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Between land and sea Stefano Guerzoni - Davide Tagliapietra
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The structure of the Atlas
The corpus of the Atlas is composed of the plates
and relative descriptions. Each thematic map is
accompanied by an explanatory text, graphs, and
photos. For each map, the source, type of data
processing, and other useful information on its
production are provided.
The maps are distinguished into three main types.
Descriptive: these are the most frequent type, the
“basic” maps, designed to provide as complete a
picture as possible of the environment of the
Lagoon (morphology, plant and animal species,
etc.).
Planning and evaluation: these maps show the
analysis of restrictions, regulatory controls,
environmental protection measures currently
affecting the Lagoon area (e.g., SCIs and SPAs, areas
with limited navigation, restrictions on
modifications to the landscape, etc.).
Integrated analyses: these maps are fewer in
number and provide examples of how the
information contained in the first two types of
map can form the basis for new analyses.
The Atlas is divided into five main thematic
sections: Geosphere (climate, geology and
geomorphology, water), Biosphere (animals,
plants), Anthroposphere (pollution, territorial
transformation), Protected Environments (social
dynamics, administrative controls) and Integrated
Analyses (combinations of themes, and relations
between them).
It is hoped that this Atlas will be periodically
updated and broadened to include themes that
are not covered in this edition and, above all,
further integrated analyses.
The Atlas concludes with the usual indices and
bibliography: this part is particularly useful,
because it enables readers to identify the people
and institutions who work in their particular field
of interest, providing a sort of “Yellow Pages” of
the research carried out on the Lagoon. All those
who contributed to the creation of the Atlas are
cited in the list of authors in the Appendix.
The layout of the Atlas has sought to accommodate
and emphasise the plurality of approaches,
respecting the various points of view and their
specific disciplinary character; the authors prepared
the plates and relative descriptions according to the
approach which they believed to be the most
effective, and are therefore responsible for the
contents. The uniformity lies in the use, where
possible, of a reduced number of map scales:
1:300,000 for the representation of the Lagoon
and the catchment area, and 1:150,000 for the
representation of the Lagoon of Venice on its own.
A small number of editorial choices, established a
priori, serve to facilitate comparison between the
different types of study.
In the framework of the above geographical
categories, most of the plates of the Atlas (76)
concern the Lagoon and/or particular parts of it;
15 concern the entire catchment area, and five the
coastal area. Of a narrower focus are seven plates
given as examples of a possible urban Atlas
(cisterns, urban canals, seagulls and pigeons,
monitoring of wave motion). Considered together,
the authors and the range of organisations to
which they belong demonstrate the extent of the
collaborative effort that went into the creation of
the Atlas.
About half the plates were provided by the
research institutions having formal agreements
with Venice City Council. Another 20 or so were
produced “internally” by groups within local
administrations (the Osservatorio Naturalistico
della Laguna and the Museum of Natural History
of the City of Venice, Venice provincial council),
and about ten by the various departments of
ARPAV. Lastly, more than 25 plates (nearly a
quarter) were prepared by the Venice Water
Management Authority, via its contractor, the
Venezia Nuova Consortium (and affiliated bodies
SELC and Thetis), the Anti-pollution Service and the
Information Service.
The five thematic sections into which the Atlas is
subdivided are easily recognisable thanks to the
coloured bands which mark the pages.
Most of the data presented in the plates and
relative descriptions refer to the period 2001-
2003. Where possible, seasonal and/or
interannual comparisons are included. For some
themes, there are comparisons of situations
separated by a distance of decades (bathymetries,
saltmarshes, seagrasses).
Almost all the plates have not previously been
published and were prepared specially for this
volume. As we are dealing here with data
collected by different authors, at different times
and for different purposes, some reprocessing or
reworking of the data was often necessary, in
order to ensure comparability. The multiple
numerical values on which most of the
contributions are based are presented in the form
of graphs, visualising data that are often highly
complex. Many scientific illustrations were
produced specially for the Atlas. We have avoided
giving bibliographical indications within the text
to keep it as readable as possible. The references
(see Appendix) are subdivided according to the
main thematic sections of the Atlas, and allow
readers to go deeper into specific issues, linking
strictly scientific literature with other topics of
more general interest.
We apologise for the many and inevitable
imperfections and gaps. Whilst criticism may be
justified, we believe that they are mitigated by the
opportunity afforded readers – for the first time in
Venice – to compare various themes and types of
data, multiple approaches and points of view.
This Atlas is thus new in terms of its contents,
method and editorial organisation, and seeks to
propose new approaches to the problems of the
Lagoon; its creation is testimony to the
commitment of Venice City Council and public
institutions to making knowledge available to the
public. With this Atlas, we hope to provide a work
of reference which will be useful in the
management of resources, economic planning and
environmental safeguards.
This volume cannot replace specialist manuals and
it does not seek to, but we believe it represents a
valid point of reference for all those who work or
have an interest in the Lagoon of Venice. It also
has an educational function, providing support to
teachers in universities and schools, and to
professionals who need to give effective
presentations of environmental issues. The CD
supplied with the Atlas allows readers to print
maps in the appropriate format.
As Paolo Cacciari, who was councillor with special
responsibility for the Environment when the idea for
the Atlas took off, wrote in his presentation, “It falls
to us only to begin this task, knowing however that,
if things go as planned, it will never end”.
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