BEL SIT PROJECT: DISSEMINATION AND KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES IN THE BOLOGNA APENNINES (ITALY)

摘要

BEL SIT1 is an educational project, coordinated by the CSSAS (Soil Analysis Experimental Centre), whose aim is to update and disseminate information about the natural and cultural assets of an area lying in the Bologna Apennines through the creation of a geodatabase using a specific Geographical Information System (GIS). Using GIS tools has enabled real geographical coordinates to be attributed to each item of information. The objective of BEL SIT is to arouse interest within the community at large, and among the young in particular, so that people will want to know more about the complexity of the ecosystem and the local cultural and environmental heritage, aspects that are often invisible due to lack of awareness. BEL SIT could be used either at school by teachers as an aid to disseminating culture and knowledge about the Apennine area or by students as a tool for learning about specific cultural and environmental topics concerning this mountain area, which is not very well known. The methodological approach chosen involved integrating the existing photographic archive (5,800 pictures dating from the years 1970-75 and regarding the whole of the province of Bologna) with the more recent photographic materials (from two different periods, 1980-90 and 2005-07, pictures of the Apennine area only) so as to effectively document the dynamics of change (or features that have remain unchanged) in settlement patterns over a period of forty years. Survey data regarding important environmental features, such as monumental trees, noteworthy species of plants, characteristic lithological formations, singular geomorphological aspects, mineralogical and paleontological rarities, natural springs and animal habitats are furnished alongside data concerning building types, with the aim of highlighting, among other things, the ways in which man adapted rural settlements to ecosystem conditions up to the middle of the 20th century. The results of the BEL SIT project are available at the website http://www.geolab-onlus.org/BEL SIT/ The geodatabase, which can be easily downloaded from the website, will provide users with in-depth insight into the natural and cultural resources of the Bolognese Apennines and enable them to conveniently visit any place of interest using a modern GPS tracking system. BEL SIT is a physical and cultural atlas designed as a tool for disseminating information about the natural and cultural heritage of this area using modern communication systems (websites, publications and CD ROMs) which are useful for conveying knowledge at all levels (schools, cultural associations, local authorities,..).