Discovering Castelporziano

To complete the game Discovering Castelporziano, you have to reach three objectives that run as themes through the estate: exploring it, traveling into its past and its history; focusing on its artistic and cultural aspects; and visiting the reserve to discover the ecological and biodiversity heritage it safeguards.

If you want to find out more about these aspects, you can refer to the material available at the following links: Castelporziano and the Laurentino, The Roman Villas in Castelporziano, The Castle and the Village, The Historical and Archaeological Museum, The Carriage Pavilion and The natural environment of Castelporziano.

PLAY NOW
  • Objectives:

Objective One – Getting to know Castelporziano
Start your journey of discovery in the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano.

Objective Two – Castelporziano at the centre of Science.
Castelporziano is of immense artistic, historical, cultural and naturalistic interest: explore just how much you know!

Objective Three – The reserve: biodiversity and ecology.
At Castelporziano you’ll find a great diversity of animal and vegetable species; get to know them (better)!

This game is intended for any age group and is available only in Italian.

Credits:

Images: Photo Archive Castelporziano Presidential Estate, Sheila Gibson 1996 and Claridge Amanda (2007), I. Consalvo

Castelporziano: discovering nature

The game CASTELPORZIANO: NATURE TO DISCOVER is suitable for children aged six to ten and provides a guide to exploring the distinctive ecosystems of Castelporziano, focusing on the characteristic aspects of the dune ecosystems, describing the plants and animals that populate them, and then reaching the wooded ecosystem and pastures of the estate, and investigating the animal and plant diversity of these places. This game could be the final step of a short phase of study and research into the materials available at the following links: Castelporziano and its natural environment, Natura Italia, and In the Castelporziano forest.

PLAY NOW
  • Objectives:

OBJECTIVE ONE – The ecosystems in Castleporziano
There are different types of ecosystems in Catleporziano: let’s join hands and go and get to know them.

OBJECTIVE TWO – Walk along the dunes in Castelporziano
The sand dune ecosystem in Castelporziano is inhabited by plants and animals: let’s get to know them so we can love and respect them.

OBJECTIVE THREE – Exploring the woods and fields in Castelporziano
Trees and plants of various types form woods and open fields in Castelporziano: let’s discover all the animal and vegetable diversity in these places.

This game is intended for players between 6 and 10 years of age and is only available in Italian.

Credits:

Background images: Istituto Comprensivo Statale, Via Manzoni – Maglie (LE)

Questions: The Students of Scienze della Formazione Primaria, UniSalento, (in particular B. Mangè, M. Negro, G. Turco, M.T. Vedruccio) collaborated to this game

 

Biodiversity in Castelporziano

Playing with Biodiversity in Castelporziano you will be able to test your knowledge of the management and conservation of resources at the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano and understand the legislative measures that exist at the European level for the protection of ecosystems. You will learn about the habitats and species of high naturalistic value that populate the estate, including some endangered species. Further information for the game is available by clicking on the following links: The Floral Diversity of Castelporziano, World Union for the Conservation of Nature – Red List, World Union for the Conservation of Nature – Italian Committee, SCI, SAC AND SPA IN ITALY.

PLAY NOW
  • Learning objectives:

Objective One – Legislative instruments for the conservation of resources in Castelporziano
At the European level, there are various legal instruments that provide for the protection of ecosystems; deepen your knowledge

Objective Two – Management and conservation of resources in Castelporziano
Castelporziano includes habitats and species of great naturalistic value; learn more about their management and conservation

Objective Three – Protected species in Castelporziano
Castelporziano has a great wealth of fauna and flora; deepen your knowledge on the species that call the estate home and which are considered endangered species

Credits:

Images: Photo Archive of the Castelporziano Presidential Estate

Ecology in Castelporziano

Playing with Ecology in Castelporziano you you will explore the ecosystems and species that inhabit them, digging down into the factors that influence their distribution. You will discover the biodiversity heritage of Castelporziano, and why it requires constant monitoring and conscientious conservation. Before you play, check out the many materials available at the following links to broaden your knowledge: Nature and Biodiversity – European Directives, Sandy Coast Habitats, Monumental Trees – Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Ringing for science and conservation, Guidelines for the management of ungulates.

PLAY NOW
  • Objectives:

OBJECTIVE 1 – Species and ecosystems in Castelporziano.
The ecosystems in Castelporziano have specific characteristics and provide habitats for some species of high ecological interest; discover how much you know.

OBJECTIVE 2 – Space and territory for animal species.
The distribution of animal species that populate Castelporziano is influenced by many factors including interactions between species; learn more with some examples.

