autres, dont Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904) et Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918), revisitèrent au XIXe et au début du XX e siècle. Bien entendu, chacun, selon son inclination, sa culture et son

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époque, y ajouta sa touche. Mais l’impulsion kantienne n’en était pas moins tangible au sein de cette géographie qui, grâce à eux, s’implantait au sein de l’université et gagnait en popularité. Depuis, il est vrai, la géographie a emprunté bien d’autres voies et il n’est pas sûr qu’elle nous ait encore fourni une théorie des lieux achevée ou satisfaisante. Il n’en demeure pas moins que la question adressée par Kant, non seulement à la géographie mais à la science en général, garde toute sa pertinence : comment rendre compte rationnellement du lieu que forment, par leur concomitance même, les êtres et les choses?

12.

13.

14.

15.

References 1. Aujac G., La géographie dans le monde antique, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1975.

2. Bergevin J., Déterminisme et géographie, Québec, Presses de l’Université Laval, 1992.

3. Besse J.-M., “La géographie selon Kant : l’espace du cosmopolitisme”, Corpus, 34, 1998, pp. 109-129.

4. Broc N., La géographie de la Renaissance, Paris, Éditions du CTHS, 1986.

5. Claval P., Essai sur l’évolution de la géographie humaine, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1976.

6. Claval P., Histoire de la géographie, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1995.

7. Cohen-Halimi M. et Marcuzzi M., Introduction. Dans Emmanuel Kant, Géographie, Paris, Aubier, 1999, pp. 7-58.

8. Crampe-Casnabet M., “Kant : le voyageur de Königsberg”, Philosophie, 5, 1985, pp. 3-20.

9. Cresswell T., Geographic Thought. A critical introduction, Londres, WileyBlackwell, 2013.

10. Da Costa Gomes P.C., Les deux pôles épistémologiques de la modernité. Une lecture des fondements de la géographie chez Kant et Herder, in Staszak J.-F. (Ed.), Les discours du géographe, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1997, pp. 211-234.

11. Glaken C.J., Traces of the Rhodian Shore.

Nature and Culture in the Western Thought from Ancient Time to the End of the Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Eighteenth Century, Berkeley et Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1967.

Hartshorne R., “The Concept of Geography as a Science of Space, from Kant and Humboldt to Hettner”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 48, 1958, pp. 97-108.

James P.E. et Martin G.J., All Possible Worlds. A history of geographical ideas, New York, John Wiley et Sons, 1981.

Lestringant F. (Ed.), Les méditations cosmographiques à la Renaissance. Cahiers V.L. Saulnier, 26, Paris, Presses de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2009.

Livingstone D.N. et Withers C.W. (Ed.), Geography and Enlightenment, Chicago et Londres, University of Chicago Press, 1999.

May J.A., Kant’s Concept of Geography and its Relation to Recent Geographical Thought, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1970.

Ruby C., “Kant géographe”, EspacesTemps – Les Cahiers, 68-69-70, 1998, pp. 129-136.

Walter F., Les figures paysagères de la nation. Territoire et paysage en Europe (16e-20e siècle), Paris, Éditions de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences sociales, 2004.

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Géographie4 Emmanuel Kant §1 Ce qu’il nous faut considérer dans l’ensemble de nos connaissances, ce sont avant tout leurs sources ou leur origine, après quoi il faut aussi relever le plan de leur ordonnancement, ou la forme selon laquelle nous pouvons les ordonner pour ne pas être dans l’incapacité de nous les remémorer quand nous avons besoin d’elles dans tous les cas qui se présentent. Nous devons donc les diviser en rubriques déterminées avant de les acquérir. §2 Pour ce qui est des sources et de l’origine de nos connaissances, nous puisons celles-ci soit dans la raison pure soit dans l’expérience qui elle-même, à son tour, instruit la raison.

Les connaissances purement rationnelles sont données par notre raison; en revanche, c’est par les sens que nous recevons les connaissances empiriques. Mais comme la portée de nos sens ne dépasse pas le monde, nos connaissances empiriques ne dépassent pas non plus le monde présent.

Et puisque nous avons un double sens, un sens externe et un sens interne, grâce à eux, nous pouvons considérer le monde comme somme de toutes les connaissances empiriques. En tant qu’objet du sens externe, le monde est la nature et, en tant qu’objet du sens interne, il est l’âme ou l’homme.

Les expériences que nous avons de la nature et de l’homme constituent les connaissances du monde. L’anthropologie nous enseigne la connaissance de l’homme; nous devons la connaissance de la nature à la géographie physique ou description de la Terre. Il est vrai qu’il n’y a pas d’expériences au sens strict, mais seulement des perceptions qui, prises ensemble, constitueraient l’expérience. Et là encore nous ne prenons vraiment ce dernier terme que dans son sens courant de perceptions.

4

Paris, Aubier, 1999, pp. 65-75. Traduction de Michel Cohen-Halimi, Max Marcuzzi et Valérie Seroussi.

La description physique de la Terre est donc la première partie de la connaissance du monde.

Elle appartient à une idée qu’on peut nommer la propédeutique de la connaissance du monde.

L’enseignement de celle-ci semble encore très lacunaire. Il n’en demeure pas moins que c’est bien elle qui nous est la plus utile dans toutes les circonstances possibles de la vie. Il est donc nécessaire qu’elle se fasse connaitre comme une connaissance susceptible d’être complétée et corrigée par l’expérience.

Nous anticipons notre expérience future, celle que nous ferons plus tard dans le monde, grâce à un enseignement et un aperçu général de cette sorte qui nous donne un concept préliminaire de toutes choses. De celui qui a fait de nombreux voyages, on dit qu’il a vu le monde. Mais qui veut tirer profit de son voyage doit déjà s’en être esquissé un plan par avance et non se contenter de regarder le monde comme un objet du sens externe.

L’autre partie de la connaissance du monde traite de la connaissance de l’homme. La fréquentation des hommes élargit nos connaissances. Il reste cependant nécessaire de s’exercer et de se préparer à toutes les expériences futures; c’est ce que permet l’Anthropologie. Elle permet de connaitre ce qui, dans l’homme, est pragmatique et non pas spéculatif. L’homme est alors considéré non pas d’un point de vue physiologique qui vise à distinguer les sources des phénomènes, mais d’un point de vue cosmologique.

Ce qui est sérieusement défaut c’est l’apprentissage d’une mise en application des connaissances déjà acquises et d’une mise en usage de celles-ci, conforme à la fois à l’entendement et aux circonstances, autrement dit, une instruction permettant à nos connaissances de trouver leur dimension pratique. Et c’est cela la connaissance du monde.

Le monde est le substrat et la scène où se déroule le jeu de notre habileté. Il est le sol sur lequel nos connaissances sont acquises et appliquées. Mais pour que puisse être réalisé ce dont l’entendement dit la nécessité, il faut encore connaitre la constitution du sujet, sinon ce qui vient d’être dit est impossible.

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De plus, il faut aussi apprendre à connaitre la totalité des objets de notre expérience, afin que nos connaissances ne forment pas un agrégat, mais un système; car dans un système le tout précède les parties alors qu’à l’inverse, dans un agrégat, ce sont les parties qui précèdent le tout.

Il en va de même avec toutes les sciences qui produisent en nous une liaison, par exemple avec l’encyclopédie où le tout n’apparait qu’avec l’ensemble. L’idée est architectonique; elle crée les sciences. Celui qui, par exemple, veut construire une maison se forge d’abord une idée du tout dont toutes les parties sont ensuite dérivées. Aussi notre présente préparation estelle également une idée de la connaissance du monde. En effet, nous nous forgeons un concept architectonique, qui est un concept où le multiple est dérivé du tout.

Ici, le tout est le monde, la scène sur laquelle nous allons engager toutes les expériences. La fréquentation des hommes et les voyages élargissent le champ de toutes nos connaissances. Cette fréquentation des hommes et les voyages élargissent le champ de toutes nos connaissances. Cette fréquentation nous apprend à connaitre l’homme, mais elle exige beaucoup de temps avant que le but final soit atteint. En revanche, si nous sommes déjà préparés et instruits, nous disposons d’un tout, d’une somme de connaissances, qui nous apprennent à connaitre l’homme. Nous sommes alors en mesure d’assigner sa classe et sa place à chaque expérience accomplie. Grâce aux voyages, on élargit sa connaissance du monde extérieur, mais ce n’est guère utile si l’on n’y a pas été exercé au préalable par un enseignement.

On dit ainsi de tel ou tel homme qu’il connait le monde et on entend par là qu’il connait l’homme et la nature. §3 Nos connaissances commencent à partir des sens. Il nous donne la matière à laquelle la raison ne fait que conférer une forme adéquate.

Le fondement de toutes les connaissances repose donc sur les sens et sur l’expérience, laquelle nous est soit propre soit étrangère.

Nous ne devrions certes nous occuper que de notre expérience propre; mais celle-ci ne suffit pas pour tout connaitre : en effet, l’homme ne Copyright© Nuova Cultura

traverse et ne vit qu’une petite portion du temps durant laquelle il fait peu d’expériences par luimême; et concernant l’espace, en revanche, même si l’homme voyage, il y a beaucoup de choses qu’il ne peut ni observer ni percevoir par lui-même; c’est pourquoi il nous faut nécessairement recourir aux expériences des autres. Il faut, toutefois, que ces dernières soient fiables; c’est la raison pour laquelle les expériences consignées par écrit sont préférables à celles qui ont seulement été exprimées oralement.

Ainsi, grâce à des informations, nous élargissons nos connaissances comme si notre propre vie avait traversé la totalité du monde passé. Notre connaissance du temps présent s’étend grâce aux informations provenant de pays étrangers, qui nous renseignent sur ceux-ci comme si nous y vivions nous-mêmes.

Mais il faut remarquer ceci : toute l’expérience étrangère nous est communiquée soit sous la forme d’un récit soit sous la forme d’une description. La première est une histoire, la seconde une géographie. La description d’un lieu singulier de la Terre s’appelle la topographie, la description d’une région et de ses propriétés, la chorographie, la description de telle ou telle montagne, l’orographie, la description des eaux, l’hydrographie.

