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The current and increasingly intensive technocratic drift recognises the indiscriminate power of techniques in solving several problems, including the struggle against climate change and its impact on cities. One of the future challenges concerns the effective and conscious application of KETs for the creation of smart environments in historical heritage, which plays a strategic role for its conservative values, but also in the broader strategy for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed paper reports some preliminary results of a research aimed at investigating and acknowledging these technologies as an enabling medium to undertake more informed deterministic choices in the field of CH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responses to the current energy crisis and to action against climate change have produced a wide variety of experimentations. Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) and Energy Communities (EC) are spreading as aggregators of enabling technologies, but the knowledge and skills required to plan, implement and monitor them still need to be developed. Technology alone is not enough to facilitate knowledge sharing and the experimentation and co-creation of solutions. The paper focuses on methods and tools that allow to support the creation of "energy citizens" through considerations developed in project H2020 GRETA (Green Energy Transition Actions) and in COST Action 'PED-EU-NET'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve climate transition goals, international and European policies are moving forward in the reduction of toxic gases in the atmosphere, coordinating the action of member states, which are showing increasing resolve in combating climate change, through the instrument of ordinary legislation. However, the Italian legal system is still reluctant to adopt concrete measures in this field. In comparison with other states, the Climate Decree and the goals of the PNRR appear timid steps against climate change. This paper aims to analyze the critical profiles and future prospects of domestic climate regulation and its implementation, hoping that the environmental constitutional amendment of 2022 might give new strength to Italian climate justice, still in its infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possible effects of climate change in urbanized areas - evidenced by several studies - led the City of Bologna to adopt a Climate Change Adaptation Plan to assess potential risks and vulnerabilities as a basis for adaptation actions prioritizing interventions through a coordinated local strategy. This paper summarizes some measures implemented at local level in collaboration with the Department of Architecture of the University of Bologna and, in particular, the pilot actions for urban greening developed within the European project H2020 - ROCK and the proposals for intervention included made during the "Design for Adaptation" project. Resilient Urban Communities" PhD Climate KIC summer school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidisciplinary skills and knowledges were common in historical constructions. The necessity to rethink the way we design and realize our built environment in response to the climate change is requiring the re-convergence of knowledge. The development of multidisciplinary practices and digital communication platforms are enabling the new transition. The design and fabrication of shell is one the field, where the cross-over of knowledge is most evident. Digital technologies are facilitating experimentations of complex shell geometries, a wise use of materials, and the development of new construction processes. This paper explores the transformation of shell designs, and the importance of multiple actors, through the analysis of a shell prototype developed for an international context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, green design considers climate as a fixed property of a specific place. Nevertheless, recent changes demonstrate that this vision has to be reversed, considering climate a time-dependent parameter. This paper hybridises climatology and bioclimatic design underlining, thanks to the usage of a very recent high resolution climate reanalysis database (ERA5-Land), the impact that climate changes have on short-term periods, adopting well known building climate-related indicators. European maps are drawn considering degree-days variations (from 1981-95 to 2004-18), while typical mean 24-hour monthly days and bioclimatic charts are adopted for a limited number of locations. Results support the need to adopt climate data time variations during design phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing concern over global warming and climate change, this paper aims to investigate five rail passenger systems in Europe with respect to their greenhouse gas emissions. The countries are compared to each other to determine which are performing the best and the reasons behind this. The countries are analysed over a ten years period to investigate if there are trends forming as time progresses. The information collected is then used to produce two different forecasts for greenhouse gas emissions on the railways to look at the potential each country has for meeting European Union emissions targets. It is found that Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom are showing very positive signs of being able to achieve the greenhouse gas emission targets in 2030 and 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the traditional vs carbon-oriented forest management of two coniferous stands in the Alpine environment, quantifying the carbon sink, the carbon credit generated and the economic results. The results show the economic feasibility of the transition from current forest management strategies to a carbon-oriented method in the considered context. Carbon-oriented management provides relevant environmental benefits, combatting climate change, even though some elements of uncertainty still persist, particularly in relation to achieving a profitable management, specifically due to the volatile voluntary carbon credit market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the potential impacts of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida: Amphinomidae) on rocky Mediterranean benthic ecosystems, its geographical occurrence is poorly understood. In this paper, data on historical fireworm distribution along the Mediterranean Sea coasts were gathered from collections, registers and databases of the main Italian and European museums of natural history. The oldest fireworm specimens were collected in the 19th century and are preserved in the museums of Berlin, Paris and Vienna. These samples come from Sicily, Greece and the Near East, all areas where fireworm populations are still abundant and widespread. The specimens stored in the Museo della Stazione Zoologica "Anton Dohrn" (Naples) were collected at the turn of the 20th century in the Gulf of Naples and provide fundamental clues for assessing the northern limit of the species range