OVERVIEW

The teaching concerns the reading of the geomorphological, natural and cultural landscape, with subsequent reference to the interaction between natural processes and human activities, also in terms of land planning and management and of conscious and sustainable tourism development.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course is aimed at providing theoretical and practical notions necessary to deal with the relationships between meteo-climate conditions, geomorphological features and tourist activities, also referring to land planning and management. Regional case studies, representative of various types of anthropogenetic impact and geomorphological risk conditions, will be presented.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the teaching activities, the student will be able to:

• identify the main natural and man-made landforms, 
• distinguish geomorphological processes and their interaction with meteo-hydrological events
• combine potential geomorphological hazard conditions with exposed elements
• propose elements of geomorphological heritage as a resource for sustainable tourism

• describe potential tourism impact conditions on natural processes

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching includes classroom lectures, laboratory of applied geomorphology, field exercises and specialised seminars. The classroom lectures are delivered by means of multimedia presentations, using practical examples mainly on the regional territory. The laboratory activities are aimed at applying the theoretical knowledge acquired in the frontal lectures and field survey activities.

Field survey exercises will be carried out mainly in the Metropolitan City of Genoa and aimed at the identification of shapes due to different modelling agents, both natural and anthropic, their state of activity and possible interaction with exposed assets. 

Students who have a valid certification of physical or learning disability which has been registered with the University and who wish to discuss possible facilitations or other circumstances regarding lessons, assignments and examinations should contact both the teacher in charge and Prof. Laura Traverso (laura.traverso@unige.it), DiSFOR's contact person for disabilities.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• Elements of cartography applied to the reading and interpretation of the geomorphological landscape
• Elements of Physical Geography for the analysis and identification of atmospheric phenomena and climatic conditions
• Fundamentals of Geomorphology for understanding the genesis and evolution of natural and man-made landforms

• Geotourism and land sustainability: geomorphological heritage and geosites, geoparks, geodiversity

Case studies of geotouristic enhancement, tourism impact and geomorphological-environmental risk

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

- T. L. MCKNIGHT, D. HESS, Geografia fisica. Comprendere il paesaggio (edizione italiana a cura di Francesco Dramis), Piccin, Padova, 2021, II edizione.

- U. Sauro, M. Meneghel, A. Bondesan, B. Castiglioni, Dalla carta topografica al paesaggio, Vicenza, ZetaBeta Editrice, 2022, nuova edizione.

- E. REYNARD, P. CORATZA, G. REGOLINI BISSIG, Geomorphosites,Munchen,Verlag, 2009. (capitoli: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)

- D. NEWSOME, R. DOWLING,nGeotourism, sustainability, impacts and management, Amsterdam, Elsevier, 2005

The slides presented during the lessons and other teaching materials will be available on AulaWeb and in the files folder in the Teams virtual classroom at the end of each lesson/exercise cycle

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The lessons timetable is available at the following link: https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final examination consists of an applicative project and an oral test.

The applicative project concerns the presentation, either in the form of a written paper or in a power point presentation format, of an activity for the identification, valorisation and conservation of an area of particular geological-geomorphological interest or of a specific geosite, the proposal for which will be agreed with the teacher.

The oral part consists of a discussion of the project presented and verification of learning of the topics covered during the lesson, as per the syllabus.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The preparation and discussion of an applicative project will make it possible to verify the acquisition of the training objectives, including methods and tools, on the subject of the enhancement of the geomorphological heritage and geosites, including their planning and conservation, with the application of correct terminology and adequate writing skills. 

The oral test is aimed at assessing the level of knowledge achieved, the ability to refer to theoretical notions by applying them to the territory's reality and will also verify the quality of the exposition, the use of the correct technical and scientific terminology, the ability to critically reason about the project developed on the subject of geomorphological heritage valorisation and geotourism.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with a certification of physical or learning disability filed with the University can find information on support services at the web page https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/studenti-disturbi-specifici-apprendimento-dsa, provided by the "Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and with Learning Disorders." They can also contact Professor Laura Traverso (laura.traverso@unige.it), the DiSFOR'scontact for disabilities.

Regular attendance is strongly recommended.