Remarque : il est ici question de la connaissance du monde et, par suite, d’une description de la Terre tout entière, Le nom de géographie n’est donc par utiliser dans un autre sens que celui qu’il a habituellement. §4 En ce qui concerne le plan de l’ordonnancement, il faut assigner à toutes nos connaissances la place qui leur est propre. Or, nous pouvons assigner une place à toutes nos connaissances empiriques soit sous les concepts, soit selon le temps et l’espace où on les rencontre réellement.

La division des connaissances selon des concepts est la division logique, celle qui est faite selon le temps et l’espace est la division physique. Par la première nous obtenons un système de la nature (systema naturæ), comme par exemple, celui de Linné, par la seconde nous obtenons, au contraire, une description Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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géographique de la nature. Si je dis, par exemple : l’espèce des bovidés appartient au genre des quadrupèdes ou encore à l’espèce de ces animaux à sabots fendus, il s’agit là d’une division que je fais dans ma tête et, par conséquent, d’une division logique. Le Systema naturae est comme un registre du tout où je place toutes les choses dans la classe qui leur revient chacune en propre, bien qu’elles puissent se trouver dans des régions terrestres différentes et très éloignées les unes des autres.

Suivant la division physique, au contraire, les choses sont considérées selon les places où elles se trouvent sur la Terre. Le système indique chaque place dans la classification. Mais la description géographique de la nature indique les places où l’on peut réellement trouver ces choses sur Terre. C’est ainsi, par exemple, que le lézard et le crocodile ne sont au fond qu’un seul et même animal. Le crocodile vit dans le Nil, le lézard sur la terre ferme, et ce même chez nous.

D’une manière générale, nous prenons ici en considération le théâtre de la nature, la Terre elle-même et les régions où se trouvent réellement les choses. En revanche, dans le système de la nature, on ne s’enquiert pas du lieu d’origine des formes, mais leur ressemblance.

Voilà pourquoi on serait en droit de nommer plus justement agrégats de la nature les systèmes de la nature qui ont été rédigés jusqu’à présent; car un système présuppose l’idée du tout à partir de laquelle est dérivée la diversité des choses.

Nous n’avons encore à proprement parler aucun Systema naturæ. Dans les prétendus systèmes de cette sorte dont nous disposons, les choses ne sont qu’assemblées et alignées les unes à la suite de autres.

Mais l’histoire comme la géographie peuvent être appelées toutes deux une description, avec cette différence cependant que la première est une description selon le temps et la seconde une description selon l’espace.

L’histoire et la géographie élargissent donc le champ de nos connaissances du point de vue du temps et de l’espace. L’histoire concerne les évènements qui se sont déroulé les uns après les autres du point de vue du temps. La géographie concerne les phénomènes qui se produisent en même temps du point de vue de l’espace. Selon

les différents objets donc elle traite, la géographie prend différents noms. Ainsi s’appelle-t-elle tantôt physique, mathématique, politique, tantôt géographie morale, théologique, littéraire ou de marché.

L’histoire (Geschichte) de ce qui se passe à des époques différentes et qui est l’histoire (Historie) proprement dite n’est rien d’autre qu’une géographie continue; aussi est-ce une des grandes imperfections de l’histoire que de ne pas savoir en quel endroit une chose s’est produite ou d’ignorer comment l’évènement était.

C’est donc seulement du point de vue de l’espace et du temps que l’histoire (Historie) diffère de la géographie. La première, comme je l’ai dit, est la relation d’évènements consécutifs et a rapport au temps. La seconde, en revanche, est la relation d’évènements qui se produisent les uns à côté des autres dans l’espace. L’histoire (Geschichte) est un récit tandis que la géographie est une description. Par conséquent, nous pouvons bien avoir une description de la nature, mais non une histoire de la nature. En fait, cette dernière dénomination, dont beaucoup font usage, est tout à fait inexacte. Mais comme nous avons l’habitude de croire tenir aussi la chose quand nous avons seulement le nom, personne ne songe à livrer réellement une telle histoire de la nature.

L’histoire de la nature contient la diversité propre à la géographie, elle montre comment les choses étaient à différentes époques, mais non comment elles sont maintenant à un seul moment, car elle deviendrait alors une description de la nature.

Si, au contraire, on expose les évènements de l’ensemble de la nature tels qu’ils ont existé à travers toutes les époques, on donne alors une histoire de la nature proprement dire. Si l’on examinait, par exemple, comment les différentes races de chiens sont issues d’une même souche et quelles transformations elles ont pu connaitre à travers toutes les époques sous l’effet de la différence des pays, des climats, de la reproduction, etc., on aurait une histoire naturelle des chiens et on pourrait en produire une pour chaque partie distincte de la nature, par exemple, pour les plants, etc. Mais elle a ceci de difficile qu’il faudrait la déduire de conjectures tirées d’expériences au lieu de la tenir

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d’informations exactes sur le tout. Car l’histoire de la nature n’est en rien plus récente que le monde lui-même, et, cependant, nous ne pouvons même pas garantir l’exactitude de nos informations depuis l’invention de l’écriture. Et quel immense espace de temps, probablement infiniment plus grand que celui que l’on nous indique habituellement dans l’histoire à ce propos, a précédé cette invention!

Mais la vraie philosophie consiste à suivre la diversité et la variété d’une chose à travers toutes les époques. Si l’on pouvait domestiquer les chevaux sauvages de la steppe, ils seraient très endurants. On remarque que les ânes et les cheveux proviennent d’une même souche, et que le cheval sauvage est le cheval de souche, car il a de longues oreilles. De même, le mouton est semblable à la chèvre et leur différence tient seulement à leur type d’élevage. Il en va de même avec le vin, etc.

Si l’on examinait l’état de la nature afin de remarquer quelles transformations celle-ci a subies au cours des temps, cette procédure donnerait une histoire de la nature proprement dite.

Le nom de géographie désigne donc une description de la nature, plus encore, une description de la nature de la Terre tout entière.

La géographie et l’histoire remplissent la totalité du champ de nos connaissances; la géographie, celui de l’espace, et l’histoire, celui du temps.

Nous admettons habituellement qu’il y a une géographie ancienne et une géographie nouvelle, car la géographie a toujours existé. Mais de la géographie et de l’histoire, laquelle a précédé l’autre? C’est la géographie qui est au fondement de l’histoire, car il faut bien que les évènements se rapportent à quelque chose.

L’histoire suit une progression incessante; mais les choses se transforment elles aussi et, à certaines époques, donnent une tout autre géographie. La géographie est donc le substrat.

Dès lors que nous avons une histoire ancienne, nous devons naturellement aussi avoir une géographie ancienne.

La géographie des temps présents est celle que nous connaissons le mieux. Outre d’autres buts encore plus proches, elle sert aussi à éclairer l’ancienne géographie par l’histoire.

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Notre géographie scolaire habituelle est cependant très lacunaire bien que rien ne puisse mieux éclairer le bon sens des hommes que la géographie. Dans la mesure, en effet, où l’entendement commun se rapporte à l’expérience, il lui est impossible d’accroitre un tant soit peu l’étendue de son savoir sans connaitre la géographie. De nombreuses personnes sont complètement indifférentes aux informations délivrées par les journaux. Cela vient du fait qu’elles sont incapables de situer ces informations. Elles n’ont aucun aperçu de la terre ni de la mer ni de la totalité de la surface terrestre. Et il est, néanmoins, du plus haut intérêt d’être informé, par exemple, du déplacement des bateaux dans la mer Glaciale, car la découverte, que l’on peut difficilement faire plus qu’espérer maintenant, ou, encore, ne serait-ce que la possibilité de traverser la mer Glaciale occasionnerait de très importantes mutations dans toute l’Europe. Il est difficile de trouver une nation où le bon sens soit aussi largement partagé qu’en Angleterre, et ce jusque dans les classes les plus basses du peuple. Les journaux en sont la cause, car leur lecture présuppose un concept étendu de toute la surface de la Terre, sans quoi toutes les informations qu’ils contiennent nous laissent indifférents puisque nous restons incapables de les appliquer.

Les Péruviens sont naïfs au point d’avaler tout ce qu’on leur présente, incapables qu’ils sont de saisir quel usage adéquat ils pourraient en faire.

Les personnes qui, ne sachant pas localiser les informations délivrées par les journaux, sont incapables de les utiliser, sont dans le même cas que ces pauvres Péruviens ou dans un cas très semblable. §5 La géographie physique est donc un abrégé universel de la nature; et comme elle ne constitue pas seulement le fondement de l’histoire, mais aussi celui de toutes les géographies possibles, il faudrait traiter brièvement des parties principales de chacune d’entre elles. Doit donc figurer ici : 1. La géographie mathématique où l’on traite de la forme, de la grandeur et du mouvement de la Terre ainsi que des rapports de celle-ci avec le système solaire dans lequel elle se trouve.

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2. La géographie morale où il est question de la diversité des mœurs et des caractères humains rapportée à la diversité des régions. Par exemple, lorsqu’en Chine, et plus particulièrement au Japon, le parricide est puni comme le crime le plus effroyable, ce n’est pas seulement le meurtrier qui est torturé à mort avec une extrême cruauté, mais toute sa famille qui est exécutée et tous ses voisins de rue qui sont emprisonnés. On croit, en effet, qu’il est impossible qu’un tel vice apparaisse subitement et qu’au contraire il ne peut surgir que progressivement et qu’en conséquence, les voisins auraient pu le prévoir et alerter les autorités. En Laponie, en revanche, on considère comme un suprême devoir d’amour filial qu’un fils se serve d’un tendon de renne pour tuer son père blessé à la chasse, d’où le fait que le père confie toujours pareil tendon à son fils préféré.

informations les plus nécessaires. Que l’on compare seulement, par exemple, la religion chrétienne d’Orient avec celle d’Occident et les nuances plus subtiles encore qui sont les leurs ici et là. Cela apparait encore plus clairement quand on compare des religions essentiellement différentes à partir de leurs principes.

