Il laboratorio Cartolab nel post sisma aquilano: ricerca e partecipazione all’interfaccia tra politica e società

THE CARTOLAB LABORATORY IN POST EARTHQUAKE L’AQUILA: RESEARCH AND PARTICIPATION BETWEEN POLITICS AND SOCIETY – In the post-earthquake context of L’Aquila, since the early months of 2010 researchers from the Cartolab Laboratory (Department of Human Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Italy), have developed and applied a Participatory-Participating Research Action methodology (PPRA), both scientific and political, with the involvement of students and citizens. From a knowledge perspective, the purpose of the research is to consider perceptions and narratives of the inhabitants of L’Aquila about their context of life, in order to point out what kind of relationship is present, between the territory and its inhabitants, after the earthquake. From a research ethics perspective, the PPRA aims to guide research praxis towards the activation of social dynamics and/or policies through communication processes. In this paper we will discuss how the PPRA was applied in post-earthquake L’Aquila. The paper also presents some significant results on the new social geography of L’Aquila, as well as it brings special attention to the role of cartography and GIS in research steps.