Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) a.y. 2023/2024

The first Erasmus BIP project - Blended Intensive Program academic year 2023/2024 "Nature - Driven - Design" - has started, involving students and teachers of the Mediterranea Design course.

Reference teachers at UNIRC: Prof. Aurora Angela Pisano, Prof. Carmelo Bonsignore and Prof. Francesco Bagnato

Partner Universities: IPVC - Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (Portugal) - Işık University Istanbul (Türkiye)

Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program (BIP) ID: 

A phase of online seminars, which will culminate on April 30th on the teams platform, will be followed by a period of workshops in Reggio Calabria, from May 6th to 12th, by a group of students and teachers from the above-mentioned universities. There are more than forty students and teachers, both Italian and foreign, involved in various capacities in this project, which is part of a series of activities that aim to make the Design course increasingly international, as well as to raise awareness among students on the issues of bio-inspired design.

The following is the program of online seminars on the Teams platform for April 30th starting at 9.00:

Biomimetics and product design

Professor Aurora Pisano UNIRC (Italy)

Bio-inspired Innovation design

Professor Carmelo Bonsignore UNIRC (Italy)

Design Strategies for Sustainable Project Evaluation, Monitoring and Control of Indoor Air Quality

Professor Alberto De Capua UNIRC (Italy)

Creativity through biomimicry in Art & Architecture

Professor Elif SUYUK FMV Işık University (Turkiye)

Improving the thermal comfort of school spaces on the ESTG campus

Professor Diana Pereira University of Viana do Castelo (Portugal)

The aim of this project is to introduce students to the perspectives of Nature-driven design with particular attention to environmental sustainability. The relationships between forms and structures aimed at designing a product will be explored in depth, with the help of ad hoc examples provided by the animal and plant world. Particular reference will then be made to the structural forms offered by Nature and which have led to the development of what is known in literature as bio-inspired design, which finds applications both in product design and in environmental and communication design. In order to understand the functioning of some natural structures, even complex ones, some basic knowledge of statics and mechanics of structures will also be introduced.

The short course, despite its specificity, requires interdisciplinary knowledge and will be a moment of synthesis for students, during which they will have to combine the specific knowledge acquired with that of other courses, such as the use of specific graphics software. The program also includes interdisciplinary seminars on the various thematic areas related to nature and applications in the forms and structures to be designed, which will be summarized in a design project. The experiences provided by students from different countries will help to have a broader vision and will certainly increase the students' ability to work in teams.

PHOTOGALLERY

The Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, within the Erasmus+ program, coordinated and organized the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) in "From Mask to Theatre: Digital Humanities Tools Towards Inclusive and Cultural Fruition" for the academic year 2023-2024.

Blended Intensive Programme organized by the Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria

Department: Architecture and Design (dAeD)

Project Coordinator: Prof. Paola Venera Raffa

Blended Intensive Program ID: 2022-1-IT02-KA131-HED-000057306-2

Partner universities of the program:

• ESAD – Escola Superior de Artes e Design / College of Art and Design of Matosinhos - cod. erasmus: P MATOSIN01
• Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology PJAIT - cod. erasmus: PL WARSZAW28
• Democritus University of Thrace - cod. erasmus: G KOMOTIN01

Hosting location for the in-person period:  Department of Aed of UNIRC and Archaeological Park of the Aeolian Islands - Luigi Bernabò Brea Museum, Lipari (Italy)

Virtual component attendance period: from March 10th to July 12th 2024 

In-person attendance period:  from 20 to 24 May 2024 at the Archaeological Park and the Luigi Bernabò Brea Museum, Lipari (Italy)

Teaching language:  ENGLISH

CFU/ECTS credits recognized for participation in the Program: 3

Goals:

The objective concerns the digitalization and enhancement of the Cultural Heritage of the Archaeological Park of Lipari (Aeolian Islands), in particular the knowledge of finds related to the culture of classical theater for their use in innovative and inclusive digital environments.
With the Archaeological Park of Lipari there is an agreement and two research projects (PNRR and PRIN) on the digitalization of remains (ritual masks, vases and statuettes).
Scientific partners dealing with theatrical architecture, classical representations with ancient masks have been involved.
It is planned to detect some masks with photogrammetric systems, reconstruct missing parts through modeling and hand drawing and create masks in digital format.

The offices of the Archaeological Park have made available, in addition to the laboratory and the auditorium, the theatre for theatrical experiments.

The coordinator (dAeD, UNIRC) and the three partners (ESAD - Escola Superior de Artes e Design, Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology and Democritus University of Thrace) shared a teaching program addressed to Architecture and Design students on the topic of Digital Humanities aimed at innovative and inclusive uses.
In this context, 3 online meetings were organized (March-April): 

• program presentation; 
• introduction to the scientific aspects related to classical theatre (Prof. Roberto Danese and Prof. Elisabetta Matelli);
• definition of organizational activities on site.

The products created, digital and analog, and the experiments with masks, of which an audiovisual recording was also made, were delivered to the Museum and can be used for temporary and permanent museum exhibitions, as an incentive to enhance the cultural and touristic value of the territory in which they will be hosted and as a driving force for a wider and new dissemination of ancient theater also in favor of disadvantaged categories of users, in compliance with the principle of maximum diffusion and accessibility of research products.