3. La géographie politique. Si le premier principe fondamental de toute société civile est une loi universelle et, pour le cas où la loi serait transgressée, une puissance à laquelle rien ne puisse opposer de résistance, et si, en outre, les lois se rapportent aussi bien à la constitution du sol qu’à celle des habitants, alors la géographie politique doit trouver ici sa place puisqu’elle se fonde entièrement sur la géographie physique.

Si, en Russie, les fleuves coulaient vers le sud, l’empire tout entier en tirerait le plus grand profit, mais voilà, ils se jettent presque tous dans la mer Glaciale. Il y a longtemps deux régents vivaient en Perse, l’un avait son siège à Ispahan, l’autre à Kandahar. Aucun des deux ne parvint à soumettre l’autre, car le désert de Kerman, qui est plus vaste que bien des mers, les séparait et les en empêchait.

L’utilité de cette étude est très vaste. Elle sert à ordonner nos connaissances selon notre plaisir et elle enrichit nos conversations en société.

4. La géographie de marché. Si sur Terre, un pays possède en surabondance ce dont un autre est totalement dépourvu, le commerce maintient une situation d’équilibre dans le monde entier. Il faudra donc indiquer ici pourquoi et comment un pays a en surabondance ce dont un autre est dépourvu. C’est avant tout le commerce qui a affiné les hommes et leur a permis de se connaitre les uns les autres.

5. La géographie théologique. Dans la mesure où, quand on change de lieu, les principes théologiques sont souvent modifiés sur des points essentiels, il faudra donner ici les

En outre, il faudra remarquer ici les écarts de la nature quand elle distingue la jeunesse de la vieillesse et différencie ce qui est propre à chaque pays : les animaux, par exemple, mais pas ceux qui sont chez nous, sauf si dans certains pays ils étaient constitués autrement.

Ainsi les rossignols, entre autres, ne chantent-ils pas aussi fort en Italie que dans les régions septentrionales. Sur les iles désertes, les chiens n’aboient pas du tout. Il faudra aussi parler des plantes, des pierres, des herbes, des montagnes, etc.

§6 Avant de passer au traité de la géographie physique lui-même, il est absolument nécessaire, conformément à nos premières remarques, que nous nous forgions un concept préliminaire de la géographie mathématique, car nous en aurons très souvent besoin dans ce traité. Nous allons, par conséquent, mentionner ici la forme, la grandeur et le mouvement de la Terre ainsi que son rapport au reste de l’univers.

REFERRED PAPERS FOR REMOTE SENSING Edited by Alberto Baroni and Maurizio Fea

Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography (J-READING), 1, 4, June, 2015, pp. 117-150 DOI: 10.4458/5196-09

Remote sensing and interdisciplinary approach for forecasting and analysing the effects of hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons Maurizio Feaa, Massimo Capaldob, Cristiano Pesaresic a

Italian Geophysics Association, Rome, Italy Italian Meteorological Service, Rome, Italy c Dipartimento di Scienze documentarie, linguistico-filologiche e geografiche, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy Email: maufea@gmail.com

b

Received: April 2015 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Accepted: May 2015

Abstract Hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons are feared phenomena which frequently cause dramatic damage and consequences in different areas of the world. Since their impact typologies are very different according to the human and social contexts in which they break out, after providing a framework on their main characteristics, structures and measuring scales, we provide some considerations regarding the possible kinds of human works and elements which can be involved and the resilience of the populations. Then, we focus the attention on essential aspects to interpret satellite and radar imagery in order to support the observation and forecast of hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons. Thus, we provide numerous pieces of evidence regarding the importance and the added value of remote sensing in recent events as far as concerns for example the possibilities to: monitor the formation and development of these phenomena; estimate their maximum intensity and their turbulence intensity; provide useful indications for civil protection measures and activities; evaluate the amount of damage caused on many components, in terms of ecosystems and anthropic structures; quantify the land use changes between pre and post events; determine the general impact on urban areas and coastal zones etc. As different exemplificative cases for a specific analysis supported by the geomatics interpretation of remote sensing imagery, we have chosen: Hurricane Katrina, for the amount of widespread damage caused; Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Super-Typhoon Haiyan; and Typhoon Tip, considered to be the largest typhoon that ever occurred. According to the scheme defined by previous contributions (Fea et al., 2013a, 2013b), we also provide some didactical input for a participative and critical study of these phenomena, where students can converge methodological and applicative aptitudes, thus becoming actively responsible of their learning process.

Keywords: Damages, Forecast, GIS, Hurricanes, Tropical Cyclones and Typhoons, Remote Sensing, Satellite and Aerial Imagery

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1. Introduction On 12 March 2015 the islands of the Republic of Vanuatu in the south-western part of the Pacific Ocean were struck by one of the strongest tropical storms that have ever been recorded. When considering examples of extreme events within the environmental framework a special place is held by tropical storms and hurricanes.

Before analysing the nature of these events, it is important to note that cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons are basically just different names for the same extreme weather phenomena in different parts of the world tropics. These storms are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and north-east Pacific, typhoons in the north-west Pacific and cyclones in the south Pacific and Indian Ocean. They are rightly identified as extreme natural phenomena. In order to better understand the amount of energy that is involved in the life of these storms it is useful to report that a fully developed hurricane is estimated to release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 20x1010 Kwatt. Such a rate of heat release is equivalent to a 10 megaton (4.2×1016 Joule) nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes. A hurricane, a cyclone or a typhoon is a sustained intensification of a pre-existing perturbation of a usual weather pattern occurring in the tropical regions. This perturbation is marked by a warm-core intense lowpressure weather system at synoptic scale (around 1000 km), a closed surface wind circulation around it (counter clockwise in the northern Hemisphere) and a strong convection pattern. Whenever such a tropical cyclone obtains a maximum sustained wind speed greater than or equal to 119 km/h, it is reclassified as a hurricane or a typhoon depending upon the region of formation1. Mature hurricanes are nearly circular in shape and are typically a few hundred kilometers in diameter.

Overall, such phenomena are luckily not very frequent and they interest tropical areas only. Figure 1 shows a 150 year climatology of cyclone occurrences. On average there are roughly 80 hurricanes per year all over the world and most of them are of moderate intensity. Looking at Figure 1, one can draw a number of interesting considerations.

required for the hurricanes to form, is null in that region. In actual fact, the Coriolis force, which results from the Earth’s quasi-spherical shape and its rotation around its N-S axis, has a maximum at the Poles and is null at the Equator, therefore depriving hurricanes of the trigger to be born.

Furthermore, from the map it is also evident that the north-east Pacific as well as the south Atlantic are free from these events. In the Pacific, this is mainly due to the presence of a cold oceanic current moving northward along the coast of Chile, Peru and Ecuador (the very same one linked to the El Niño phenomenon). A similar cold current, the Benguela Current, flows from the western coast of South Africa northward, passing Namibia and Angola and keeping those waters too cool to bring about hurricane formation. The south Atlantic waters off the eastern coast of Brazil are not favourable for hurricanes for a variety of reasons, including prevalent wind shear (variation of wind speed or direction at different altitudes), and owing to the usual presence of intense wind vertical shear over the south Atlantic2.

From a temporal viewpoint, it is clear that hurricanes occur only during specific periods of the year, which are different for the two hemispheres.

In fact, once the hurricane has been triggered, it can be considered, at a first approximation, as a heat engine: it obtains its heat input from the warm humid air over the tropical ocean, and releases this heat through the condensation of water vapour into water droplets in deep thunderstorms of the eyewall and rainbands, then giving off a cold exhaust air in the upper levels of the troposphere (~12 km up).

It turns out that the vast majority of the heat released in the condensation process is used to cause rising motions in the thunderstorms and only a small portion (10%) drives the storm’s horizontal winds (Marks, 2003, p. 963).

First of all, it shows that hurricanes do not interest equatorial regions, regardless of the fact that intense thunderstorms occur at the Equator: that is due to the fact that the Coriolis Force,

The subsequent hurricane evolution is mainly determined by the conditions it encounters along its track over the sea, and the track itself is the result of its movement steered by larger-scale, global atmospheric circulation. Finally, as soon as hurricanes make landfall, that is to say they move from the ocean over land, they start to decay. From their internal structure point of view, hurricanes are fairly coherent weather systems with a consistent outlook (Figures 2 and 3).

1

2

See http://www.hurricanescience.org/science/science/ hurricanelifecycle/.

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See http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id =7079.

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Figure 1. Climatology of tropical cyclone occurrences. Courtesy of the University of Hawaii.

Figure 2. Hurricane structure. Courtesy of the University of British Columbia.

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Distance from center (km) Figure 3. Vertical thermal structure of a typical hurricane. Courtesy of the University of Hawaii.

Type

Category

Depression Tropical Storm Hurricane Hurricane Hurricane Hurricane Hurricane

TD TS 1 2 3 4 5

Pressure mb ------>980 965-980 945-964 920-944 <920

Knots < 34 ≥34 64-82 83-95 96-112 113-134 >134

Winds m/s < 17 ≥17 32-40 41-45 46-53 54-64 >64

mph <39 ≥39 74-95 96-110 111-130 131-155 >155

Surge Ft ------4-5 6-8 9-12 13-18 >18

Table 1. The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.

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Their surface winds rotate cyclonically (counterclockwise in the northern Hemisphere).

The strongest winds are located in a hurricane’s eyewall, which surrounds a nearly calm eye at the storm’s warm center. A hurricane’s eye is typically tens of kilometers in diameter. Clouds in both the eyewall and the spiral bands outside the eyewall can produce very heavy rain.

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the Earth to the upper troposphere” (about 13 km or 8 miles up). Research shows that such a situation might favour the injection of dry air into the storm system.

The intensity of the cyclone is most often defined by the maximum sustained wind a few meters above the Earth’s surface.

But why are hurricanes not very frequent compared to the relatively high number of atmospheric disturbances triggered in the tropics by the intense solar radiation affecting this region?

