Grazia ARENA
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Main research areas
Grazia Arena's scientific activity began in 1999-2000 with the PhD program in Development Policies and Land Management, coordinated by Prof. Paola Pagnini at the University of Trieste.
Since then, with consistent research work, always aimed at combining theoretical study with field experience, she has dedicated herself to Geography studies, paying particular attention to topics such as landscape, environment, territorial and demographic dynamics, and sustainable development. In particular, her research focuses on the following themes:
- The ecomuseum tool as a driver of territorial development: insights from the field of various Sicilian case studies.
- The territory as an emotional and cultural map: places and landscapes experienced and transformed by the authors' imagination.
- Beyond sulfur: the Sicilian mining world between industrial archaeology and the enhancement of local identity.
- The evolution of the landscape, with particular reference to Sicily, also addressed using the SLOT research methodology on Local Territorial Systems. The research aims to capture the profound transformations of the territory, experienced in a very short period of time, and the conspicuous conditions of degradation in which many local landscapes are immersed.
- The complex environmental issue and sustainable development, with specific attention to certain areas of Sicily, which today are at high risk of landscape-territorial and hygienic-sanitary compromise, after having been affected, between the 1950s and 1960s, by rapid processes of industrialization.
- The suburbs and the evolution of historic centers, with a particular focus on the changes and continuities in the process of transformation of the historic center of the city of Catania.
- The relationship between food, territory, and local identity; food and globalization; food, hunger, poverty, and food sovereignty.
Grazia Arena - Associate Professor -
Competitive sector 11/B1 – Geography,
Scientific-disciplinary sector M-GGR/01
University of Catania
Department of Humanistic Sciences
Piazza Dante, 32 | 95124 Catania
Office 225 | Tel. 095-7102336
Email: arenagrazia@unict.it
Grazia Arena graduated in Modern Literature with top marks (110/110 with honors) by presenting a Geography thesis titled “Cultural Heritage in Sicily.” Right away, she won an annual scholarship at the C.N.R. in Rome, which allowed her to dive deeper into the study of “Geo-anthropic Heritage in Sicily.”
After completing this first period of research, she later won another scholarship at the Sicilian Region, Department for Cultural and Environmental Heritage and Public Education, intended for further research on 'Cultural Heritage and Territory'.
In the year 2000, she participated in the competition for the PhD in Development Policies and Land Management at the University of Trieste, and she won. She earned the degree in 2003, receiving praise from the committee for her “deserving field research dedicated to understanding the complex relationship between the petrochemical industry and the onset of cancer.”
After dedicated teaching and research activities, mainly carried out as an adjunct lecturer, she was the first winner in the competitive evaluation for a university researcher position in the scientific-disciplinary sector M-GGR/01 (Geography), announced at the University of Catania, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and published in G.U.R.I. no. 26 on 30-03-2007. She started her position at the aforementioned Faculty on 25-06-2008.
In 2014, she obtained the national qualification as an associate professor, for the competition sector 11/B1: Geography, scientific-disciplinary sector M-GGR/01.
In September 2017, she won the comparative evaluation for an Associate Professor position, and on October 1 of the same year, she was appointed to the role at the University of Catania, Department of Humanities, where she currently teaches Geography in the L11 degree program (Languages and European, Euro-American, and Oriental Cultures), Geography in the L10 degree program (Literature), Cultural Geography in the L20 degree program (Communication Sciences), and Geography Teaching in the L14 degree program (Modern Philology).
Education and Academic Degrees
1. 1998/1999 – Degree in Modern Literature with 110/110 and honors, and proposal to publish the thesis in geography entitled “Cultural Heritage in Sicily”.
2. 1999/2000 - CNR Scholarship for Research Activities on the topic: 'Geoanthropic Assets in Sicily,' at the National Research Council in Rome - National Committee for the Science and Technology of Cultural Heritage.
3. 2000/2001 - Computer training course at the University of Catania, aimed at acquiring the following IT skills: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet, Corel Draw, GIS.
4. 2000/2003 - PhD in "Development Policies and Land Management" at the University of Trieste, coordinated by Prof. Paola Pagnini, Tutor Prof. Tullio D'Aponte.
5. 2004/2005 Scholarship from the Sicilian Region - Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage and Public Administration - for carrying out research activities in the field of "Cultural Heritage and Territory."
