Area studenti

Home Post-laurea Dottorati di Ricerca Corsi di Dottorato attivi Economia, Management e Metodi Quantitativi Alumni | XXXV CICLO | Spasiano Andrea

#WEUNITUS

Alumni | XXXV CICLO | Spasiano Andrea

SPASIANO ANDREA

PhD student in Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods

Cicle: XXXV

Tutor: Prof. Alessio M. Braccini e Prof. Salvatore Grimaldi

Thesis title: Citizens and stakeholders’ engagement for monitoring and awareness of hydrological cycle

Email: and.spasiano@gmail.com

Curriculum Vitae

 

  • Personal profile and research interests

    Andrea Spasiano pursued a PhD program in Economics and Management at Tuscia University in 2023, discussing a thesis on the topic of citizens’ engagement on hydrological cycle monitoring. During his doctoral experience, he was engaged in EU-funded projects related to WEFE Nexus and Cultural Heritage Risk Assessment as part of scientific collaborations with other research institutions. His main research interests include citizen science and online communities’ engagement in water resource monitoring and the application of GIS techniques and open data in landscape planning.

  • PhD project

    This thesis work addresses citizen science as an innovative research approach to address environmental issues, such as monitoring the hydrological cycle. This research approach assumes the involvement of non-expert citizens through the use of digital technologies and web platforms useful for volunteers’ engagement, data collection and analysis.
    Based on these assumptions, the PhD dissertation offers, in its first part, a thorough analysis of the scientific literature on citizen science to outline a theoretical framework and to define methodologies suitable for initiating and conducting participatory water resources monitoring activities. In the second part, two exploratory case studies were implemented to test the validity of citizen science principles and methodologies in monitoring different stages of the hydrological cycle.
    Findings from case-studies reveal promising results in volunteers’ observations to be integrated in hydrological models monitoring. Otherwise, empirical research reveals strong limitations in terms of engagement and long-term participation, due to personal motivations and interests. Engagement and long-term participation are critical points that require more investigation, not possible in early stage of citizen science projects. However, findings of this research identify in development of digital tools a possible solution to reduce gap in engagement and motivation issues, supported by strategic and continuous communication campaigns.

  • Publications

    Spasiano, A., Grimaldi, S., Braccini, A. M., & Nardi, F. (2021). Towards a transdisciplinary theoretical framework of citizen science: results from a meta-review analysis. Sustainability, 13(14), 7904. 

    Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7904

    Spasiano, A., Nardi, F., Grimaldi, S., & Braccini, A. M. (2021, October). Engagement of online communities within a citizen science framework for improving innovative participation models: Insights from hydrology and environmental monitoring. In Conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS (pp. 41-54). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

    Link: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-10902-7_4

    Spasiano, A., Grimaldi, S., Nardi, F., Noto, S., & Braccini, A. M. (2023). Testing the theoretical principles of citizen science in monitoring stream water levels through photo-trap frames. Frontiers in Water, 5, 1050378. 

    Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2023.1050378/full