For tropical storms observed over the north Atlantic or eastern north Pacific, Table 1 gives a more detailed classification of tropical cyclone intensity based on sea level pressure at the centre of the storm, maximum sustained wind and storm surge.

Statistical studies performed over the observed climatology of hurricanes show that a few stringent conditions are necessary for hurricane formation.

They include the following (http://www.hurricanescience.org/science/science/hurricanegenesis/).

The scaling of hurricanes (category 1 to 5) is based on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. But similar scales apply for other regions of the globe (Table 1).

- A sea temperature of at least ~26.5°C to a depth of ~50 m, so that deep cooler water cannot easily be mixed with the surface by winds (situation of deep thermocline).

- A pre-existing disturbance with cyclonic circulation (i.e. large low-level vorticity) persisting longer than 24 hrs. As the air in the disturbance converges, its angular momentum is conserved and wind speed is due to increase.

- “A vertical temperature profile in the atmosphere that cools enough with height to support thunderstorm activity”.

- “Sufficient water vapour in the middle of the troposphere. Even over the tropical oceans, dry air sometimes exists in the middle of the troposphere, and this dry air suppresses thunderstorms, preventing tropical depression formation”. On the other hand, if the humidity is too high in the troposphere, the disturbance will not have the capability to moisten the air (via evaporation from the sea surface) for tropical storm genesis to occur.

-

Sufficient N or S distance from the Equator, as anticipated above, for the Coriolis Force to be significant to facilitate the convergence of the air masses at the surface (usually at least 4-5 degrees in latitude).

- “Low values of vertical wind shear [variation of the wind with height] from the surface of Copyright© Nuova Cultura

In summary, maximum scale (category 5) hurricanes are caracterized by wind speeds in excess of 230 km/h.

One important effect of the hurricane intense wind circulation is the so-called storm surge, that is, the piling up of the water higher than the ordinary sea level. It has been shown that the sea level surge caused by a land-falling storm is proportional to the maximum sustained wind or sea level pressure at the centre of the storm. The combined effects of low pressures, high waves and local increase of sea level can dramatically take advantage of an unfavourable bathymetry to cause extensive floods in those regions affected by the hurricane landfall and consequent storm surge effect (Figure 4).

Finally, it is necessary to highlight that hurricanes are very different objects when compared with extra-tropical weather perturbations. The main differences between hurricanes and mid-latitude storms are the following.

- Winter extra-tropical storms have cold and warm fronts (sharp variations in the thermal field resulting in an asymmetric shape) and occur in the middle and high latitudes (30°60° N or S).

- Winter storms are generally larger having spatial scales of thousands of kilometers, much larger than the typical size of hurricanes.

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Figure 4. Storm surge effect. Courtesy of the UCAR Comet Program.

- The mid-latitude storms are mainly triggered and driven by three-dimensional temperature and mass variations in space, while hurricanes draw their energy from the latent heat released by the condensation of moisture due to the evaporation from the sea.

- Hurricanes have a vertical structure different from mid-latitude storms, as they have warm (not cold) core central lows and winds reduce with height. In addition, jet streams are not present aloft over hurricanes, while they are characteristic of the mid-latitude perturbations.

2.1 Observing hurricanes In the past, it was difficult to track tropical cyclones, since these storms usually spend the majority of their life on the open ocean, far from the network of land-based weather observations: for those that never made landfall, sometimes their entire life cycle would have been completely undetected.

Today, worldwide, hurricanes and typhoons are analysed primarily with imagery from Earth Observation (EO) satellites. Prime data sources are the geostationary meteorological satellites of

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the World Weather Watch: they fly at an altitude of 35,800 km in an equatorial orbit with the same angular velocity as the Earth, thereby continuously observing the same wide sector of the planet surface. Therefore, their sensors can acquire imagery data of tropical storms with extremely high time frequency and in different spectral bands simultaneously. In particular, data acquired in the thermal infrared band provides the temperature of sea surface and cloud tops, measured by sensing the thermal infrared radiation emitted by them.

In addition, EO satellites flying in near-polar orbits at altitudes in the 500-1,000 km range provide detailed storm images in the Visible, Infrared and Microwave spectral bands when they overfly it. Similarly, storm pictures are taken by astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS).

It is important to note that meteorological satellites also carry instruments that collect data that allow the generation of vertical atmospheric profiles of key geophysical parameters, such as air temperature and humidity, which are used as input information in the numerical atmospheric models for weather and storm analysis and forecast.

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Together with satellites, sophisticated arrays of airborne instruments collect large quantities of high-quality data, which are taken back (or sent via satellite telecommunications) to the centres responsible and incorporated into hurricane prediction models. Furthermore, hurricane reconnaissance reports come primarily from the so-called Hurricane Hunters (Figure 5).

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mation about the conditions within a tropical cyclone”. They “are the only routine source of measured waves in areas unobstructed by land and are often the only way to take direct measurements when a tropical system is at sea”.

Furthermore, they are also used to validate “indirect measurements (such as those taken by satellites and radar)” 3.

Land-based surface observations of hurricanes, such as radar (Figure 6), are invaluable sources of real-time information at both inland and coastal locations. Rainfall reports show where significant rainfall is occurring and provide the basis for flood alerts. During a hurricane’s landfall, data from satellites and reconnaissance aircrafts are compared and verified against data transmitted in real-time from weather stations located near or at the coast.

Figure 5. Hurricane Hunter. Courtesy of NOAA.

2.2 Forecasting hurricanes Original EO data are visualised by assigning a grey tone to each radiometric data value that is related to its actual value according to a defined scale, normally from black (minimum value) to white (maximum value), except for meteorological thermal and water vapour infrared imagery, where the scale is the opposite (minimum appears white and maximum black).

In order to enhance the specific characteristics of a parameter very often a colour scale is applied, whereby the final coloured image depicts that characteristic. For example, the colour scale associated with different values of the sea surface temperature (SST) permits the visualisation of the horizontal distribution of SST values for an immediate detection of warm and cold waters in an SST satellite image.

Similarly, a coloured satellite image of thermal infrared cloud top radiometric values shows at a glance where the coldest cloud tops are located: taking into account that the atmospheric temperature decreases with height, the coldest cloud top values indicate the location of the highest cloud tops, normally associated not only with the most dangerous thunderstorm clouds, the so-called cumulonimbus, but also where the most active cloud rain cells are located.

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All acquired datasets are the basis for forecast and warning products issued by worldwide hurricane forecast centres. These observations are checked for quality, examined and fed into a suite of analysis and forecast models, which are objective tools, usually based on mathematical models and equations, “designed to predict the future behavior of a hurricane (or more generally, any tropical cyclone). The primary purpose of a hurricane forecast model is to predict a hurricane’s track and/or intensity (and sometimes rainfall) for the next 3-5 days (although longer lead times are possible). Other forecast models are designed specifically to forecast the impacts of hurricanes, such as storm surge”4.

Results from the hurricane forecast models provide essential information on the estimated intensity of the storm and its likely track in the days to come. Forecast and warning products disseminated by the responsible hurricane forecasting centres allow authorities and their local emergency managers to make plans and to take actions for securing people and properties already in the days and hours prior to a hurricane landfall.

3

See http://www.hurricanescience.org/science/observation/ships/.

4 See http://www.hurricanescience.org/science/forecast/ models/.

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Figure 6. Hurricane Andrew (1992). The radar echo shows in purple the heavy rain band, while isobars at the surface have been drawn to depict the low pressure centre. The intense surface wind speed has been represented in red. The vertical stream isolines are also depicted. Courtesy of the University of Hawaii.

2.3 Climate effects The most recent paper of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) has further confirmed that global warming has to be considered a most certain outlook of the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s climate over the next decades.

Is such a consolidated climate evolution projecting specific effects over hurricane frequency and intensity?

So far there is no scientific consensus on how to answer to such a question.

The warming of the oceans, from which tropical storms get their primeval source of energy, would seem to imply that they would get stronger, and perhaps also more frequent. Indeed, the potential intensity of tropical storms does increase with warmer sea-surface temperatures.

However, the effect of warming seas could be counteracted by the apparent increase in the strength of wind shear that tends to hinder the

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formation of storms, or tear them apart before they can reach an extreme strength.

Nevertheless, some evidence exists that storm intensity has indeed increased, but it is limited to the north Atlantic, where observations are most abundant. In other places, the available information is not yet conclusive.

On this, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is cautioning that: Time series of cyclone indices, such as power dissipation, an aggregate compound of tropical cyclone duration, frequency and intensity that measures total wind energy by tropical cyclones, show since the late 1970s upward trends in the north Atlantic and weaker upward trends in the western north Pacific, but interpretation of longer-term trends is again constrained by data quality concerns (IPCC, 2013)5.

5

See also Emanuel, 2007.

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3. Considerations on the impact typologies caused by hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons according to the different human and social contexts Owing to their frequency and potential devastating impact on coastal ecosystems and human communities in prone areas (Lam et al., 2009, 2011; Knutson et al., 2010; Rana et al., 2010), hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons are particularly dangerous phenomena which are able to generate intense and widespread damage with territorial, agricultural and woodland repercussions (Conner, 1998; Boutet and Weishampel, 2003; Wang et al., 2010). Thus, they often give rise to dramatic social and economic consequences in developed countries and particularly in the most exposed urban contexts; at the same time, they represent “most hazardous events of many […] socioeconomic miseries” in the underdeveloped countries (Begum, Alam and Ali, 2013, p. 1), since their effects have long term repercussions and worsen already highly problematic situations.

Considerably different are the impact typologies caused according to the human and social contexts in which they break out.

In fact, in addition to the victims that unfortunately characterise both situations, in developed countries hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons cause enormous damage, devastating cities and their surrounding zones, where considerable real estate, economic activities, commercial and imposing buildings or also monuments and museums are concentrated. The risk also concerns the possibility to involve sensitive capabilities, such as industries, power plants, oil platforms etc., generating environmental and ecosystem disasters on a large radius; then other kinds of sensitive areas can be affected, such as big hospitals, universities or colleges, resulting in impressive consequences with regard to socialhealthcare or cultural-educational aspects.

