J-READING Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography

Endlessly changing irrigation spaces: a multi-sited exhibition to reimagine proximities between Khartoum and Padua

Mariasole Pepa — 2023-12-18

This article explores the process, also in emotional terms, of setting up a multi-site photographic exhibition in Khartoum and Padua, in the context of the outbreak of the war in Sudan, as a creative way to promote research dissemination. The multi-site exhibition emerged from a long tradition of research, between geographers at the University of Khartoum and the University of Padua, on the reconfiguration of irrigation spaces in Sudan. An “exploration” of the exhibition is presented with a discussion of a few important themes that emerged from the fieldwork. The article examines multi-site visual dissemination as a useful tool to reduce proximities and create new connections between places. Moreover, it reflects on the potentiality of photo exhibitions as a creative way to make research findings more accessible to a non-academic audience, and so to cross academic borders.

Participatory methods for citizenship education: interdisciplinary perspectives. Introduction

Giampietro Mazza — 2023-12-18

Educational processes are complex pathways through which individuals build knowledge, skills, values and behaviour. These processes do not take place only in the moments dedicated to formal education in schools. They also include informal and non-formal learning occurring in different life situations, which take place in the territories where each individual’s life unfolds. Territory plays a decisive role in educational processes as it provides a real and concrete context for learning, useful for reducing educational poverty and promoting the rights of the child and youth. Thus conceived, territory offers different opportunities for meaningful and contextualised learning, playing a strategic role in shaping educating communities, characterised by the action of different territorial actors (students, school, local authorities, stakeholders, etc.). These territorial actors interact in order to develop a collaborative, participative and educational process. For this reason, “territorial Education sets out to unite the objectives of the various forms of education (citizenship, inter-culture, sustainable development...) in a territorial dimension, rethinking and redefining them on the basis of the diversities of the places and the complexity of the geographical spaces” (Dematteis and Giorda, 2013, p. 18).

Community maps for territorial education: inputs for a methodology from Nativi Project

Giampietro Mazza — 2023-12-18

In recent years, despite globalisation processes, that have contributed to uniform societies, generating a constant loss of effectiveness of the local, practices of territorial development aimed at highlighting local peculiarities and the places that define a territory, in which communities identify themselves, are strongly emerging. Participatory processes can play a decisive role in identifying the reference places for a community, through which citizens are called upon to make decisions in governance processes. This is the case of community maps, which represent a clear example of subjective and participatory representation of space. In community maps, place becomes the territorial dimension of reference. These assumptions form the basis of the Native Project, which aims to encourage secondary schools students to discover places, starting a process aimed at creating community maps and territorial storytellings to stimulate a greater awareness of territorial values, with the hope of enhancing their sense of citizenship.

The community participatory voice method and places of the heart: Using Photovoice to foster dialogue about enhancement landscapes

Nadia Rania — 2023-12-18

Photovoice is not yet a widespread technique in the field of geography. However, the literature highlights the importance of this participatory method for understanding people’s experiences with urban landscapes and developing active citizenship in urban planning decisions. The aim of this research is to capture the places of the heart experienced by young adults and develop solutions to enhance urban, rural, historical-cultural and natural landscapes. This research also focuses on the adaptability of the Photovoice technique to various disciplines using participatory action research, which is typical of community psychology. The participants included 21 Italian university students (90.5% females) residing in northwestern Italy, with an average age of 23.1 (SD ± 2.1). The data collected through photos and group discussion were categorized, according to similarities between the photos and the transcript of the discussion. The results highlight how the young participants identified valued places, natural places and places of relationships, which engendered positive emotions, and places of the heart that produce negative emotions, such as places of degradation, polluted blue places and places to value. In addition, the participants proposed solutions to make the places of the heart more liveable or liveable again. In conclusion, the results show how the technique helps empower social change with a more conscious use of places and strategies to enhance landscapes in different communities.