OBJECTIVE 3 – Management and conservation of biodiversity.
Castelporziano represents an enormous heritage of biodiversity which requires constant monitoring and conservation measures; explore and learn.

This game is intended for players between 14 and 18 years of age and is only available in Italian.

Credits:

Images: Photo Archive of the Castelporziano Presidential Estate

LifeWatchPlus 4 calls for applications at University of Salento

The University of Salento has just announced four fellowships for LifeWatch Italy in the framework of the LifeWatchPlus and CIR01_0028 projects.

Scientific Adviser, Prof. Alberto Basset

Deadline for applications 22-01-2021.

Click on the buttons for more information on each position.

  • Semantic applications for biodiversity and ecosystem research to support the LifeWatchPLUS distributed Data Center and the LifeWatch ERIC community.
All info
  • Multimedia developments for the promotion of research on biodiversity and ecosystems.
All info
  • Harmonization and analysis of data on morpho-functional traits and on the organization of phytoplankton corporations.
All info
  • Development and management of cloud and HPC infrastructures.
All info

EcoLogicaCup

The olympics of ecology for young people: the first national online ecology competition aimed at first and second grade secondary school children.

The Ecology Laboratory – Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies and the Museum on Ecology of Mediterranean Ecosystems of the University of Salento, in collaboration with the Italian Society of Ecology (SItE) and other partners, promotes and organizes every year EcologicaCup, a competition online national ecology for lower and upper secondary school students.

The tournament has established itself as a highly successful tool to support science teaching in schools. EcoLogicaCup leverages the competitive spirit of students and teachers, thus managing to offer additional motivation to approach the study of natural sciences and, in particular, ecology.

PLAY NOW

SEFS 12 Multidisciplinary Perspectives On Invasive Alien Species In Freshwater Ecosystems

Abstract submission is now open for the European Federation for Freshwater Sciences 12 (SEFS). Please find in attachment the call for the special session Multidisciplinary Perspectives On Invasive Alien Species In Freshwater Ecosystems.

The deadline for abstract submission is March 15th 2021.

The guidelines, terms and conditions regarding the Abstract Submission are available at SEFS 12 | Abstract and details of the Sessions can be found at Sessions | sefs12.

Download the call

ENVRI Community Winter School 2021

The 2021 ENVRI Community International Winter School on Data FAIRness will be offered online from 11 to 22 January, 2021. Developed around the theme of “ENVRI-FAIR Resources: Access & Discoverability”, the programme will cover a range of topics including semantic navigation, Jupyter environments for visualisation and data discovery, resource access tools and cloud computing.

In acknowledgement of the demands of online learning, the Winter School is staged over two weeks, for a total of around 40 hours, including participants’ final presentations. Daily activities will consist of scheduled lectures and presentations in the mornings followed by time for individual and group work. See here for the complete programme.

With a focus on supporting end users in making the best use of data, developing user-friendly interfaces and providing services to facilitate their interact with data, the curriculum will cover:

  • state-of-the-art technologies relevant to FAIRification of services
  • real-life use cases, to encourage adoption of new technology and enhance data centre functionality
  • enabling new knowledge-exchange networks for ENVRI data professionals.

Applications are invited, primarily, from ENVRI data centres staff, researchers and PhD candidates, and offers will be restricted to a total to 30 participants, to ensure high quality outcomes. The selection process will be based on a mix of criteria, including motivation and use case descriptions.

Please register here. Applications close Thursday 17 December 2020.

Register here

MEDCIS Game

MEDCIS Scientific Gaming is an innovative effort to motivate students by replicating the excitement of scientific research applied to address a major ecological challenge in the Mediterranean Region, i.e. monitoring and protecting the health of the Mediterranean Sea. The MEDCIS Scientific Gaming is a participative and user-friendly tool of the MEDCIS project developed in the context of the need of a science-based knowledge to make fully operational an innovative European Directive focusing on the protection of the life in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as of all services that it is supplying since millennia to the socio-economic development of our communities: the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

MEDCIS Scientific Gaming will allow your students to study and apply the method of scientific research applied to the monitoring of ecological and environmental status of Mediterranean marine ecosystems in a entertaining way through the use of a video game focused on ecological tools useful to describe the marine ecosystem status, such as biodiversity, water noise, eutrophication, alien species and on the approach of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

PLAY NOW

ENVRIplus Scientific Games

ENVRIplus Game is an online platform game aimed at students from all schools in Europe.
Through these games, they will be able to increase their knowledge of how to study the sciences of the world around us, and learn how to plan new research in the field of Ecology. Furthermore, they will be able to participate in the European final of the competition and interact with other students from other countries.

PLAY NOW