Ricerc@Sapienza

An impressive body of international research has engaged with the rationales, dynamics and societal consequences of micro and macro-level regional integration projects (e.g. Celata & Coletti, 2015; Sidaway, 1998; S€oderbaum, 2009; Telo, 2007). This research has also offered robust templates for critical analyses of globalization, shifting state territorialities and the networked nature of territorial and ideational hegemony (Perkmann & Sum, 2002; Sidaway, 2002; Sparke, 2006).

Shifts in government priorities in response to the 2007 global recession have affected wildfire management and natural disaster funding arrangements, leading to a reduced effectiveness of fire suppression actions and increasing fire vulnerability. Our study investigates the role of local socioeconomic contexts on fire suppression effectiveness under economic expansion and recession in a Mediterranean region (Attica, Greece) strongly affected by 2007 crisis and displaying a persistently high density of peri-urban wildfires.

The Mediterranean region and the Levant have returned some of the clearest evidence of a climatically dry period occurring around 4200 years ago. However, some regional evidence is controversial and contradictory, and issues remain regarding timing, progression, and regional articulation of this event.

Mediterranean mid-altitude sites are critical for the survival of plant species allowing for elevationalvegetation shifts in response to high-amplitude climate variability. Pollen records from the southernBalkans have underlined the importance of the region in preserving plant diversity over at least the lasthalf a million years. So far, there are no records of vegetation and climate dynamics from Balkan refugiawith an Early Pleistocene age.