The enhancement of the territory through art: application of a dissemination method to the Valmarecchia and Montefeltro area (North-Central Italy)
Authors: Valentini Laura , Guerra Veronica , Lazzari Maurizio , Nesci Olivia 
Published: March 2021

&lt;p&gt;In this work, we propose a new approach to communicate science using art forms, such as music and poetry, in order to encourage people to learn more about landscapes. This approach was born from a desire to promote the landscape by integrating its origins and physical aesthetics with its naturalistic, cultural and artistic heritage, through narratives in popular science style, supported by the language of art. The different disciplines of Earth Science, poetry and music are applied together to specific sites, producing emotional experiences where encounter and interplay between the different languages become an expression of the place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This experience started few years ago in 2014 and was linked by a common interest in enhancement of the territory. The team is composed of researchers and artists with different skills, whose aim is to promote deeper public awareness of the territory, by means of proposing live events and presenting the idea in international scientific conferences and journals. After a project dedicated to 20 geosites in the Marche Region (Central Italy), which took place from February 2018 to February 2020 and resulted in a book in the native language (Nesci and Valentini 2019) and a website presenting a summary of it, we are now approaching a new region in North-Central Italy. The Valmarecchia and Montefeltro areas are well known by geologists and scientists from all over the world for the particular origin and evolution of the Valmarecchia nappe, which consists of stacked slices of Ligurian and Epiligurian rocks overthrusting Tuscan and Umbro-Marchean Units and producing unique geological landscapes (Guerra and Lazzari, 2020). The study area is also well known by historians and artists for its great cultural value, but poorly understood by tourists and locals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The research has identified several geological landscapes in the study area that could be used as field test sites to experiment different communication styles for dissemination of geological values. The methodology proposed in this paper aims to experiment the involvement level of the participants, engaged through the use of conventional and unconventional means in the popularization of Earth Sciences, such as music and art, directly in the field. These experiences will be included in series of treks conducted with different approaches (i.e. classic guided tours, exploring experiences, interactive engagement of the public in narrative and emotional engagement through music and art). The aim is to collect data about the involvement of the public and to verify whether incisiveness of geological concepts, conveyed within the affective domain of learning (i.e. engagement, attitude, and emotion), differs from the one deriving from the involvement of the cognitive domain (i.e. comprehension and application) (Nesci and Valentini, 2020).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our goal is to educate by creating a new perception of geological landscapes, starting with their physical beauty and then building on scientific research in co-operation with arts, in order to improve what we know about their problems and weaknesses, and addressing their culture and their other strengths as well.&lt;/p&gt;