INVITATION TO THE CYCLE SEMINAR:
Beyond disciplinary barriers. ISMed as a research laboratory

Environmental catastrophes between history and memory
the case of Gragnano

5 November 2024 10:00 a.m.

CNR-ISMed
Humanities Pole (VI floor)
Via Cardinale Guglielmo Sanfelice, 8
80134 Naples

REMOTE ACCESS
on Teams platform

Poster

Gragnano, a city famous for its pasta, is less well known for the extreme vulnerability of its territory to landslide phenomena. Located below Mount Pendolo, the town has experienced numerous catastrophic events in the past: what technicians call “rapid flows of loose pyroclastics”. The best known event of this type is undoubtedly the Sarno landslide of May 1998. But a similar catastrophe also occurred in Gragnano in 1841, with over 100 deaths and the destruction of an entire neighbourhood. Despite the obvious exposure to risk, the post-World War II period was characterised by a sort of removal of the problem: under the impetus of a marked demographic increase, the urban development of Gragnano proceeded in a disorderly manner: wild anthropisation with new settlements that almost always paid little attention to the geological assets of the territory. The consequences were not long in coming, and in January 1971 a mudslide from Mount Pendolo hit four houses and destroyed a hotel. The seminar not only focuses on these events of the past (dynamics, consequences, emergency policies, etc.), but also aims to follow how the area is managed today.

THE SPEAKER. Walter Palmieri is First Researcher at the CNR Institute for Mediterranean Studies. He has published numerous essays in collective volumes and in scientific journals such as, ‘Meridiana. Rivista di Storia e Scienze Sociali’, “Storia Urbana”, “Società e Storia”, “Global Environment” “Archivio Storico per la Calabria e la Lucania”. He is a member of the editorial board of the international journal “Global Environment. The Journal of Transdisciplinary History” and is one of the founding members of the Italian Society of Environmental History (SISAM). His research focuses on the pre-unification Mezzogiorno with a particular focus on associations, land and deforestation. He is currently working on a research project on hydrogeological instability in continental Mezzogiorno in the 19th century.

Programme

SPEAKER
Walter Palmieri
CNR-ISMed

INTRODUCES AND MODERATES
Gabriella Corona
CNR-ISMed

FINAL DISCUSSION

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Michele Colucci, Gabriella Corona, Antonio De Lorenzo, Valentina Noviello
CNR-ISMed

INFO AND CONTACTS
valentina.noviello@ismed.cnr.it
www.ismed.cnr.it

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The seminar is open to the public, subject to availability.
You can participate remotely on the Teams platform