Stakeholder Meets 2023-25

On 6 November 2025, the Museum of Geography in collaboration with our MoHu Centre hosted Paesaggi in Flusso, the public presentation of the photographic works developed within the Laboratorio Kalagrafico di Fotografia, coordinated by photographer and visual researcher Opher Thomson and featuring our Landscape Studies students.
The afternoon showcased a range of visual explorations through which students captured landscapes in motion – shifting forms, changing atmospheres and the subtle rhythms that shape places over time. Their work reflected diverse methods and sensibilities, demonstrating how photography can reveal the fluid and dynamic nature of contemporary landscapes.
At 4:30 PM, the presentation opened into a conversation with Giuseppe Tomasella (University of Padova) and Dr. Pere Sala i Marti, Director of the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, an established and valued foreign stakeholder of the Landscape Studies programme. Dr. Sala offered insights that bridged research, policy and international landscape governance, enriching the dialogue with his longstanding experience.
Together with the students, the speakers discussed the role of photographic practice in understanding and communicating landscape transformations, as well as the opportunities that arise when artistic, academic and professional perspectives meet.
Paesaggi in Flusso not only highlighted the students’ creative engagement but also demonstrated how both new and long-term partners contribute to broadening the MoHu’s research horizons and strengthening learning opportunities within the Landscape Studies programme.

On June 18th, 2025, our Department held a special “Paesaggio at Work” (Landscape at Work) event for the Master’s program in Landscape Studies. The day began with an orientation session for students covering topics like choosing stages and internships.

The highlight was a panel discussion on career opportunities after graduating with a Landscape Sciences degree. Alumni speakers included environmental consultants, researchers, creative professionals and project managers, and tour guides who highlighted how their landscape studies training provided valuable skills for their professions.

Representatives from the Veneto Regional Planning Office and private engineering firm NET  also weighed in on the demand for landscape experts in their fields. The event wrapped up with a networking aperitivo for students, faculty, and the attending professionals.

Overall, the “Paesaggio at Work” event gave incoming Landscape Sciences students an inside look at their program of study as well as the diverse career paths available to landscape graduates.

On May 23rd, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of our Local Development master’s programme with a special event titled “Happy Birthday Local Development!”.

The event was held in the hall of CUAMM (Doctors with Africa) in Padua, one of the most MA’s longest-standing stakeholders. Many guests attended to celebrate the programme’s achievements and evolution over the past 15 years, including Giovanni Putoto from CUAMM and Evelina Martelli from Comunità di Sant’Egidio.

The speakers underscored the importance of training professionals prepared to tackle the challenges of local development in an increasingly interconnected world.

Numerous alumni and partners of the programme attended to celebrate this milestone, reflecting on future years of commitment to local development with an awareness of the multifarious nuances and criticalities of the field.

It was also an occasion to thank all the past presidents of the Local Development programme (Professors Pierpaolo Faggi, Marina Bertoncin, Anna Giraldo), the current president Prof. Chiara Rabbiosi, as well as the faculty members (including Maria Castiglioni, Silvia Elena Piovan, Daria Quatrida, Irene Barbiera, Giorgio Osti, Alessio Surian among others) and the administrative staff (Edgar Serrano, Coralba Cappellato, Adriana Martin Garcia, Raffaella Masè, Eirini Koumparaki, Oscar Russo), who over the years have put endless energy, passion and expertise into carrying out this programme!

On April 11th, 2025, the University of Padova’s Master’s program in Landscape Studies held a seminar and public debate titled “Paesaggio e partecipazione” (Landscape and Participation). The event aimed to mobilize perspectives on active citizenship in relation to landscape issues.

The event was chaired by Benedetta Castiglioni, Coordinator of the Landcape Studies MA, and Dissgea Director Andrea Caracausi welcomed all the participants.

The keynote speakers were Clemente Pio Santacroce, who discussed whether new policies or regulations are needed for landscape participation, and Claudia Cassatella, who presented a strategic approach to landscape project design. Francesca Benciolini, Councilor for Neighborhoods in Padova (an important stakeholder of the MA in Landscaoe Studies), spoke about everyday landscapes in a polycentric city model.

A highlight was the presentation of outcomes from the “Community Maps” laboratory course, in which 11 students, guided by the Laboratory leader Nadia Carestiato, shared their perceptions and reflections on the relationship between Padova’s landscapes and places through multimedia maps. Students presented their learning experience and final output, namely the map “Sguardi mobili su Padova. 11 punti di vista sulla città” (Mobile gazes on Padua: 11 points of view on the city).

The event culminated in a moderated discussion inviting dialogue on engaging the public’s diverse perspectives in shaping landscapes. Michelangelo Savino guided this conversation.

