SEMINARS 

Date: 5 June 2024, 15.30-17.30 

Urban Forestry and Nature-Based Solutions* 

Professor: Prof. Clive DAVIES 

Venue: Lecture room Ciccarone (Central Building 2nd floor Di.S.S.PA.) 

Proposing Institution: Uniba 

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Prof. Clive DAVIES is a Senior Lecturer in Green Infrastructure and Landscape Planning, Newcastle University, UK and Senior Researcher, advisor and facilitator on the Urban Forestry, Governance and Resilience, Program at the European Forest Institute (EFI Germany) 

The world is currently facing an unprecedented emergency due to the triple planetary crisis - biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental pollution. Nature based solutions (NbS) have emerged as a major approach to dealing with these challenges. The seminar will focus in on our current global understanding of NbS with a particular focus on Europe-China, comparisons and in-depth look at the role of urban trees and forests as a nature-based solution. 

Date: 4 June 2024, 15.00-16.00 

New technologies for water resources management: insight for Morocco* 

Professor: Prof. Lhossaine BOUCHAOU 

Impact of climate change on water resources: Bin El Ouidane Case study (Morocco)* 

Professor: Prof. El Mahdi EL KHALKI  

Venue: CNR IRSA 

Proposing Institution: Uniba 

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Prof. Lhoussaine BOUCHAOU, Senior professor, Ibn Zohr University of Agadir (Morocco); affiliated professor, International Water Research Institute (IWRI) of University Mohamed 6 Polytechnic, Benguérir (Morocco).  

The Moroccan economy is classified as a developing economy with a strong agricultural component, which consumes about 85% water resources. The presentation will mainly focus on water saving in agriculture using a synergistic combination of new technologies, tools and approaches. This combination includes new technologies for in situ measurement, aerospace observations, multidisciplinary modelling, and the principles of collective intelligence for the co-construction of a model for the sustainable management of water resources.  

Prof. El Mahdi EL KHALKI, Assistant professor, International Water Research Institute (IWRI) of University Mohamed 6 Polytechnic, Benguérir (Morocco).  

Mediterranean countries are strongly affected by reduced surface water resources. The presentation concerns the climate change impacts on runoff supply to the Bin El Ouidane dam in Morocco, the largest in the country in terms of hydropower production. A water balance model coupled with a stochastic calibration method is used to reproduce discharge. Five regional climate models from the EURO-CORDEX initiative are considered to estimate the climate change impacts on surface runoff for the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP4.5) and RCP8.5 scenarios.

Date: 25 March 2024, 16:00-17:00 

Urban agriculture in a changing climate* 

Professor: Prof. Luciene PIMENTEL-Professor on Hydrology, Environment and Urban Systems Graduate Program on Urban Management (PPGTU) Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) - Brazil 

Venue: Lecture room Constructions, 1° floor (Di.S.S.P.A.) 

Proposing Institution: Uniba  

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Prof. Luciene PIMENTEL, Ph.D. Expertise in teaching, research, and sustainability projects. Holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Hydrology) from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and Post Doctoral in Urban Management. 

Agriculture and climate are interconnected in various ways. Some of the current challenges are associated with alterations in weather and water patterns, such as changing rainfall patterns and the increasing frequency of heatwaves. These factors contribute to the enlargement and severity of water crises. This poses a significant challenge for community gardens, particularly in Global South countries, where urban agriculture is considered a means to enhance food security. The seminar will explore strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation to address these challenges. 

Date: 5 March 2024, 12.00-13.30 

Things can get messy when we miss the big picture: the real case of a road on the move* 

Professor: Prof. Giorgios BELOKAS della University of West Attica (Atene) 

Venue: Council room (DICATECh) 

Proposing Institution: Poliba 

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Dr. Georgio BELOKAS is Assistant Professor in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of West Attica, the Head of the “Hydraulic and Geotechnical Engineering Division” at UNIWA and the General Secretary of the Hellenic department of ISSMGE. 

In the February 2003 one of the largest highway landslides in Greece occurred, in which about 6,000,000 m3 of the soil material moved downslope disrupting the road. The failure included a complex combine movement of a deep translational slide and a superficial earthflow-mudflow. The deep movements developed mainly around the interface of the colluvium with the flysch bedrock at depths varying from about 20m to 35m, whilst the superficial flow was assisted by a prolonged very wet season from November to February. After the catastrophic event, a new geotechnical investigation in 2003 allowed to recognise that various lithological, hydrogeological, geotechnical, and morphological factors have interacted in a geological time scale to that of the highway. This lecture presents the evolution pf the landslide and the conditions that led to its activation and discusses road resilience and remedial measures. If the engineer fails to the broader geological-geotechnical and the extreme hydrological environment, this can lead to sever situations, even catastrophic ones. 

Date: 26 October 2023, 15:00 

Construction of a mathematical model of the movement of an agricultural machine unit* 

Professors: Prof. Volodymyr BULGAKOV- Professor of Mechanics, Prof Valerii ADAMCHUK- Professor, Doctor of tecnical sciense (Agricultural engineering); National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine 

Venue: Mechanics room, 1° floor (Di.S.S.P.A.) 

Proposing Institution: Uniba  

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Scientific research carried out by the Institute of mechanics and automatics of agroindustrial production of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine Prof. Valerii Adamchuk 

WORKSHOP 

Date: 5 March 2024, 9.30-14:00 

Project GEORES (END-USERS WORKSHOP)* 

Venue: SFERA INFORMATICA s.r.l. & ONLINE Trav. Sinistra Via Vigili del Fuoco, 6 Modugno (BA) 

Proposing Institution: Uniba 

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Workshop to present the GEORES Project (Geospatial application to support the improvement of environmental sustainability and resilience to climate change in urban areas) financed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as part of the ASI programme "Innovation for Downstream Preparation for Science" on funding from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. 

The project involves the integration of data and calculation models for the management of natural and anthropogenic risks, developed by UNIBA (Departments DISSPA, Physics and DISTeGeo) in collaboration with CNR-IREA.