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risk in terms of destructible built-up areas with dense arrangements of expensive buildings and sensitive structures of international relevance.

Nevertheless, the impact is terrifying for the inhabitants because they see all their possessions being swept away, together with any hopes of improvement, in a humanitarian drama which initially catches the interest of the mass media but which within a very short space of time is often forgotten by the international attention. All this takes place in emergency conditions where the “imbalances in the imbalances” continue to increase and where local people and institutions do not have the capacity and strength to face the dramatic conditions alone, often accentuated by the spread of diseases connected to health and hygiene conditions and the transmission of oralfaecal diseases which become epidemics.

From some points of view, the “physiological resilience” of populations in the underdeveloped countries is generally lower, since they have objective problems in reorganising their lives, already scarred by widespread daily problems, and in coping with the trauma that has befallen them. It seems that they have “less to lose” and they are more accustomed to the suffering but the possibility of lifting themselves up in order to get out of the misery, basing themselves on their own resources and the support of local authorities, is very difficult. So they have “less to lose” in terms of personal real estate, property, great patrimonies, sensitive structures, but they have “more to lose” in the sense that they see everything that they own in order to survive disappear. On the other hand, people in the developed countries have a very strong psychological recoil due to the sudden loss of their comfort, commodities, high quality lifestyle and they fall into an abnormal and unusual condition, sometimes seeing the sacrifices of an entire lifetime being lost 6.

6

Some reference studies on social resilience in the case of natural disasters are: Pelling, 2003, where many case studies, political measures and local governance, different disaster mitigation programmes, population disaster response network, the “disaster cycle” etc. are analysed; Cutter et al., 2008, who provide a place-based model for understanding community resilience and a list of indicators; Baker, 2009, where the factors enhancing Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Therefore, space technologies and geotechnologies have a very important role in understanding some specific aspects of phenomena like hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons and in elaborating a series of accurate measures and scenario analysis able to mitigate the possible consequences, damage and losses in both developed and underdeveloped countries.

4. Remote sensing for the study of hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons. Input from literature Remote sensing has a considerable “potential for documenting and aiding recovery from large and even small disaster areas. The timing of emergency response/post-disaster aerial surveys, extent of area covered, type of remote sensing technologies used, and expediency of data availability are some determinants of how well the remotely sensed data can be put to use” in order to give tangible benefits for the disaster response and the people rescue (Antalovich, 2011, p. 1185).

In this perspective, remote sensing and connected imagery and functionalities are “the main sources of information which allow monitoring the formation, development and movement” of hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons, giving the possibility: “To monitor the formation and evolution of cloud systems; to find out the intensity of the cyclone; to study its movement and behavior; to identify and track of the cyclone formed in the Bay; to provide early warning that would useful for disaster management and preparedness program” and necessary steps to face a potential disaster, as highlighted in the case of Cyclone MOHASEN, formed in the Bay of Bengal and whose peak along the Bangladesh coasts was recorded on May 15, 2013 (Begum, Nessa and Ali, 2013, pp.

95-96, 98). Remote sensing, numerical models and GIS applications, also with specific exand/or constraining resilience are examined considering ten “paradoxes” which can have an important role. On collaborative resilience see: Goldstein, 2012. In the case of Hurricane Katrina some particular aspects related to resilience were for example investigated by: Metzl, 2009; Harville et al., 2010; Plyer et al., 2011.

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tensions for spatial and detailed analysis, can be fundamental to hypothesize and estimate the maximum possible intensity of an event and its turbulence intensity and to make simulations regarding its evolution, providing important input in terms of civil protection as shown by: Durden, in 2010, as far as concerns Cyclone Monica, which occurred in April of 2006, having been formed to the east of Papua New Guinea and which fell along the northern coast of Australia; in 2011, Chan summarised the observations and measures made with sophisticated instruments for tropical cyclones affecting China’s south coasts and Hong Kong7.

Furthermore, remote sensing is useful to evaluate the vulnerability of specific areas just prior to the events, to simulate the effects due to a widespread flooding and to provide an initial hazard assessment, as highlighted by Clinch et al., in 2012, with reference to Hurricane Irene that, on August 27, 2011, “made landfall near Cape Lookout and traveled north across Pamlico Sound and the Pamlico-Albemarle peninsula, creating a large surge on the sound side of the North Carolina Outer Banks” (p. 1).

Moreover, the integration of remote sensing in GIS systems has shown its potentialities in order to conduct an “initial damage assessment analysis” for Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, affected by Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012, also determining “the area of beach lost” and providing important input for emergencies phases, as for example the “major roads used for evacuation as well as the locations of first responders and schools within the city” (Heitshusen, 2012, p. 2).

Even if some problems can arise during similar atmospheric events, in the rapid and continuous acquisition of data and images with a good resolution8, the combined use of different 7

Further elements have been provided by Piñeros, Ritchie and Tyo, 2008, who have affirmed that the results of their research “show that the technique provides an objective measure of both the structure and the intensity of the tropical cyclone from early stages, through intensification, maturity, and dissipation” (p.

3574).

8 These problems are obviously intensified in the underdeveloped countries where the availability of instrumentations is minor and the humanitarian context, the social-economic aspects and the orgaItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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kinds of satellites, sensors and tools make it possible to increase the potential benefit which can be obtained and e.g.: the “microwave instruments provide a penetrating view below the upper level cirrus clouds” (Katsaros et al., 2002, p. 137)9; radar can reveal its added value during the night, through clouds and for the observation of internal waves, and Lidar (light detection and ranging) is very sensitive in recording the height of the terrain, obtaining altimetry information and data on coastline or urban changes resulting from erosion, including bathymetry and topography with high accuracy (Womble et al., 2006, p. 1; Klemas, 2009, p.

1273; 2012, p. 540). Thanks to radar interferometry it is possible to clearly show the most damaged areas by means of the comparison between images acquired before and after hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons (http://www.esa.int/ESA).

An event which has undoubtedly given researchers of different sectors an opportunity to experiment and test innovative methodologies supported by remote sensing, also in an interdisciplinary approach, was Hurricane Katrina, which has its 10th anniversary in 2015.

“Hurricane Katrina produced the largest peak storm surge observed in the Gulf of Mexico” (Turnipseed et al., 2007, p. 202). As far as concerns some peculiar aspects and data which characterised this devastating event, it is worthy of note that: “On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall with sustained winds estimated at 125 mph, unprecedented storm surges approaching 30 feet and hurricane force winds extending 125 miles from its center. It resulted in over 1,300 lives lost, and caused major flooding and damage that spanned more than 200 miles along the Gulf Coast of the United States. […]. Hurricane Katrina caused significant damage to engineered infrastructure including levees, commercial and public buildings, roads and bridges, utility distribution systems for electric power and water, waste water collection facilities, and vital communication networks. Damage to critical infranization of emergency planning denote many difficulties (REACH, 2014).

9 Regarding the satellite analysis of hurricanes and cyclones using advanced microwave instruments see also: Kidder et al., 2000; Zhu and Weng, 2013.

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structure such as hospitals and communication systems crippled the affected communities” (Womble et al., 2006, p. iii). From a geophysics and meteorological point of view, another contribution underlined that it “originated as a tropical depression near the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, strengthened to a hurricane, and proceeded to make landfall on the southern tip of Florida. Passing across Florida, Katrina weakened to a tropical storm. However, the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico allowed it to rapidly intensify to a Category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 280 km/h and gusts of 346 km/h, generating 16.7-m waves.

Subsequently, Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Buras, Louisiana, and once more near the Mississippi/Louisiana border with sustained winds of about 205 km/h” (Klemas, 2009, p. 1270). With regard to actual damage, above all in terms of economic loss and environmental impact, the literature remarked that “Katrina’s high winds and high storm surge combined to breach the levees protecting New Orleans, La., a city located below sea level, and flooded approximately 80 percent of the city.

Katrina also caused major damage to the region’s oil and natural gas production and refining capabilities. On September 2, 2005, the Associated Press reported that Katrina had damaged 58 oil platforms, 30 of which were reported ‘lost,’ while 1 platform had been blown nearly 62 mi (100 km) from its original location” (Rykhus and Lu, 2007, p. 49).

Additional details were provided by a further contribution which “estimated damages in excess of $200 billion”, revealing Katrina as one of the most devastating and economically heavy hurricanes ever to shoot the United States and “enacted two supplementary appropriation bills totaling $62.3 billion for emergency response and recovery needs”. Dramatic consequences were for example recorded about: “Tourism (arts, entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food service); Port operations (mining; transportation and warehousing); Educational services” (Dolfman, Wasser and Bergman, 2007, pp. 3-4). Moreover, an initial approximate “assessment by the Mississippi Forestry Commission estimated that over $1 billion in raw wood material was downed by the storm, with county-level damage percentages ranging from 50 percent to 60 percent across Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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Mississippi’s three coastal counties” (Collins et al., 2010, p. 225).

A relevant study, concerning the damage detection for Hurricane Katrina using an integration of different remote sensing data with satellite (low-, moderate-, high-resolution) and aerial imagery, was conducted by Womble et al. in 2006. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, remote sensing data from satellite and airborne platforms were collected rapidly and made available to support post-disaster situation assessment and response activities in Mississippi and Louisiana. While weather satellites provided constant monitoring of the storm track, given the limited ground access due to surge inundation and flooding, remote sensing imagery constituted one of the first available sources of information on damage conditions” (p. 9). The low-resolution satellite imagery was for example used to show: “prehurricane conditions in the rivers of southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama on August 27, 2005 and post-hurricane flood levels on August 30, 2005, one day after Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana” (p. 17); “the flooding conditions in the City of New Orleans and in the land areas between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne” (p. 15). The moderate-resolution satellite imagery was for example used to reveal “flooding extent in New Orleans on August 30, 2005” also through the comparison with the situation of some days before (p. 19). Moreover this kind of documentation was analysed to observe “the progression of rising and receding flood waters” in New Orleans (p. 20) on the basis of images recorded on September 6 and 8, 2005.

