Environment, Sustainability and Territory

AreaAmbiente 1 | Padova Science Technology and Innovation Studies This research area examines innovation processes aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability in human activities. An increasing proportion of basic and applied research is dedicated to environmental conservation, restoration, and climate mitigation. Our investigation encompasses various sub-topics within this broad domain, including energy consumption, infrastructural development for ecological transition, environmental risk management, public discourse on environmental issues, and everyday practices impacting the ecological crisis.

This research area examines innovation processes aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability in human activities. An increasing proportion of basic and applied research is dedicated to environmental conservation, restoration, and climate mitigation. Our investigation encompasses various sub-topics within this broad domain, including energy consumption, infrastructural development for ecological transition, environmental risk management, public discourse on environmental issues, and everyday practices impacting the ecological crisis.

These sustainability-related sub-topics inherently involve considerations of territorial development trajectories and the local-level implications of specific infrastructural decisions, particularly in energy and mobility sectors. Environmental and sociotechnical sustainability solutions often permeate media channels, facilitating the analysis of relevant discourses and stakeholder relationships. This necessitates a multidisciplinary approach integrating economic, sociological, and territorial perspectives.

Aligning with its primary research interests in environment, sustainability, and territory, this research area intersects with other PaSTIS research domains, focusing on: 

  •           Analysis of social practices related to consumption, emphasizing everyday mobility, economic activities in specific regions, and the food-water-energy nexus.
  •           Media analysis, particularly newspaper coverage of environmental issues and policy matters, considering the diverse actors in the public sphere and their interrelationships.
  •           Examination of innovation processes for environmental protection, focusing on the role of experts and the analysis of both design and implementation of technologies (e.g., devices, infrastructure) aimed at mitigating the environmental impact of production and consumption activities.
  •           Investigation of citizens’ participation and mobilization, specifically considering initiatives undertaken by individuals, groups, and movements to protect the environment, such as Citizen Science projects. These range from educational efforts to protests, and from environmental data collection to the establishment of green enterprises.


Project


Contact person

Paolo Giardullo

Giorgio Osti