An international multi-year scientific tour is carried out through a series of events hosted at prestigious institutions across the United States and Europe, aiming to promote a deeper understanding of "situational awareness," with a particular focus on environmental challenges and the technological advancements that extend the limits of human perception.

The Theme 

“Knowledge” and “awareness” are terms often used interchangeably, yet they have distinct meanings, especially when it comes to decision-making processes. This project seeks to shed light on these differences, building a unified narrative that clearly defines the concept of "situational awareness." Each stop on the tour explores how this concept can be applied to various scientific fields, always maintaining a strong focus on environmental issues. The event delves into the complex transition from understanding a phenomenon to full awareness of its real implications, assisting in making decisions based on actual capabilities and contexts. When addressing the perception of ongoing contexts and phenomena, the event highlights the human desire to extend sensory limits through innovative technologies. Historically, humans rely on their senses to gather data and transform it into information. However, today’s new technologies allow us to "see the unseen," offering nearly superhuman perceptual abilities that must be integrated with a full understanding of the surrounding environment to become effective tools in decision-making. With a highly interdisciplinary approach, each event of the tour explores how situational awareness—the ability to perceive, comprehend, and accurately predict unfolding events in the surrounding environment—can improve decision-making processes across various fields. The narrative further emphasizes humanity’s ongoing quest to push the boundaries of perception, presenting scientific concepts, methodological approaches, research results, and technological innovations, with live demonstrations conducted on stage, interacting with the audience.

Key points 

The event addresses several frontier topics, including:

- The Role of Situational Awareness in Complex Systems: an analysis of how interdisciplinary approaches and the fusion of various forms of applied intelligence help address complex challenges.

- The Power of Combining Remote Sensing, Proximal Sensing, and On-Site Surveys: demonstrating how satellites, airplanes, helicopters, drones, and in-situ survey systems are used to collect data and present crucial environmental information, offering unprecedented insights into phenomena under investigation.

- Advanced Sensor Technologies: discussing how new sensor technologies and even nature itself, through bioindication, are used as sophisticated sensory systems to overcome the limits of human perception and conventional technologies.

- Environmental Forensic Engineering: a rapidly growing field that integrates scientific principles with investigative techniques to identify, analyze, and resolve environmental issues, highlighting the importance of situational awareness in addressing complex matters.

In addition to presenting these techniques and technologies, the event explores methods of representing scenarios and related phenomena through comprehensive, multi-layered synoptic views.

Speakers and program 

The program features leading experts from various fields.

Each stage opens with a keynote speech from Prof. Massimiliano Lega (Department of Engineering, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy), who successfully combines environmental, aerospace, and forensic engineering, creating new interdisciplinary roles and innovative methodologies. Prof. Lega presents how situational awareness is applied to complex environmental systems, using advanced technologies to expand the boundaries of human perception.

Following this, in a session dedicated to case studies and real-world applications, Prof. Roberta Teta (Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Italy) delves into the value of interdisciplinarity, offering real-world examples of how the synergy between organic chemistry (her area of expertise), engineering, and environmental forensic sciences contributes significantly to environmental awareness processes.

The second part of the European events focuses on applying and synthesizing the concepts introduced earlier.

Eng. Fabrizio Curcio (Italian Prime Minister’s Structure), leveraging his extensive experience as the head of Italian Civil Protection, presents a focus on real cases and offers novel insights on the use of situational awareness in the field of civil protection, highlighting how this approach enhances preparedness and emergency response.

In each stage of the scientific tour, additional speakers join the core group of permanent speakers, providing diverse insights on the topic at hand.

Additionally, the host institution is represented by the chair of the respective department or structure, ensuring a close collaboration with local expertise.

A Global multi-year Initiative 

The “Situational Awareness for the Environment” tour is an ambitious initiative that spans the United States and Europe over several years, with events hosted at prestigious universities, research centers, and embassies.

The first segment of the tour takes place each year in the United States, with events hosted by leading universities and research institutions in the field of science.

The European stages use Italian embassies not only as prestigious venues but also as natural hubs between diverse audiences, offering connections and a platform to share knowledge, discuss cutting-edge research, and promote new technologies for environmental protection.

Organizer 

Prof. Massimiliano Lega is an internationally recognized expert in environmental, forensic, and aerospace engineering. With a career spanning decades, his work focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex environmental problems using cutting-edge technologies. His research and professional practice significantly contribute to pushing the boundaries of perception and situational awareness in environmental protection and sustainability.

The organization of each event is managed and supported by the host institutions and contributors, who take turns throughout the various stages of the tour.

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