6. 2004/2005 – Specialization Course to obtain teaching qualification (SISSIS) for competition classes A0/43 and A0/50 - Linguistic-literary and historical-geographical subjects. Two-year specialization course completed with a final exam (taken in May 2005), achieving the highest marks (80/80).
7. 2004/2005 - Held the position of teacher for Italian, History, Geography, and Civic Education in middle and high schools.
8. 2006/2007 – Advanced Diploma in "Teaching Geography" aimed at acquiring methodological and teaching skills in the field of Geography. Year-long course with a final exam taken on 03/27/2007 at For.Com, Interuniversity Consortium - Rome.
9. 2008 - First winner in the comparative evaluation for a position as a university researcher in the scientific-disciplinary sector M-GGR/01 (Geography), announced at the University of Catania, Faculty of Languages and Foreign Literatures. Started service at the aforementioned Faculty on 25-06-2008.
10. 2014 - Obtained the National Qualification to become an associate professor, for the competition sector 11/b1: Geography, scientific-disciplinary sector M-GGR/01.
11- November 2017 - Winner in the comparative evaluation for an associate professor position announced at the University of Catania, Department of Humanities, and appointed to the role on October 1 of the same year at th
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
- Member of the interdepartmental research group GEO-ROUTES: “Geosites and abandoned mines in Sicily: designing cultural and nature itineraries for their recovery, enhancement, and tourist use.” University Research Plan PiaCeRi 2024/2026, Department of Humanities, University of Catania.
- Member of the CRASI interdepartmental research group: “Clustering for the Reorganization of the Sicilian Inland Areas. University Research Plan PiaCeRi 2020/2021, Department of Humanities, University of Catania.
- Member of the E.M.E.T. research group: “Ecomuseum of Etrna”, Territorial Management and Ethics Tool. University Research Plan PROMETEO 2016/2018, Department of Humanities, University of Catania, Funding Line 3, from December 1, 2017, to July 31, 2020.
- Member of the AGEI working group 'Territorial reorganization and local development, what points of contact exist,' led by Professor Girolamo Cusimano.
- Member of the AGEI working group 'An ecomuseum network for the promotion of local identities,' led by Professor Salvo Cannizzaro.
- Member of the AGEI working group “From thermal places to poles and local integrated tourism systems,” led by Professor Giuseppe Rocca.
- Member of the FIR 2014 'Tourism in Sicily. Issues and Case Studies,' (10/10/2014).
- Member of the lead research unit of the PRIN project (formerly 40% share): The economy of the southern regions in the planning of sustainable development in the Mediterranean basin, with institutional partners including the Universities of Salerno, Pisa, Bari, Cosenza, and Bologna.
- Member of the research team for the Cultural Urban Maps project, funded by the European program 'Youth in Action', specifically measure 1.3 'Youth and Democracy'. Participatory bottom-up process for creating cultural maps aimed at identifying tangible and intangible elements that define a place. The project involved the University of Catania and the University of Innsbruck.
- Member of the research group related to the PRA 2008 project (formerly 60% quota) titled “The ecomuseum and its construction in Sicily.”
- Member of the research group for the PRA 2007 project (formerly 60% share) titled 'Tunisia. A regional study.'
- Member of the research group for the PRA 2006 project (formerly 60% share) titled 'Mediterranean. General and regional studies'.
- Member of the Scientific Research Program of Significant National Interest (PRIN 2002). Scientific Coordinator of the Research Program Prof. Berardo Cori. Specific title of the Research Unit's program: “The role of the family system in demographic and settlement dynamics during the transition from rural-archaic Sicily to urban-industrial Sicily.”
- Member of the Scientific Research Program of Relevant National Interest (PRIN 1999). Scientific Coordinator of the Research Program: Prof. Berardo Cori. Specific title of the research program: “Global change, sustainable development, and spatial dynamics in the coastal regions of the Mediterranean.”
Within AIIG Sicily (Italian Association of Geography Teachers), as President of the Catania Section, he organizes geography training conferences for members, hiking activities, and coordinates initiatives of international importance, such as the International Geography Night, which is seen as a public engagement and outreach activity, as it promotes geographical knowledge, active citizenship, and brings schools of all levels and civil society closer to environmental and landscape issues.