INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

In addition to pursuing informational, educational and promotional activities, which it shares with the other schools in the Centre, the International School for Environmental Sciences has set itself an additional service objective. The School aims to assist public administrations and, on a broader scale, the general population, in the ongoing process of environmental change. This assistance will take the form of proposals for principles of action, models of transformation and alternatives for development that can be translated into concrete and practicable solutions. These proposals will be the result of the School's courses, which will focus on issues and problems of significant interest and particular gravity at local, regional, national and international level. In this sense, the School acts as an experimental centre of international scope and interest, aimed at promoting the processes of social and economic transformation in Sicily. It should be noted that the School's first course was dedicated to the historic centre of Erice with the task of assessing the process of environmental degradation in the city, establishing general criteria for its restoration and providing the Ettore Majorana Centre with precise indications on the use of certain abandoned buildings that nevertheless retain great historical interest. The department's programme of activities is listed below. Architecture: the first courses will focus on the restoration and refurbishment of the Centre's buildings and the coordination and execution of the works. These studies will enable the local administration to be assisted in the planning of public works. Urban planning: the function of this sector will be more cultural than operational. It will involve promoting international meetings, seminars and conferences to discuss issues related to urbanisation in the Mediterranean area. The study of physical reconstruction and new cities will also be included in this sector. The director of this department will be Alvin Boyarsky. Landscape Architecture: this specialisation does not yet officially exist in Italy, but is studied assiduously in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany. It is essential to study the landscape not only for ecological and aesthetic reasons, but also for its economic and social characteristics. From a worldwide study of the causes that transform the environment, plans for a new and stimulating landscape can be developed. Protection and evaluation of cultural heritage: in this case, the aim is to compile lists of inventories of movable works of art that need to be protected or evaluated. This major undertaking cannot be postponed because it involves a great deal of important work. The project could have many ramifications: paintings, sculptures, archaeological finds, furniture, etc. The information gathered could be linked to introductory courses on the same topics. Applied design: this sector deals with a new Bauhaus, dedicated to Sicilian craftsmanship. The technical, figurative and economic characteristics of current production techniques will be studied, as well as the creation of new designs for carpets, ceramics, etc. The subject includes graphic arts and may be useful in the study of new posters and publications by the Centre and be extended to all fields of advertising and mass communication. Sea farming: the School studies Sea Farming with reference to the possibility of repopulating the shallow waters between Trapani and Marsala. Scientific experiments in fish farming will be studied, which it is hoped will lead to the establishment of a School of Marine Agriculture.