The high-resolution satellite imagery made it possible to highlight information regarding individual buildings, creating the basis for a very useful and detailed framework of the recorded damage. In this perspective of collection and dynamic archiving of data and information, in order to promote reconnaissance and emergency planning, the integration between (high-resolution) satellite imagery and aerial images clearly show its importance and utility in assessing damage to buildings, bridges and roads and other infrastructures, in identifying the most stricken and needy areas, estimating socio-economic Copyright© Nuova Cultura

effects of the disaster and in better predisposing and organising medical treatment and hygiene services.

Another notable study was edited by Farris et al., in 2007, who published the results of a multidisciplinary piece of research that involved a large panel of experts in geography, geology, geospatial information, biology etc. to make a structured framework of knowledge regarding hurricanes, with particular attention to the most relevant ones to be recently recorded and above all Katrina. For example, Rykhus and Lu used a multiple-database approach that integrated and combined many remotely sensed data of different kinds “to map Hurricane Katrinainduced flooding and to identify offshore oil slicks”, because similar elaborations can provide fundamental “information to emergency managers for directing flood-relief efforts and the clean-up of polluted waters” (2007, p. 49). At the same time, Gesch used remote sensing to produce topography based representations able to provide – thanks to the re-elaboration of imagery with considerable spatial details and vertical accuracy of elevation measurements – rough estimates of the inundation of New Orleans, caused by Hurricane Katrina. The results obtained made it possible to put forward considerations on the necessity regarding the future planning reconstruction of buildings and infrastructures, with special mitigation measures against similar events. Moreover, some inputs were provided concerning the importance of considering the inundation history of an area and its general condition in order to correct and modify the modelling scenarios on the basis of the actual local situation (2007, pp. 53, 56).

Smith and Rowland also processed and analysed satellite images and data from various sensors to measure and evaluate the extent of the flooding caused in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, following the definition of specific polygons of inundated areas. Thus, the numerous and continuous satellite acquisitions, the use of GIS techniques and the availability of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEM), enabled them to monitor “the floodwater volume and extend through time” (2007, p. 57).

A couple of years later, Gesch published an interesting paper which considered both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, producing a Italian Association of Geography Teachers

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series of highly explicative elaborations.

“Surveyed high-water marks were used to generate a maximum storm-surge surface for Hurricane Katrina extending from eastern Louisiana to Mobile Bay, Alabama. The interpolated surface was intersected with highresolution lidar elevation data covering the study area to produce a highly detailed digital storm-surge inundation map. The storm-surge dataset and related data are available for display and query in a Web-based viewer application10. A unique water-level dataset from a network of portable pressure sensors deployed in the days just prior to Hurricane Rita’s landfall captured the hurricane’s storm surge. The recorded sensor data provided water-level measurements with a very high temporal resolution at surveyed point locations.

The resulting dataset was used to generate a time series of storm-surge surfaces that documents the surge dynamics in a new, spatially explicit way. The temporal information contained in the multiple storm-surge surfaces can be visualized in a number of ways to portray how the surge interacted with and was affected by land surface features” (2009, p.

1).

In the same year, other considerations regarding the synergic use of different images, sensors and tools to deal with disasters and evaluate the impact of a dramatic event, like the one produced by Hurricane Katrina, were illustrated by Klemas (2009). In particular, he affirmed that: “Satellite images and hurricane hunter planes were used to track hurricane Katrina, with modelers predicting accurately its path, strength, surge level, and landfall location.

Shore-based radars were used to confirm the data as the hurricane approached land. Mediumand high-resolution satellite sensors, helicopters, and aircraft were employed to assess damage to the city [New Orleans and near areas], including transportation, power, and communication infrastructures, and to adjacent wetlands and other coastal ecosystems” (p. 1264)11.

Both Womble et al. (2006) and Klemas (2009) have also underlined the importance of systems such as Google Earth which can be very 10

See http://topotools.cr.usgs.gov/Katrina_viewer/.

11 For further considerations see Collins et al., 2010.

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useful in terms of information sharing and can produce applications and visualizations that show, in a very short time, areas with high levels of damage and the possible routes to reach these neuralgic zones. For example, Google Earth (Klemas, 2009, p. 1273): “preloaded on laptops to survey and map the destruction and flooding”; “delivered a vivid three-dimensional model of the city [New Orleans] and its surroundings, providing a high-performance visualization interface” which became essential during the emergency and recovery phases. At the same time: “The Internet-based Google Earth application likewise provided a publiclyaccessible means for distributing VIEWSTM ground reconnaissance information collected by the […] advanced technology field teams.

Within the Google Earth framework, geographically referenced VIEWSTM field reconnaissance data are readily integrated with remote sensing imagery” (Womble et al., 2006, p. 119).

In this way, specific image sets were produced by using the functionalities of Google Earth, combined with the field survey data for example recorded with GPS, to show wind-pressure, storm surge and flooding damage in various zones, on different geographical scales, and to have easily accessible data via the online applications.

Similar geobrowsers therefore became strategic tools for rescuers and the inhabitants of heavily damaged areas and the easiness of these image visualizers to interface with other geotechnologies, like GIS software, enabled them to continuously elaborate and share updated layers with detailed information useful for social, sanitary, emergency purposes (Favretto, 2009, pp.

18-19).

With reference to the aspects related to land use and vegetation loss, in 2010 Wang et al. validated an approach based on remote satellite sensing and statistical analysis for the estimation and quantification of the forest damage severity caused by Hurricane Katrina. Through a study of land cover type, the application of change detection methods and the identification of proper damage indicators, they produced different maps of forest damage levels.

One year later, Lam et al. (2011) – starting from the assumption that an exhaustive asItalian Association of Geography Teachers

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sessment of the effects caused by hurricanes on coastal ecosystems would be useful to promote specific policies finalized at mitigating the potentially devastating impacts of future events – compared “the land cover change around Weeks Bay, Alabama, USA following landfalls of Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina (September 16, 2004 and August 29, 2005)” (p. 1707).

Analysing different satellite imagery concerning the pre- and post- hurricanes arrival, they evaluated the variations recorded in terms of damage (for example widespread defoliation of trees and invasion of specific areas) and changes, with relative rates of loss and gain, in the classes of land cover.

Thus, in terms of scientific research, each hurricane, tropical cyclone and typhoon should represent a “test bench” from which to obtain precious study elements, essential to learn a concrete lesson and thanks to which reduce the potential impact of successive events. That is to say that they should become the ‘unfortunate’ opportunity to record the actual developments in terms of scientific knowledge and to avoid other similar tragedies occurring without having decreased the entity of the damage proportionally to the asserted possibilities.

5. For a didactical reflection For the relevance of social and economic effects, the amount of territorial modifications which are recorded and for the frequency of occurrence, the study of hurricanes (and natural disasters), supported by remote sensing and geotechnologies, takes on considerable importance also with regard to didactics and education. As affirmed by Morin in 2005 (pp.

367-368): “Remotely sensed images provide emergency response officials and scientists with a unique perspective for assessing damage and targeting relief. These images also offer educators a unique, teachable moment for the classroom”. In fact, a dramatic event such as Hurricane Katrina can make school lessons and, particularly, Geography and Earth science “relevant in a way that a daily lecture cannot”. A critical interpretation of similar images, above all in a well organised cycle of lessons also focussed on the use of GIS, Google Earth, Bing Copyright© Nuova Cultura

and other geobrowsers, can give the students a more sensitive and conscious viewpoint on the interaction between geophysical aspects and human society.

In these cases, the use of satellite and aerial images, combined with geobrowsers or integrated in a GIS platform, can make the lesson highly educational, arousing attention, interest and emotion, in a participatory atmosphere where students can interpret and elaborate images in teamwork and discuss with teachers the causes, the extent of the consequences and the damage, the possible planning of emergency measures, gaining awareness of the weak points of the urban contexts and highly inhabited coastal areas etc.

Moreover, the mixing of possibilities provided by geomatic methods of change detection and GIS applications for evaluating the modifications recorded in the land use classes can give considerable didactic and research stimuli, opening up new possibilities in terms of practical exercises, laboratory and assessment tests.

Therefore, geotechnologies become a privyleged tool to connect theoretical content with practical aspects, creating an opportunity for personal hypothesis, reflecting on possible guidelines to support decision-making, in the awareness of the importance of an interdisciplinary approach assisted by geography and enriched by geospatial technologies. In this way, geotechnologies make it possible to move towards a dynamic, participative and cooperative learning approach, finalised at providing geographic competence and computer skills to better understand and analyse relevant problems which concern both physical and anthropic spheres, bringing about a series of impacts and social-economic consequences in the long term.

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6. Hurricane Katrina Katrina was an extraordinarily powerful hurricane, estimated to be the costliest and one of the five deadliest that ever struck the United States of America12.

Similarly to many of the hurricanes formed in the Atlantic region, the genesis of Katrina involved the interaction of a tropical perturbation originated over Africa traveling westward. This atmospheric wave, over the Bahamas, met with weather conditions residual of a previous tropical depression (td10) (Figure 7) and the progressive weakening of an upper tropospheric mid-latitude deep trough (that is to say an extensive intrusion of relatively colder air) and its corresponding vertical wind shear, thereby becoming Tropical Depression 12 (Figure 8). Both these circumstances favour the formation of a tropical cyclone.

Based on wind data measured at flight level by reconnaissance aircrafts, the cyclone became Katrina, the 11th tropical storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, at 12.00 UTC on 24 August, when it was centered over the central Bahamas about 120 km (65 nautical miles) east-south-east of Nassau. Initially the storm moved north-westward (Figure 9). However, as it developed an inner core and evolved into a deeper cyclone on 24 August, it came under the influence of a strengthening middle to upper tropospheric high pressure ridge over the northern Gulf of Mexico and southern USA. This ridge turned Katrina westward on 25 August toward southern Florida. Katrina generated a notable burst of deep convection over the lowlevel centre during the afternoon of 25 August while it was located over the north-western Bahamas. Other strengthening ensued and Katrina reached hurricane status at near 21.00 UTC on 25 August, less than two hours before its centre made landfall on the south-eastern coast of Florida (Figure 10).

