Bio-engineering for landscape restoration
Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: FELICIANA LICCIARDELLOExpected Learning Outcomes
1) knowledge and understanding
The course provides knowledge about the possible applications of soil bioengineering techniques in interventions such as: soil protection, hydraulic management of watercourses, restoration of degraded and/or contaminated sites (landfills, quarries, etc.), mitigation of impacts caused by the construction of specific infrastructures (roads, railways, etc.), environmental rehabilitation of wetlands, and watercourse remediation through phytoremediation and lagooning systems. Furthermore, the student will develop practical skills in the design of soil bioengineering works, using plants and traditional construction materials (wood, stone, steel, etc.), with particular focus on techniques that can be applied in arid and semi-arid climates. Special attention will be devoted to Nature-based Solutions (NBS) for hydraulic risk mitigation in urban and peri-urban areas.
2) ability to apply knowledge and understanding
the student will be able to assess the need for intervention with naturalistic engineering techniques and will be able to design small works for the reduction and mitigation of hydrogeological risk and the environmental requalification of degraded areas.
3) autonomy of judgment
The student will acquire a specific ability to identify and design the best type of works for the reduction and mitigation of hydrogeological risk and the environmental requalification of degraded areas in relation to the Mediterranean context.
4) communication skills
The student will acquire the technical language for the design and management of bio-engineering works, this skill will be acquired in particular during the exercises and during the meetings with technicians of the sector that will be organized during the course.
5) learning ability
The student will acquire an autonomous in-depth ability by consulting other textbooks and technical manuals available online, this ability will be particularly stimulated by the seminar activities that will be organized during the course
6) Contribution to the goals of the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development
Goal No. 6: CLEAN WATER AND SANITARY SERVICES
GOAL 11: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
GOAL 13: COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
GOAL 14: LIFE UNDER WATER
GOAL 15: LIFE ON EARTH
Modalities:
- lecture
- dedicated seminar
- study visit
- study materials
Course Structure
Credit total amount: 6
Total hours 63 (21 hrs for lectures and 42 hrs for applied activities).
The course is articulated in lectures and lab training sessions. Video projector during lectures and labtop for training session with specific softwares will be used.
Technical seminars with invited speakers (technicias) will be performed.
As a guarantee of equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on their specific needs and on teaching objectives of the discipline. It is also possible to ask the departmental contacts of CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Inclusion - Services for Disabilities and/or DSAs).
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Textbook Information
- Lecture Notes distributed during the course
- Ferro V.. La sistemazione dei bacini idrografici. Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2006 (II edizione).
- Ferro V. Elementi di idraulica e idrologia per le scienze agrarie, ambientali e forestali Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2013.
- Ferro V. Opere di sistemazione idraulico-forestale. McGraw-Hill. Milano, 2019
- Meinhard Schiechtl H., Stern R.. Ingegneria naturalistica. Manuale delle costruzioni idrauliche. Edizioni ARCA, 1997.
- Manuali APAT. Atlante delle opere di sistemazione dei versanti, Roma, n.10/2002 (http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/contentfiles/00003400/3486-atlante-versanti-2edizione.pdf/)
- Manuali APAT. Atlante delle opere di sistemazione fluviale, Roma, n.27/2003 (http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/contentfiles/00003400/3494-atlante-delle-opere-di-sistemazione-fluviale.pdf/).
- Paganelli D., La Valle P., Ercole S., Lisi I., Teofili C., Nicoletti L., 2014 - Linee guida per gli studi ambientali connessi alla realizzazione di opere di difesa costiera. ISPRA, Manuali e Linee Guida 105/2014: 73 pp
- AA.VV. Infrastutture verdi per la gestione delle acque - Volume n.17 Quaderni CSEI CATANIA https://globaluserfiles.com/media/110822_86b4995fa86cc2cfd6cd0e33df07e020d4c901a4.pdf/o/csei_catania_17.pdf
- https://www.nwrm.eu/
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torrent control structures | Ferro V.. La sistemazione dei bacini idrografici. Ed. McGraw-Hi Ferro V. Opere di sistemazione idraulico-forestale. McGraw-Hill. Milano, 2019 |
| 2 | The evaluation of solid and liquid discharges in small watercourses | Ferro V. - Elementi di idraulica e idrologia per le scienze agrarie, ambientali e forestali Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2013 |
| 3 | Reconstruction and fluvio-morphological enhancement of watercourses and wetlands | Ferro V. La sistemazione dei bacini idrografici. Ed. McGraw-Hill Ferro V. Opere di sistemazione idraulico-forestale. McGraw-Hill. Milano, 2019 |
| 4 | Use of bioengineering techniques at slope scale | - Manuali APAT. Atlante delle opere di sistemazione dei versanti, Roma, n.10/2002 (http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/contentfiles/00003400/3486-atlante-versanti-2edizione.pdf/- Ferro V. Opere di sistemazione idraulico-forestale. McGraw-Hill. Milano, 2019 |
| 5 | Use of bioengineering techniques in river courses | |
| 6 | Application of soil bioengineering techniques for coastal dune restoration | Paganelli D., La Valle P., Ercole S., Lisi I., Teofili C., Nicoletti L., 2014 - Linee guida per gli studi ambientali connessi alla realizzazione di opere di difesa costiera. ISPRA, Manuali e Linee Guida 105/2014: 73 pp |
| 7 | Application of Nature-Based Solutions to mitigate hydraulic and hydrogeological risks in fluvial–morphological and urban environments | AA.VV. Infrastutture verdi per la gestione delle acque - Volume n.17 Quaderni CSEI CATANIA https://globaluserfiles.com/media/110822_86b4995fa86cc2cfd6cd0e33df07e020d4c901a4.pdf/o/csei_catania_17.pdf https://www.nwrm.eu/ |
| 8 | Design and dimensioning of longitudinal and transverse watercourse management structures | Ferro V. La sistemazione dei bacini idrografici. Ed. McGraw-Hill Ferro V. Opere di sistemazione idraulico-forestale. McGraw-Hill. Milano, 2019 |
| 9 | Ecological restoration and bioremediation of surface water bodies through natural treatment technologies | Cirelli G.L. I trattamenti naturali delle acque reflue urbane. Ed. Simeone, 2003 |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
Evaluate the surface of a hydrographic basin and its main morphometric characteristics
Calculation of the concentration time of a small watershed
Calculation of the maximum flow rates of a small basin with the rational method or with the SCS method
Calculation of the design slope of a torrential watercourse
Hydraulic sizing of cross section waterworks in a small river
Describe naturalistic engineering interventions
Describe interventions for hydraulic risk mitigation through Nature-Based Solutions