From sustainable tourism to mountain hut architecture to sport in the alpine environment. And there is more to it: stories to tell, regions to explore. The mountain-related studies and projects that many professors of the University of Trento have conducted in recent years and that they aim to develop with the involvement of local subjects, tell of an extremely diverse object of study. And Sat, the Alpine Club of Trentino, is paying increasing attention to scientific and cultural initiatives that may be of interest for citizens. The permanent collaboration between the University of Trento and the Alpine Club of Trentino comes from a mixture of passion for the mountains and thirst for knowledge.
Today, the Rector of UniTrento Paolo Collini and the president of Sat Anna Facchini, at Palazzo Sardagna, in the presence of Sat’s director Claudio Ambrosi, signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in higher education and research on the mountain environment and the mountain library. A group of academics who will be involved in the collaboration attended remotely.
"We are pleased that a historical institution of great value for our region such as Sat has found in the University a special partner to develop new projects in a more structured way thanks to a scientific approach" commented Rector Paolo Collini. "As a University we are very happy to be able to contribute to the future activities of Sat, enhancing them also thanks to the enthusiasm of colleagues who have a passio for research and for the mountains".
"With this memorandum of understanding we are making the first steps of a long-cherished project" declares Anna Facchini, president of the Club. She looks forward to a fruitful relationship between Sat and the University of Trento. "Enhancing and encouraging the scientific study of mountain-related issues was one of the first objectives that we set ourselves. We live every day the complexities of our time, the desire for knowledge, the need for a dialogue involving different stakeholders: society is going through an unprecedented phase of uncertainty and Sat, with its 150 years of history, want to be part of the cultural institutions that provide valuable answers”.
The memorandum lays the foundations for a collaboration that makes use of technical and scientific knowledge and of the parties' facilities and equipment to develop and implement projects and education and integrated research programmes in sectors of common interest. In particular, UniTrento and Sat undertake to jointly develop research, internships, training initiatives, including on a permanent basis, and dissertations and doctoral theses; to finance scholarships and research grants; to promote the exchange of books and scientific publications; to jointly organize conferences, seminars and scientific meetings; to participate in regional, national, European and international research programs.
The work will be defined by a Scientific Committee composed of ten representatives designated by the University and selected from among the teaching and research staff interested in mountain themes and by ten representatives designated by Sat from among the members of its committees.
The agreement is the result of the positive experience of academics that, as members of the club, have provided voluntary contributions within Sat committees, of various theses dedicated to the mountains as a subject of study and with the Sat Library which is the ideal location for any kind of research concerning mountain huts, geology, biology, climatology, literature, environment, places and personalities.
Over the years, the University of Trento has developed numerous activities dedicated to the mountain environment: from environmental impact studies to climate observation and mountain regeneration projects, from the development of a specific management model to the analysis of the architecture of trails and huts, from the study of regulations and responsibilities related to mountain sports to the technology of materials.
Activities that involve professors from different disciplinary areas of the University of Trento through the departments of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, Economics, Physics, but also Law and the Humanities and the Agriculture Food Environment Center. The University mapped the various initiatives and proposed Sat to collaborate on five main areas of interest: a sustainable approach for a balanced management of the mountain environment; biodiversity and tourism; study and documentation, meteorology, architecture and organization of space; mountain sports; mountains, education and communication.
The agreement will last three years and is renewable.