This interaction with the land was too shortly lived to cause a substantial weakening of Katrina.

As a matter of fact, the formation of the eye of the hurricane was first detected by the Miami National Weather Service (NWS) WSR-88D Doppler radar just prior to landfall on the southeastern Florida coast (Figure 11).

12 For this paragraph, the contribution written by Knabb, Rhome and Brown, 2011, has represented the main reference paper and some its excerpts are here reported and analysed.

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As it crossed southern Florida the convective pattern of Katrina was rather asymmetric, having the strongest winds and heaviest rains south and east of the center in Miami-Dade County (red area in Figure 11). Once back over water, Katrina quickly regained the hurricane status at 06.00 UTC on 26 August with maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h (65 knots). Situated beneath a very large upper-level anticyclone that dominated the entire Gulf of Mexico by 26 August, resulting in very weak wind shear and efficient upper-level outflow, Katrina embarked upon two periods of rapid intensification between 26 and 28 August.

The first period involved an increase in the maximum sustained winds of up to almost 175 km/h (95 kt) in the 24-h period ending at 06.00 UTC on 27 August. An eye became clearly evident in infrared satellite imagery early on 27 August, and Katrina became a Category 3 hurricane with 185 km/h (100 kt) winds at 12.00 UTC that morning at about 675 km (365 n mi) SE of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Katrina nearly doubled in size on 27 August, and by the end of that day tropical storm-force winds extended up to about 260 km (140 n mi) from its centre. Unfortunately for the USA, the large scale atmospheric circulation that originally kept Katrina on a west-south-westward track evolved unfavourably and Katrina turned northwestward on 28 August (Figure 12) after having produced tropical storm-force winds and heavy rainfall over portions of western Cuba on the 27th.

The new eyewall contracted into a sharply-defined ring by 00.00 UTC of 28 August, and a second, more rapid intensification then occurred. Katrina strengthened from a low-end Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5 one in less than 12 hours, reaching an intensity of 270 km/h (145 kt) by 12.00 UTC on 28 August. Katrina recorded its peak intensity of almost 280 km/h (150 kt) at 18.00 UTC on 28 August about 315 km (170 n mi) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Figure 8 (right) shows a satellite image of the fully developed hurricane Katrina acquired in the Visible spectral band by the NOAA geostationary meteorological satellite GOES-12. The hurricane minimum central pressure dropped that afternoon to 902 mb. Figure 13 gives an idea about the size of Katrina with respect to the geography of the Gulf of Mexico and southern USA.

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Figure 7. Satellite image of Tropical Depression 10 in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on 13 August, 2005. Courtesy of the US Naval Research Laboratory.

Figure 8. Left: the Tropical Depression 12 over Bahamas on 23 August 2005. Right: the Category 5 hurricane Katrina on 28 August 2005. Courtesy of NOAA.

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Figure 9. Katrina track and intensity. Courtesy of NOAA.

Figure 10. Hurricane Katrina as observed in the Visible spectral bands by the MERIS instrument of the Envisat satellite in Reduced Resolution mode, off southern Florida on 25 August 2005, when it was still Category 1 (Saffir-Simpson scale measuring hurricane intensity). The storm provoked notable damage after landfall, mostly due to heavy rainfall. Courtesy of ESA. CopyrightŠ Nuova Cultura

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Figure 11. Radar reflectivity image at 01.00 UTC on 26 August 2005, as the center of Hurricane Katrina passed over Miami (Florida) and near the NWS Miami Weather Forecast Office/National Hurricane Center (located where specified by the “x”-“NHC”). Courtesy of NOAA.

Although tropical cyclones of category 5 strength are rarely sustained for any length of time (due to internal dynamics), Katrina continued to be a strong category 4 strength hurricane despite the entrainment of dryer air and an opening of the eyewall to the south and southwest before landfall on the morning of the 29th. Characteristics of the hurricane at landfall are shown in Figures 14 and 15.

Figure 13. Image of the Hurricane Katrina acquired in the Visible spectral band by the geostationary meteorological satellite GOES-12 on 28 August 2015 at 21.15 UTC. Courtesy of NOAA.

Figure 12. Eyewall of Hurricane Katrina taken on August 28, 2005, as seen from a NOAA P-3 hurricane hunter aircraft before the storm made landfall on the USA Gulf Coast. Courtesy of NOAA.

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Figure 14. Landfall wind speeds at Grand Isle in Louisiana were about 205 km/h (110 kt) (strong category 3 intensity), with a central pressure of 920mb. Courtesy of NOAA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; National Hurricane Center.

Figure 15. Hurricane Katrina at landfall over the Louisiana coast on 28 August 2005. Courtesy of NOAA.

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Figure 16. “Two separate views of Hurricane Katrina acquired on 28 August 2005 from instruments aboard Envisat. The ASAR Wide Swath mode radar image of the sea surface shows how Katrina’s wind fields are rippling the ocean. Beside it is the MERIS Reduced Resolution mode optical images showing characteristic swirling cloud patterns around the central eye, with the eyewalls visible” (http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ Images/2005/08/Envisat_views_of_Hurricane_Katrina). Courtesy of ESA.

Figure 17. Flooding in the Metairie area of New Orleans visible in a radar image acquired on 31 August 2005 by the ASAR instrument of the Envisat satellite, following Hurricane Katrina. Courtesy of ESA. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Figure 16 shows how remote sensing techniques provide a major help in monitoring hurricanes by acquiring data detected in different spectral bands and taking advantage of their characteristic spectral signatures. In these images, on the right hand side Katrina is monitored by the superspectral MERIS instrument in the Visible spectral bands, therefore in a way similar to the viewing of a human eye, hence showing characteristic swirling cloud patterns around the central eye, with the eyewalls visible. On the left hand side, instead, the hurricane is imaged by ASAR, the Synthetic Aperture Radar aboard the ESA Envisat satellite, in the microwave C-band of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is to say through e.m. pulses at a wavelength of 10 cm: that implies that the radar energy backscattered to the ASAR by the target “illuminated” by the radar pulses provides information, among other, about the surface roughness, the electric characteristics of the target and the size of the encountered cloud and rain droplets, if any. In this ASAR image, the central dark area of about 40x30 km2 indicates a smoother sea surface, due to the lack of winds at the central extreme low pressure, surrounded by a circular whitish very rough sea surface (high radar backscatter) due to strong eyewall winds, which includes a dark ring probably generated by the very strong radar energy attenuation caused by the big thunderstorm heavy rain droplets.

Though wind damage was significant, the legacy of Katrina will be the horrific storm surge which accompanied the hurricane. Such massive storm surge produced by Katrina, even though it had weakened from Category 5 intensity, the previous day in Louisiana, it can be generally explained by the huge size of the storm: on 29 August Katrina had an extent of (about 45-55 km, 25-30 n mi) radius of maximum winds and a very wide swath of hurricane force winds that extended at least 140 km (75 n mi) to the east from the centre. Also, Katrina had already generated large northward-propagating swells, leading to substantial wave setup along the northern Gulf coast, when it was at Category 4 and 5 strength) during the 24 hours or so before landfall.

A surge of 8-9 m was estimated along the western Mississippi (MS) coast across a path of about 30 km, tapering to a height of 6-7 m along Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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the eastern MS coast. The maximum high water mark observation was 8.5 m at Pass Christian, MS. Alabama’s coast experienced surges ranging from as high as 3 m in the east to 5 m in the west.

Surges in eastern Louisiana generally ranged from 3 to 5 m. The 920 mb central pressure at landfall and the shallow offshore waters also contributed to the extreme storm surge.

Figure 17 shows flooding in the Metairie area of New Orleans which is visible in a radar image acquired on 31 August 2005 by the ASAR instrument of the Envisat satellite, following Hurricane Katrina. “Most of New Orleans lies below sea level and is protected by canals, walls, dykes and pumps. The areas of the city which were flooded (bluish areas) by as much as six metres of water after two levees or dykes burst on 30 August on canals leading to Lake Pontchartrain. Lake waters continued to rise on 30 and 31 August and water poured into the city as pumps had failed. The circular area of the New Orleans Superdome, where thousands of trapped residents sheltered during the worst of the hurricane, is barely visible to the northwest of the double span of the Greater New Orleans Bridge, across the Mississippi from the Algiers Point Revetment at the first bend of the river at the right edge of the image. Water was waisthigh in the area when this image was acquired.

The area west of City Park, the dark area at centre image just east of the I-10 Bridge bordering on the Orleans Outfall Canal, also appears to be heavily flooded. Both airports were also under water”13.

7. Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan occurred in November 2013 and struck the central Philippines causing devastation due to its exceptionally strong winds and storm surge, so that it is also known as Super-Typhoon Haiyan. Sustained winds averaged over 1-minute were estimated to be near 315 km/h at landfall and the central pressure estimated as 895 mb leaving Typhoon Haiyan likely to be the strongest tropical cyclone (in terms of wind speed) to make landfall on record.

13 See https://earth.esa.int/web/earth-watching/natural -disasters/cyclones/cyclone-events/-/asset_publisher /4Lfz/content/hurricane-katrina-florida-august-2005.

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On 2 November, a broad low-pressure area was located about 425 kilometers (265 miles) east-southeast of Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia.

This system, which developed possibly in association with an Equatorial Rossby wave (a westward moving atmospheric wave near the Equator that can trigger convergence in the lower levels of the atmosphere and, moving through a region, favour tropical cyclogenesis), was first classified as a tropical depression when it was located near 6° N on 3 November.

On 4 November, Haiyan first reached tropical cyclone strength, defined as winds greater than 63 km/h, and then it continued to gain force.

