A geographical and crosscutting look at the COVID-19 pandemic in an international framework.
In addition to making dangerously overwhelmed health systems, the spread of COVID19 has transformed the social balances, the daily
lifestyle and work, the way of doing didactics
and conferences, the way of relating with friends
and loved ones, the way of using public and
family services and transport, enjoying holidays
and free time etc.; at the same time it has given
rise to oppressive repercussions on the economic
and productive systems, leading to the adoption
of unexpected intervention measures and the use
of extraordinary funds. Many special actions, where geography can
provide support in the context of an interdisciplinary environment of applied research, have
been launched by international institutions, and
for example many projects supported by the European Commission concern “epidemiology,
preparedness and response to outbreaks, the development of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines, as well as the infrastructures and resources that enable this research”2
. Other possibilities have been launched by the European
Space Agency (ESA), also through the collaboration agreement with the Italian Minister for
Technological Innovation and Digitalization
(MID), and a specific example can be the Announcement of an Opportunity entitled “BASS
AO: Space in Response to COVID-19 Outbreak” (AO10314). In this thematic issue the attention is focussed on a geographical and crosscutting look at the COVID-19 pandemic in an international framework