The seminar underscored the University of Padova’s leadership in advancing landscape studies that are rooted in participatory processes and citizen empowerment.

On February 21, 2025  the Master’s degree in Mobility Studies community gathered for the second edition of the Mobility Fest. The event was meant to bring together academics, practitioners, stakeholders and students in the field of mobility & humanities, to promote knowledge-transfer by employing creative methodologies, and collect feedback from the Mobility Studies students. The event also featured a World Cafè, involving figures outside the academic community, and Gabriele Del Grande’s multimedial monologue “The Moving Century. A history of migration from the future”.

The recent event organized by the Master’s Degree in Landscape Sciences at the University of Padua offered an intriguing perspective on various forms of coexistence in the landscapes of Giudicarie Esteriori.

The event began with an introduction by professors Benedetta Castiglioni, Margherita Cisani, and Roberto D’Alba, who contextualized the theme and presented the work done by students during the 2024 Fieldwork.

The core of the meeting was the screening of three videos created by the students, each focusing on a specific aspect of coexistence:

1. The relationship between humans and wildlife
2. The dynamics between insiders and outsiders in the territory
3. The dialogue between past and future in the landscape context

These works offered an in-depth and multifaceted look at the complex interactions that characterize the landscape of Giudicarie Esteriori, going beyond traditional dichotomies.

The event concluded with a stimulating round table discussion featuring Carmela Bresciani from the Ecomuseum of Judicaria, Anna Sustersic from the Coexistence Festival (stakeholders of our Master in Landscape Studies), and Sabrina Meneghello from IUAV University of Venice. This discussion allowed for a deeper exploration of the themes that emerged from the videos and further perspectives on coexistence in contemporary landscapes.

The meeting highlighted the importance of an interdisciplinary and inclusive approach in the study and management of landscapes, promoting a vision that goes beyond simple oppositions to embrace the complexity of relationships between different entities and temporalities in the territory.

Forum del Paesaggio. Progetti in movimento was organised by MoHu, DiSSGeA and the Museum of Geography, in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Culture of Italy and the support of the City of Padua, with the aim of encouraging reflection and idea exchange among institutions, the university research and all the stakeholders operating, in various capacities, within landscape.

The event stemmed from the Department’s experience, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, as Technical Secretariat in the latest edition (2022-23) of the Landscape Prize under the supervision of Benedetta Castiglioni, who is also Coordinator of the Master’s degree programme in Landscape Studies at the University of Padua.

On the occasion of National Landscape Day, the representatives of the 73 projects nominated for the latest edition of the Prize, along with those from past editions, and other professionals operating ‘in/with/for’ the landscape across the Italian territory, in addition to a large group of students, gathered in Padua for a unique occasion to meet and discuss relevant topics and strategies related to education, social well-being, the protection of natural and cultural heritage, and the regeneration and enhancement of territories.

The morning session, hosted by Padua Botanical Garden, started with greetings from Monica Salvadori, Vice Rector in charge of Artistic, Historical, and Cultural Heritage, Andrea Caracausi, Head of the Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World (DiSSGeA), Isabella Fera from the Directorate of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape (MiC) on behalf of the Director General Luigi La Rocca, Francesca Benciolini, Delegate for housing policies and residential construction at the Municipality of Padua, Salvina Sist, Director of the Territorial Planning Directorate of the Veneto Region, and Stefan Marchioro from the Tourism Directorate of the Veneto Region.

Benedetta Castiglioni introduced the speeches given by Sabrina Meneghello (University of Padua), Mauro Pascolini (University of Udine), Fulvio Adobati and Riccardo Rao (University of Bergamo), followed by the roundtable chaired by Margherita Cisani (University of Padua). The roundtable discussion involved Stefano Olivari and Matteo Baldo (Orti Generali srl Impresa sociale, winning project of the Landscape prize 2022-23 edition), Maria Grazia Bellisario (Associazione Economia della Cultura), Marco Bussone (Uncem), Paolo Castelnovi (Fondazione Landscapefor), Mario Andrea Francavilla (AIGAE), Costanza Pratesi (FAI).

The working groups, held in the afternoon at the Museum of Geography, allowed for further reflection on institutional recognitions as tools to support project development, the meeting/clash between formal aspects and practical needs, and the impact of various activities on the landscape in both material and immaterial terms, broadening the perspective towards the future.

The students of the MA in Landscape Studies were involved as facilitators of the working groups, thus experiencing in first person what public engagement means.
It was also a great opportunity to collaborate with a number of stakeholders of our Master’s degree programme.

The event was supported by the City of Padua; Veneto – The land of Venice, the Regional Landscape Observatory, and the Alumni Unipd association also joined the initiative.