Professor Margherita Azzari
Università degli Studi di Firenze, Scuola di Economia e Management
Corso di Laurea Magistrale / Major: “Design of Sustainable Tourism Systems”
Academic Year: 2016-2017
B019354 – ENVIRONMENT AND LANDSCAPE GEOGRAPHY / B016699 – GEOGRAFIA
Aim of the course
The aim of this course is to introduce the main themes of human geography and some techniques and tools, such as cartography and GIS in the acquisition and use of geographic information.
Geographic literacy includes comprehension of social and environmental dynamics, of people’s life styles, of the use of resources and environmental change.
The course also aims to provide an introduction to the characteristics, challenges and opportunities of sustainable development. The course places emphasis on the global challenges of sustainable development, identifies the actors involved and considers the outcomes for particular groups and environments in both rural and urban contexts.
Classroom: via San Gallo 10, Aula Informatica.
The schedule of the course is organized into 6 hours per week, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (9-11). The lessons will end on April 24th.
Moodle Platform
All study materials, slides, handouts; textbooks will be available on the Moodle platform.
You will have access to download the first materials: program and bibliography, calendar, slides.
I will use the platform to send you messages, updates and to communicate schedule changes, etc.
It is important for you to register and regularly consult this platform.
During lectures I will use slides in English and I will give the explanations in Italian, finally summarizing what was said in English.
Students attending
Two midterm tests and a final exam.
The first test will be a presentation (in team) on a chosen topic.
The second test will be a presentation (individual) on a chosen topic.
The final test will be written: 2 open-ended questions on topics from a chosen textbook (some chapters, see bibliography).
The grade will result from the average of the grades taken in each test.
Students not attending
Students not attending have to study 2 texts (6 CFU) or 3 texts (9 CFU) of their own choice from the bibliography. The third text will be from the third group (see bibliography). The exam is written, 3 open-ended questions on topics from each of chosen textbooks (6 or 9).
Bibliography
First group
Greiner A.L., Visualizing Human Geography, Wiley, 2013
Greiner A.L., Geografia umana, UTET, 2013
These two books are manuals of human geography. I will show you a list of chapters to prepare.
Second group
Elliott J.A., An Introduction to Sustainable Development, Routledge, 2013 (4th)
Christoff P. – Eckersley R., Globalization & the Environment, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013
Du Cros H. – McKercher B., Cultural Tourism, Routledge, 2015
Bologna G., Manuale della sostenibilità, Edizioni Ambiente, 2008
Romani V., Il paesaggio. Percorsi di studio, FrancoAngeli, 2008
Timothy J., Heritage e turismo, Hoepli, 2008
These are textbooks focused on sustainable development. I suggest both of them to those of you have already studied geography in the past. I will show you a list of chapters to prepare.
All volumes are available in the libraries of Novoli and Via San Gallo.
Students of the Degree Course Design of Sustainable Tourism Systems have to attend also to the course: GIS per l’analisi dell’ambiente e del paesaggio (GIS for environmental and landscape analysis).
This second part consists of laboratory activities. We will learn how to use GIS software. We will use an open-source GIS and lessons will take place in Aula Informatica (via San Gallo 10).
The first test will be an exercise with QGIS software. The final test will be a GIS project.
I would like to recommend some reading focusing on GIS. They don’t need to be studied, but may be useful to integrate notes or to supply further explanations and information.
Third group
Longley P.A.- Goodchild M.- Maguire D.J.- Rhind D.W., Geographic Information Systems and Science, Wiley, 2010
Stuart Sinton D. – Lund J.J., Understanding Place. GIS and Mapping across the Curriculum, ESRI Press, 2007
Tomlinson R., Thinking About GIS. Geographic Information System Planning for Managers, ESRI Press, 2007
Academic Year 2014-2015
Environment and Landscape Geography (B019354)
M-GGR/01 (9 CFU)
Lessons calendar: to be defined
II semester: Design of sustainable tourism system
Exams: 01/20/2015, h 10.00
Exams: 02/17/2015, h 10.00
Selected lectures:
Greiner A.L., Visualizing Human Geography, Wiley, 2013
Rubenstein J.et al., Introduction to Contemporary Geography, 2013
Elliott J.A., An Introduction to Sustainable Development, Routledge, 2013 (4th ed.)
Christoff P. & Eckersley R., Globalization & the Environment, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013