The BIP Labs that helped students in creating digital models, virtual experiences, exhibitions, visual communication and scenes from Greek theater were:

1. Digital modeling of masks

2. Virtual visit to the museum

3. Creating stage models

4. Planning a travelling exhibition

5. Event communication

6. From mask to performance

Program held in person from 20 to 24 May 2024

Sunday 19th May:
Arrival in Lipari (afternoon)

Monday 20 May:
10:00 am meeting with the director of the Archaeological Park Rosario Vilardi and the archaeologist Maria Clara Martinelli
Visit to the museum and settlement at the educational laboratory
12:00 pm Introduction to Greek-Hellenistic masks
Presentation of the workshop
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Break
3:00 pm Methodologies and objectives for the digitization of cultural heritage.
Formation of working groups:
First group (max 10): survey and digitization of the finds (masks, vases, statuettes)
Second group (max 10): life drawing for the reconstruction of the figure of the masks
Third group (max 10): museum exhibition of the material culture of classical theater
4:00 pm - 7:30 pm Workshop

Tuesday 21st May
9:30-13:00 Workshop
13:00-15:00 Break
15:00-17:30 Workshop
17:30-19:30 Lessons

Wednesday 22nd May
9:30-13:00 Workshop
13:00-15:00 Break
15:00 Workshop
17:30-19:30 Lessons

Thursday 23 May
9:30-13:00 Educational workshops
13:00-15:00 Break
15:00 Closure of workshops
17:00-19:30 Theatrical performance

Friday 24th May
9.30am Presentation of the workshops
2.00pm Departure

PHOTOGALLERY

BIP POSTER From museum to theatre: digital humanities tools towards inclusive and cultural fruition

The Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, within the Erasmus+ program, coordinated and organized the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) in ''Cultural heritage: new perspectives for sustainable tourism" , for the academic year 2023-2024.

Blended Intensive Programme organized by the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria

Department: Law, Economics and Human Sciences (DiGiES)

Project Coordinator: Prof. Marcella Scrimitore

Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program (BIP) ID: 2022-1-IT02-KA131-HED-000057306-3

Partner universities of the program:

• UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA (Spain) - cod. Erasmus: AND SEVILLA01
• ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI (Greece) - cod. Erasmus: G THESSAL01
• UNIVERSITE' DE LORRAINE (France) - Erasmus code: F NANCY43
• WEST UNIVERSITY OF TIMISOARA (Romania) - cod. Erasmus: RO TIMISOA01

Hosting location for the in-person period:  Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria

In-person attendance period:  from 11 to 15 June 2024 (5 days), at DiGiES

Virtual component attendance period: (streamed on Microsoft Teams platform) from 17 to 21 June 2024

On June 15, the students visited the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, known throughout the world for its permanent exhibition of the famous Riace Bronzes, masterpieces of bronze statuary from the 5th century BC.

Language of instruction:  The lessons were held, in English, by teachers from all the partner universities and, in addition, by teachers from Oxford Brookes University, the University of Bath, the University of Genoa and the University of Catania.

CFU/ECTS credits recognized for participation in the Program: 3

Goals:

The program has a multidisciplinary approach and aims to examine cultural tourism from different perspectives. It offers an overview of the strategic management and marketing implications for sustainable tourism. In addition, it provides an economic and public policy analysis that allows students to understand the role of cultural heritage and tourism for sustainable development. Finally, the program provides students with knowledge of the principles of international law for tourism planning and the analytical tools needed to understand the role of artificial intelligence in cultural tourism. These topics were covered in 15 hours of teaching activities in the in-person module and 5 hours of activities in the virtual module. The activities include lectures, case study presentations, peer discussion, active learning and are detailed as follows.

Program held in person from June 11th to June 15th (15 hours)

• Cultural heritage and tourism for sustainable development (2 hours): Prof. Tiziana Cuccia (University of Catania);
• Artificial intelligence for sustainable tourism and cultural heritage (2 hours): Prof. Massimiliano Ferrara (University of Mediterranean Studies of Reggio Calabria);
• Sustainable agreements and Competition Policy (1 hour): Prof. Konstantinos Papadopoulos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki);
• Cultural and generational differences for cultural tourism (4 hours): Dr. Andrea Nagy (West University of Timișoara);
• International marketing strategies in sustainable destination management (2 hours): Dr. Nicoletta Occhiocupo (Oxford Brookes University);
• Cultural heritage and tourism in International Law (2 hours): Prof. Marina Mancini (University of Mediterranean Studies of Reggio Calabria);
• Smart green tourism (2 hours): Prof. Zacharoula Andreopoulou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).

Program held in virtual mode from June 17th to June 21st (5 hours)

• Revenue management in tourism (Prof. Claudio Piga, University of Genoa);
• Sustainable consumption in tourism (Dr. Diletta Acuti, University of Bath);
• Conclusion (Prof. Marcella Scrimitore, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria).