August 26 – September 4, 2019

Applications open: April 1 – May 3, 2019 via VIU website.

The Summer School Films in Venice and Filming Venice is an initiative of Venice International University, in partnership with its member universities Ca' Foscari, Iuav, Tel Aviv, Waseda and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, organized to coincide with the 76th International Venice Film Festival.

The aim is to combine film theory and practice, applying them to representations of Venice, through a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach, reflected both in the composition of the faculty and the student body. The first week, students will be introduced to the history, culture and anthropology of Venice and its relation to visual media. They will be offered basic notions of film analysis and film-making theory. The second week, will be devoted to film-making practice. Students will be encouraged to develop a team project on Venice: a film, which will be screened and collectively discussed and analyzed at the end of the Summer School. Deserving projects will be shown at the Ca' Foscari Short Film Festival in 2020.

Scientific Coordinators and Faculty
Norimasa Morita, Professor of Film Studies, Waseda University
Maria Roberta Novielli, Professor of History of Cinema, Ca' Foscari University
Luca Pes, Professor of Italian Contemporary History in Films, Venice International University
Nitzan Ben Shaul, Professor of Film and Television, Head of the Digital Media Program, Tel Aviv University 
Thomas Reinhardt, Professor of Media & Visual Anthropology and Semiotics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
Angela Vettese, Professor in Theory and Criticism of Contemporary Art, Director of the Master in Visual Arts, Iuav University Venice

Senior Trainers
Giovanni Robbiano, screenwriter and director, screenwriting mentor at FAMU, where he was Head of Department.
Eran Shapira, Professor in TV directing, script writing, cinematography and editing, Tel Aviv University; professional producer and director of TV commercials, participatory documentary video projects, infomercials.
Dubi Rubinstein, head of the Tel Aviv University Graduate Program in Film and Television, coordinator of the production and directing track, senior professor; professional producer, script editor and advisor.

Technical Assistant
Luca Pili, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Level of students and suitable field of study 
Graduate and undergraduate students from various disciplines: film studies, film-making, art history, visual art, history, cultural anthropology, sociology; and anyone who would like to learn the basics of film-making in various forms - fiction, docudrama, documentary, visual arts, etc.

Learning outcomes
Developing knowledge of the theoretical and analytical aspects of cinema and on the challenges of visual representation of recognizable places; achieving an understanding of problems entailed with the Venetian setting; acquiring or improving skills in film-making and working in a team.

Fees
Students from VIU member universities and VIU Alumni:
€ 650 VAT included
Other applicants:
€ 1,300 VAT included
The fees will cover tuition, course materials, lunches in the San Servolo cafeteria (5 working days on campus), social events, 76th Venice International Film Festival accreditation.
Student participants will be responsible for covering their own travel expenses to and from Venice and local transportation.

Accommodation
Venice International University offers its support to book accommodation on San Servolo Campus, in multiple rooms (triple/quadruple) with other participants for the duration of the Summer School:
further information about costs will be provided in the application form itself.

During the Venice Film Festival, San Servolo island is connected by public boat n. 20 to the Film Festival venue.

Application
April 1 – May 3, 2019 via VIU website.

Applicants must submit the application form, a short motivation letter and a curriculum vitae with photo.

Number of students:
From a minimum 16 to a maximum of 25.

June 26 – 30, 2017

In its first edition, the summer school on Critical Infrastructure Resilience (CIR) brings together academics and professional experts to discuss an emerging topic with a pragmatic and scientific approach.

The VIU School is organized in cooperation with University of Tor Vergata, Waseda University and Lund University.

Course Description
From the neighborhood we live in to global production supply chains, we live in an increasingly connected world, where we often use our infrastructure for multiple purposes. Our society becomes more efficient but also increasingly interdependent and complex. So the loss of performance or disruption in some key points can have a cascading impact throughout the system. We refer to these key points as critical infrastructure: “An asset, system or part thereof which is essential for the maintenance of vital societal functions, health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of people, and the disruption or destruction of which would have a significant impact”. This course explains how critical infrastructure works and fails; its cascading impact from local to global, and the strategies to use to build resilience against e.g. extreme events and climate change.

To give some examples:
- A local riot in Delhi, India in February disrupted a key water distribution canal, cutting off water supply to 17 million residents.
- The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake that hit Japan disrupted many automotive factories and caused rippling impact, like the General Motors truck plant in Louisiana that had to shut down temporarily for lack of Japanese-made parts.
- The 2010 volcanic eruption over Iceland grounded commercial flights over 20 countries, affecting 10 million passengers.
These examples can be found across all fields and used at different scales, from social interactions to lifeline utilities to trade and commerce.

Critical infrastructure resilience has its roots in system theory and complexity theory, with applications ranging from engineering performance design to ecosystem management. We use the broader definition “the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and re-organize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks.” This definition means that we consider 2 types of impact: an extreme event (i.e. terrorist attack or a natural disaster) that can disrupt the core function of an infrastructure or, a change in operating conditions (such as different mean temperature or precipitation pattern due to climate change) that can affect the performance and competitiveness of the infrastructure.