in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Museum records together with bibliographic searches, questionnaires, monitoring and molecular analysis could allow the biogeography of H. carunculata in the Mediterranean Sea to be investigated and potential range shifts predicted in response to ongoing seawater warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows the results of the first phase of the research project "METROPOLIS - Methodologies and Technologies for integrated and sustainable adaptation and security of urban systems" developed by STRESS Scarl - High Technology District for Sustainable Building of the Campania Region. The project is aimed at the development of innovative strategies for a resilient urban system and design guidelines for appropriate choices of urban regeneration based on the assessment and mitigation of natural and man-made hazards. The paper describes the results concerning the definition of innovative methodologies for the knowledge and mapping of urban vulnerability to climate risks in the East Naples area. The cross-disciplinary and multi-scale approach integrates knowledge and technology from university and industrial partners to develop a decision support tool in the field of urban regeneration. The study of the impacts of extreme weather events, based on the simulation of climate change scenarios in the area of East Naples, includes the data management in a GIS environment from satellite remote sensing, direct surveys and simulation software, focusing on the environmental and technological performance of urban spaces and elements. The research results report risk scenarios for pluvial flood and heat waves hazards according to both climatic variables, both aggravating phenomena arising from the characteristics of urban settlements. The complex reading of the buildings-open spaces system and its response to climate change conditions has allowed to define the vulnerability of elements at risk, as well as adaptation and mitigation solutions to be implemented within urban regeneration interventions, identifying critical issues in relation to comfort and environmental risk conditions, consumption and efficient use of resources, compliance of the technological choices to specific requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectively addressing the issue of climate resilience in urban areas requires the development of innovative design methods that can handle the complexity of the information needed to guide sustainable urban regeneration and retrofitting strategies, as well as to manage the technological and environmental solutions in a multi-scale perspective. The paper presents the methodology developed by the ARC3-2 Urban Planning and Design working group of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) and the results of the experimental activities conducted within Studios and Workshops promoted in New York, Paris and Naples by the New York Institute of Technology, the Polytechnic of Milan and the University of Naples Federico II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1987, this paper has presented the yearly report of the meteorological observations at the Geophysical Observatory of Modena and Reggio Emilia University, which is located inside the eastern tower of the Dukes' Palace of Modena. The Observatory was founded the 26th January 1826 and ever since its instruments have regularly recorded data. For the year 2015, we present a summary of the annual average values, total and extreme weather of the main parameters, plots with annual and monthly trends of several parameters compared with average climatological values. In addition, "the extremes of 2015", i.e. the average and extreme values of all data collected by the Observatory and at the meteorological stations "Campus DIEF", located in the Department of Engineering in Modena, and at the Campus San Lazzaro in Reggio Emilia are presented. In 2015, there were also anomalies, in line with climate change taking place at a global scale. In particular, July 2015 with an average temperature of 29.4 °C, equals the hottest temperature record of August 2003 and was the hottest July ever recorded. The year 2015, with an average temperature of 16.1 °C, is the second warmest year on record. The amount of precipitation is close to climatic mean, but with some anomalies in monthly distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows the evolution of the breeding distribution of the Ashy-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava cinereocapilla in the period 1820-2014. Until 1880, the subspecies nested along the coast north and east of the Adriatic Sea, with some settlements (probably of poor numerical consistency) located in suitable areas of Tuscany, Sicily and Provence; after 1880 it was observed to appear regularly in the Po Valley during migration, and afterwards to occupy the area widely as a breeder. During the nineteenth century the Po Valley underwent major transformation processes with the consequent disruption of ancient agricultural rotations, and an increase of 1°C in the average temperature was also recorded in the area. Out of all the changes that occurred, besides the abundant availability of water, the biotic factor that probably favored the expansion of the subspecies in the Po valley the most is the increase in livestock and the consequent increase in the meadowlands: the first mowing of grass coincides temporally with the hatching of yellow wagtails (often nesting in neighboring fields of wheat), offering them the opportunity to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of foraging on the open ground, with likely benefits for the reproductive success. In the first half of the twentieth century the Ashy-headed Wagtail completed the occupation of the Po Valley, and in the late 1940 a new phase began, during which it settled in new areas in central and southern Italy and Sardinia, extending its distribution area in southern France; but, above all, appearing with increasing frequency and regularity during migrations north of the Alps. These northward shifts later materialized in the settlement of several reproductive groups in France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, always along basins of rivers or near lakes. Water seems to be the catalyst for the presence of the subspecies. This further expansion phase has probably been favored by climate changes, and in particular by the rise in temperature in the Greater Alpine Region. Favoured by this situation, the subspecies has also colonized mountain areas: in France up to 350 m.a.s.l. in the department of Isère, in Switzerland up to 1700-1800 m.a.s.l. in the Upper Engadine, in Germany up to 880 m.a.s.l. at Ammer and Grunt lakes, in Austria up to 960 m.a.s.l. in Hochfilzen and in Bosnia-Herzegovina up to 720 m.a.s.l. in the plain of Livanjsko. In the Italian Alps it reached the altitude of about 900 m.a.s.l. in Venosta Valley and up to 1000 m.a.s.l. in central Apennines. Since the last decades of the twentieth century nestings have been recorded in Spain. Instead, the breeding of the subspecies in Maghreb is still uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]