Research is in the air in Valle del Serchio

Marchi, Bruna De; Ficorilli, Antonella; Biggeri, Annibale

doi:10.1016/j.futures.2022.102906

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Additionally, some authors claim that the effects of the pandemic improved the engagement of their participants [37,62], which is surprising as it contrasts with the recounts of several other authors, as seen in Section 5.3.1. This effect was also observed by the UNaLab team, specifically in the ADOPT Surveys.…”

Section: The Pandemic's Positive Aspects For Parmentioning

confidence: 90%

Participatory Action Research Challenges Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Comparison across Two European Projects

et al. 2023

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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that spread through the world in 2020 had a major effect on academia. Research projects relying on participatory methods and action research approaches were especially harmed by the restrictions and changes the situation imposed. This study performs a rapid literature review to identify common themes in the narratives of published studies concerning the difficulties of carrying-out participatory research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceptions and experiences of the authors of these studies are compiled and summarized. Additionally, insights and lessons learned from two projects in which the authors of this study participated are discussed and used to establish a comparison with the common challenges found in the literature. Over 90% of authors experienced challenges related to digitalization and methodological changes, 70% encountered difficulties with organizational and operational aspects of research, and over 30% felt that personal challenges, as well as issues with participatory aspects of research, were significant. On a positive note, almost 40% of authors from our sample recognize that the pandemic also brought unexpected benefits, such as a reduction in logistical expenses, and the creation of new opportunities for participation. This study adds to the growing body of literature regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the research community. Additionally, it comments on the adaptation of participatory action research methods for added sustainability and social inclusion in the face of global crises.

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Section: The Pandemic's Positive Aspects For Parmentioning

confidence: 90%

Participatory Action Research Challenges Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Comparison across Two European Projects

et al. 2023

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“…The tools included in the Toolkit presented in this paper were mostly developed and used as part of the activities in the five pilot studies of the CitieS-Health project in Barcelona (Spain), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Lucca (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), and Kaunas (Lithuania). This paper deals with the methodological description of the toolkit creation and described some use cases in real-life applications of the CitieS-Health project, while the specific activities carried out in the individual pilot studies, the results obtained and the lessons learned are given elsewhere (Grazuleviciene et al, 2020a;Grazuleviciene et al, 2020b;Kocman et al, 2020;Grazuleviciene et al, 2021a;Grazuleviciene et al, 2021b;Grazuleviciene et al, 2022;Gignac et al, 2022a;Gignac et al, 2022b;De Marchi et al, 2022). Substantial elements of this work have been reported in deliverables from the CitieS-Health project, and reused for the purpose of this paper, in particular D2.1 (Kocman et al, 2019), D5.2 (Balestrini et al, 2019) and D5.3 (Errandonea et al, 2022).…”

Section: Toolkit In the Context Of Cities-health Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toolkit for conducting citizen science activities in environmental epidemiology

Kocman

Righi²,

Errandonea³

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Scientists and practitioners implementing citizen science projects, in which the involvement of citizens is key, often need ideas and tools that help in reaching citizens, engaging them in the project and maximizing their contributions. In this paper, we describe the creation of an open toolkit, a web-based portal citizensciencetoolkit.eu1 designed in the framework of the CitieS-Health project for the development and promotion of citizen science (CS) projects. The main focus is on projects linking urban environmental exposures and health, but it has applicability to other settings. The toolkit comprises the steps and phases during the implementation of CS activities in environmental epidemiology. A total of 28 tools are currently included, of which most were co-designed and tested within CitiesS-Health, as well as some resulting from external projects. For each tool, in addition to the details of its purpose and the specific challenges it poses, downloadable support content is available. To help facilitate inspiration and the adoption of tools provided, an illustrative step-by-step demonstration and description of its use in a CS project in a real-life setting is included, focusing on recommendations derived from the user experience. The portal is designed as a live inventory of tools, enabling interested CS practitioners not only to replicate, but also to continuously update and enrich it is content. To this end, the long-term objective of the portal is to act as a hub of resources that would enable the active inclusion of citizens in all the phases of the participatory research projects.

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“…Excesses above the regional average of cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney diseases and malignant tumors such as lung cancer have been reported in the area. A strong tendency to associate environmental pollution with the perceived health profile by inhabitants has been demonstrated [ 15 ].…”

Section: Environmental and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this area, metallurgical activities situated directly adjacent the residential area of Fornaci di Barga have lasted more than 100 years, creating a potential ecotoxicological hazard by PTE primarily delivered to soil through industrial dust varying in age of settlement. Indeed, health statistics and epidemiological evidence highlighted the prevalence of lung cancer and chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease in the Middle Valley [ 14 , 15 ], with a significantly higher incidence compared with the average of Tuscany. In particular, the incidence of kidney diseases increases approaching the site of current and historical metallurgical manufacturing, as revealed by an ongoing cohort study, and the cause has been postulated as due to environmental pollution by PTE, particularly cadmium [ 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, health statistics and epidemiological evidence highlighted the prevalence of lung cancer and chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease in the Middle Valley [ 14 , 15 ], with a significantly higher incidence compared with the average of Tuscany. In particular, the incidence of kidney diseases increases approaching the site of current and historical metallurgical manufacturing, as revealed by an ongoing cohort study, and the cause has been postulated as due to environmental pollution by PTE, particularly cadmium [ 15 ]. Fornaci di Barga has been included among five pilot cities in Europe for industrial pollution and health impact [ 16 ] (CitieS-Health project: (accessed on 1 June 2022)).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Trace Elements in Soil and Urban Groundwater in an Area Impacted by Metallurgical Activity: Health Risk Assessment in the Historical Barga Municipality (Tuscany, Italy)

Petrini

Ghezzi

Arrighi

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Trace elements were measured in soil and groundwater collected within the Fornaci di Barga urban area (Serchio River Valley, Tuscany, Italy), a territory that integrates natural assets with touristic vocation, impacted by long-lasting metallurgical activity. Epidemiological studies highlighted that the area surrounding the industrial plants is characterized by a persistent excess of diseases, attributed to heavy metal pollution. Soils were taken in school gardens, public parks, sport grounds and roadsides. The results indicate that Cu, Zn and Cd represent the main contaminants in surface soil, likely originated by deposition of airborne particulate matter from metallurgical activity. Risk assessment considering soil ingestion and dermal contact exposure routes revealed that the cadmium Hazard Quotient approaches unity for children, and the cadmium risk-based concentration obtained by combining exposure information with toxicity data is only slightly lower compared with the cadmium maximum concentration actually measured in soil. Groundwater does not show evidence of trace metal contamination, suggesting that the migration of contaminants from soil to subsurface is a slow process. However, assessment of the possible interconnections between shallow and deep-seated aquifers requires monitoring to be continued. The obtained results highlight the possible link between space clusters of diseases and metal concentration in soil.

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Research is in the air in Valle del Serchio

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Participatory Action Research Challenges Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Comparison across Two European Projects

Participatory Action Research Challenges Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Comparison across Two European Projects

Toolkit for conducting citizen science activities in environmental epidemiology

Trace Elements in Soil and Urban Groundwater in an Area Impacted by Metallurgical Activity: Health Risk Assessment in the Historical Barga Municipality (Tuscany, Italy)

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