The course aims to provide a solid understanding of critical infrastructure and its role for the global, interconnected world we live in and to frame it within the concept of resilience.

The course consists of a mix of theoretical knowledge, case studies and hands-on exercises. The city of Venice will be used as a laboratory and students will learn first hand how to identify a critical infrastructure, assess its risk, develop resilience strategies and devise ways to apply them. Students will work on their field of interest and contribute to a multi-disciplinary teamwork.

Topics
- Definition and role of critical infrastructure
- Cascading impacts and methodology to rank criticality
- Risk assessment methods and ways to develop scenarios
- Infrastructure systems and asset management
- Risk management strategies
- Connecting the dots with the infrastructure life cycle
- Case Study: Strategic thinking within the EU
- Applied work: Identification of critical infrastructure in Venice
- Applied work: Risk assessment and prioritization
- Applied work: Elaboration of resilience strategies

Methodology
The 5-day course consists of 10 modules (as listed above), offering a mix of theoretical knowledge, experience sharing and applied work in the city of Venice. Students will follow lectures in the classroom and go out in the city in teams for each of the 3 applied work sessions to collect data, identify assets they judge critical and apply the techniques and tools shared in class.

Learning outcomes of the program
At the end of the course, students will be familiar with concepts such as critical infrastructure, resilience, cascading impact, and various risk strategies. The course will also provide practical tools and methods on how to: identify critical infrastructure and prioritize them, conduct basic risk assessment and develop scenarios, and elaborate resilience strategies.

Target
Graduate students and working professionals from any university, research institute, or other organization (private companies, government agencies, NGOs) with an interest in critical infrastructure issues and ability to read and write fluently in English. Advanced undergraduates will also be considered.

Faculty
- Erdem Ergin, University of Tor Vergata/ World Bank (Coordinator)
- Tomoya Shibayama, Waseda University
- Jonas Johansson, Lund University
- Henrik Hassel, Lund University
- Gaetano Vivo, European Commission

Fees
Students of VIU member universities: € 300 incl. VAT.
Students of other universities/professionals: € 600 incl. VAT.

The fees will cover tuition, course materials, accommodation in multiple rooms at the VIU campus, lunches in the VIU cafeteria and social events.
Student participants will be responsible for covering their own travel expenses to and from Venice and local transportation.

Credits
Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2

A Certificate of attendance will be issued at the end of the course.

Applications
Admissions are now closed.

For further information: summerschools@univiu.org

The summer school will not be offered in 2023.

Our societies and the systems we depend on are under increasing pressure. This course aims to offer concrete solutions on decision-making to manage crises and build resilience within our systems. As managers or employees of public & private organizations, as academics working on this topic, we often struggle with the uncertainty associated with crises and how to prioritize our decisions. Covid-19, forest fires and floods, the war have impacted us directly or indirectly. The broad span of these events allows us to differentiate and compare various resilience strategies deployed by governments and businesses. And to see which strategies performed better.

The summer school on Critical Infrastructure Resilience (CIR), led by the University of Rome Tor Vergata, offers a pragmatic framework and shares tactical tools used by governments and businesses. The framework reflects both national laws and the International Standard Organization guidelines and is accessible, impact oriented, and pragmatic.

The course combines classical approaches used in disaster risk management, critical infrastructure management and climate change adaptation. The added value of merging several perspectives is that it allows for a better understanding of resilience strategies and options, such as whether to go back to the old normal or move forward and establish a new normal. Most often than not, resilience strategies are successful when they work for the whole sector/system in which they operate. For this, they need to understand the connectivity and the complexity of the system they are working with and identify the nods, the pressure points from where to gain leverage. 

The course consists of a mix of theoretical knowledge, case studies/projects and hands-on exercises. This course will discuss the concept of CI and aims to provide the participants with (i) a clear understanding of the framework and tactical tools, (ii) a series of existing decision-making tools used by public entities, businesses and international organizations, and (iii) peer learning from participant’s experiences.

Faculty contributing to the program 
Erdem Ergin, Tor Vergata University of Rome (Coordinator)
Carlo Giupponi, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
Jonas Johansson, Lund University
Carlo Papa, Enel Foundation
Alessio Marcelli, e-distribuzione
Federico Carturan, RiskApp
Albert Chen, University of Exeter
Stefano Salata, Izmir Institute of Technology

Course outline
M1 – Resilience framework and CI concept
M2 – Solution 1 – Prepare a scenario
M3 – Impacts & ranking criticality
M4 – Hazard impact on CI and services
M5 – Solution 2 – Crisis management timeline
M6 – Network resilience across the energy infrastructure
M7 – Decision-making under uncertainty
M8 – Cascading impact evaluation
M9 – Link between ecosystem services and CI
M10 – Solution 3 – Recovery strategy

Target
Professionals, officials and graduate students already working on the topic or thinking their work may benefit from it. Ability to read and write fluently in English is a must.

Credits
ECTS equivalence: 2

July 16 – 20, 2018