We report on the preparation of luminescent collectors based on epoxy resins containing Coumarin 6 as fluorescent dye. Fluorescent epoxy slabs were obtained by carefully mixing from 60 to 150 ppm of the fluorophore with bisphenol A diglycidyl ether and 4,4′-methylenebis(2-methylcyclohexylamine) as curing agent. Spectroscopic (FT-IR, solid-state NMR, Raman) investigations and calorimetric analysis evidence the success of the preparation procedure in terms of slab homogeneity, fluorophore dispersibility and its role in promoting the crosslinking extent. The concentrating ability and the derived optical efficiencies of the epoxy-based collectors are determined with a properly designed set-up and result greater (∼10%) than that of poly(methyl methacrylate) concentrators with the same fluorophore and geometry. Optical efficiencies as high as 7.4% are obtained and enable the potential use of epoxy resins as bulk thermosetting materials for solar collectors

Settleability of dry and wet weather flow samples from a combined sewer system was examined by settling column tests, in order to improve understanding of settling processes and obtain information for design of settling tanks. In fact, these tests mimic the actual settling processes and allow evaluating total suspended solids (TSS) removal by settling. Therefore, it is also possible to assess, indirectly, removals of other pollutants, such as heavy metals, which are generally transported by solid particles in sewage. Towards this end, dry and wet weather flow samples were collected in the Liguori Channel catchment and analyzed in the laboratory for Water Supply and Sewerage (Acquedotti e Fognature) of the University of Calabria for TSS concentrations according to the Standard Methods. The settleability study revealed that removals of TSS in dry weather samples (i.e., sanitary sewage) were greater than in wet weather samples (WW), using the same experimental procedures. In particular, 65% of TSS was removed in dry weather samples at a depth of 3 m for a detention time of 40 min; while in wet weather samples the comparable removal efficiency was less than 60%.

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Citizen Science Projects: How to make a difference, is a massive open online course (MOOC). It was developed by the H2020 WeObserve project and ran on the FutureLearn platform from 2019. The course was designed to assist learners from all backgrounds and geographical locations to discover how to build their own citizen science project to address global challenges and create positive change. It also helped learners with interpreting the information they collected and using their findings to educate others about important local and global concerns. The main learning objectives for the course were: * Discover what citizen science and citizen observatories are * Engage with the general process of a citizen science project, the tools used and where they can be accessed * Collect and analyse data on relevant issues such as environmental challenges and disaster management, and discuss the results of their findings * Explore projects happening around the world, what the aims of these projects are and how learners could get involved * Model the steps to create their own citizen science project * Evaluate the potential of citizen science in bringing about change This course also provided five open-source, downloadable tools which have been tested in previous citizen science projects and created for the use of a wider range of projects. These tools are listed below and available in the research repository: * Empathy timeline tool * Community-level indicators tool * Data postcards tool * Future newspaper tool * Co-evaluation tool