Subsequent intensification resulted in Hayan being upgraded to tropical storm and assigned the name Haiyan (“petrel”) at 00.00 UTC on 4 November. Tracking generally westward along the southern periphery of a subtropical high pressure system, rapid intensification was recorded by 5 November, as a central dense overcast with an embedded eye began developing. Following this, Haiyan was reclassified as a typhoon later that day. By 6 November, as it approached the area under the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration gave local name “Yolanda” to the storm. Intensification slowed somewhat during the day, though the storm was considered as having attained Category 5-equivalent super typhoon status on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale at around 12.00 UTC14. The westward movement of Haiyan accelerated: in the early morning of 7 November it was located still east of the Philippine islands (Figure 18), but it had already reached them in the evening of the same day (Figures 19-22).

As a typhoon, the winds around Haiyan reached a maximum sustained wind strength of 232 km/h and a maximum intensity (lowest barometric pressure in the storm eye) of 895 mbar (hPa) at 20.40 on 7 November. Unofficial estimates suggest that Haiyan attained one-minute sustained winds of 315 km/h (195 mph) and gusts of up to 378 km/h (235 mph), making it the most powerful storm ever recorded to strike land.

14

For further details see Odow, 2015.

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As customary, interaction with land produced small degradation of the storm’s structure, though it remained an extraordinarily powerful one when it struck the municipality of Tolosa, Leyte, at around 22.30 UTC on the same day (Figures 21 and 22).

“When Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded on Earth, struck the Philippines on 8 November 2013, it tore a wide swath of destruction across large parts of this island nation”. Tacloban City was struck by the northern eyewall, the most powerful part of the storm. “To assist in the disaster response efforts, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, generated an image of the storm’s hardest-hit regions, depicting its destruction (Figure 23).

The 40-by-50 kilometer damage proxy map, which covers a region near Tacloban City, where the massive storm made landfall, was processed by JPL’s Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team using X-band interferometric synthetic aperture radar data from the Italian Space Agency’s COSMOSkyMed satellite constellation. The technique uses a prototype algorithm to rapidly detect surface changes caused by natural or humanproduced damage. The assessment technique is most sensitive to destruction of the built environment. When the radar images areas with little to no destruction, its image pixels are transparent. Increased opacity of the radar image pixels reflects damage, with areas in red reflecting the heaviest damage to cities and towns in the storm’s path. The time span of the data for the change is 19 August-11 November 2013. Each pixel in the damage proxy map is about 30 meters across”15.

The typhoon made four additional landfalls as it traversed the Visayas, Daanbantayan, Bantayan Island, Concepcion, and Busuanga Island.

15 See https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/haiyannorthwestern-pacific-ocean/#.VXmqovntmko. See also http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17687 and http://aria.jpl.nasa.gov/.

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Figure 18. Typhoon Haiyan observed in the Visible spectral band of MTSAT geostationary satellite in the early morning of 7 November 2013. Geography and islands’ names are added. Courtesy of BBC/NOAA/JMA.

Figure 19. Earth full-disk image acquired in the Thermal Infrared spectral band by the Japanese MTSAT-1R geostationary satellite at 20.32 UTC on 7 November 2013. Very cold Cloud Top Temperatures (i.e. very high cloud tops) are visualized in a colour scale, from cyan (-40 °C) to yellow (-80 °C) and dark-yellow (<-80 °C).

Courtesy of JMA and NOAA. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Figure 20. Typhoon Haiyan observed in the Thermal Infrared spectral band by the Japanese MTSAT-1R geostationary at 20.57 UTC on 7 November 2013. Courtesy of JMA and NOAA.

Figure 21. Same as Figure 18, but acquired at 22.30 UTC of the same day. Courtesy of NOAA.

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Figure 22. The eye of typhoon Haiyan imaged in the Visible spectral band by the MTSAT-1R geostationary EO satellite on 7 November 2013, just before its landfall on the island of Leyte at around 22.15 UTC. Courtesy of JMA and NOAA.

A weakened Haiyan, with its core disrupted by interaction with the Philippines, emerged over the south China Sea late on 8 November.

Convection was diminished around the lowlevel circulation centre, despite overall remaining tightly wrapped although some cool, stable air flowed in from the west.

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Continuing across the south China Sea, Haiyan turned more north-westerly late on 9 November and through 10 November (Figures 24 and 25), as it moved around the southwestern edge of the subtropical ridge previously steering it westward.

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Figure 23. A radar composite showing in RED the areas most devastated by the typhoon Haiyan. Courtesy of ASI/NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Figure 24. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg took this photo of Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station on 9 November 2013, a day after it passed over the Philippines. Courtesy of NASA. CopyrightŠ Nuova Cultura

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Figure 25. “The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of Typhoon Haiyan approaching Vietnam on November 10, 2013. The storm was tracking northwest and slowly weakening prior to landfall in northern Vietnam on Sunday evening (Monday morning, local time). As of early Sunday morning, the storm had maximum sustained winds of about 90 miles (145 kilometers) per hour, the equivalent of a category 1 storm” (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=82372). Courtesy of NASA EO Observatory.

Figure 26. Rainfall analysis. Courtesy of NOAA. Copyright© Nuova Cultura

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Rapid weakening ensued as Haiyan approached its final landfall in Vietnam, ultimately striking the country when it was downgraded to severe tropical storm. Once onshore, the storm quickly diminished and was last noted as it dissipated over China during 11 November.

The coincident peak wind speeds occurring at landfall over the Philippines also helped to produce a significant storm surge, which was reported to be up to 5.2 meters (~17 feet) in Tacloban, located on the northeast tip of Leyte, where the strong cyclonic winds from Haiyan funneled water into the northwest corner of the Gulf of Leyte between the islands of Leyte and Samar.

In addition to the fierce winds and powerful surge, Haiyan brought copious amounts of rainfall to the central Philippines along with the Tropical Storm Thirty and another tropical disturbance, which all passed through the central Philippines within a ten day period (Figure 19).

The combined rainfall analysis from these tropical cyclones (Figure 26) shows that most of the island of Leyte had rainfall totals greater than 500 mm (~19.7 inches, dark red) with a peak amount of over 685 mm (~27 inches, lighter purple) located over the southeast corner of the island16.

8. Typhoon Tip

tropical cyclone formation due to their inherent rotation.

In the beginning this storm was slow to develop as the environmental circulation was heavily affected by the tropical storm Roger affecting the region roughly at the same time.

But after having lazily looped practically in place close to the Chuuk Islands it began a northwest motion on 8 October. Then the cyclone was very efficient in taking advantage of a concurrent upper tropospheric trough that favoured the upper level outflow of the cyclone and the remnant of the low-level circulation of the tropical storm Roger, the very same that damped its initial development. In view of that, it rapidly intensified and was upgraded to typhoon status on 9 October. Late on 10 October, the typhoon attained wind speeds equal to Category 4 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. By 11 October, Tip was a super typhoon with winds of at least 241 km/h (150 mph). From 9-11 October, the central pressure of the storm dropped 92 mbar and the typhoonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s circulation expanded to a diameter of 2220 km with gale-force winds extending 1086 km from its center. The typhoon continued to intensify further, and early on 12 October reconnaissance aircraft recorded a worldwide record-low pressure of 870 mbar (870.0 hPa) with winds off 305 km/h when Tip was located about 840 km west-northwest of Guam (Figures 27-31).

The Typhoon Tip, the tropical storm affecting south east Asia in October 1979, is one of a very few exceptions to the general rule that hurricanes never reach a size comparable to an intense perturbation of the extra-tropical perturbations. It is considered to be the largest typhoon that ever occurred and one of the most intense typhoons as well.

Its formation mechanism, did not deviate from the standard over this region where the initial disturbance is triggered within the Monsoon trough, an area of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone where minimum sea-level pressure occurs. This area of low-level vorticity is affected by significant low-level spin and marked by a better than average chance of 16

See also https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/ haiyan-northwestern-pacific-ocean/#.VXmqovntmko.

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Figure 27. Ground track of the Typhoon Tip during its life. Courtesy of NOAA.

Figure 28. Full-disc satellite image regarding Typhoon Tip near its worldwide record peak intensity, in the western Pacific Ocean. Typhoon Sarah is formed to its west in the south China Sea. Courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS-NCDC/GIBBS. This full-disc image was acquired in the Thermal Infrared spectral band on 12 October 1979 by the Japanese geostationary meteorological satellite GMS-1 (Himawari-1). Courtesy of JMA.

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Figure 29. Enlargement of Figure 28 over the typhoons Sarah (left) and Tip (centre).

Figure 30. Typhoon Tip at peak intensity on 12 October 1979. Courtesy of NOAA. CopyrightŠ Nuova Cultura

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Figure 31. Typhoon Tip observed on 14 October 1979 by the meteorological satellite TIROS-N flying in a quasipolar sun-synchronous orbit. Courtesy of NOAA.

The typhoon Tip weakened after peaking with winds of 233 km/h (145 mph). It maintained this intensity for various days as it continued moving in a west-northwest direction.

The typhoon then weakened further and curved toward the northeast on 17 October. A greatly weakened Typhoon Tip made landfall on Honshu, Japan, on 19 October with winds of 129 km/h. The storm quickly moved over the island and rapidly declined. It became extratropical over northern Honshu just hours after landfall and was last observed near the Aleutian Islands some time around 22 October17.

Acknowledgements In this paper, M. Fea and M. Capaldo wrote paragraphs 1-2 and 6-8 integrating and looking in more detail at some aspects analysed in different documents of the: European Space Agency (ESA); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Hurricanes: Science and Society (University of Rhode Island); World Meteorological Organization (WMO); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Intergovernmental Panel for Climate 17

See http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/ 1970s/tip/.

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Change (IPCC); Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA); University of Hawaii; international literature and report; C. Pesaresi wrote paragraphs 3-5.

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ITALIAN ASSOCIATION OF GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS (ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA INSEGNANTI DI GEOGRAFIA)

Vol. 1, Year 4, June 2015

ISSN online 2281-5694 ISSN print 2281-4310