On Thursday, September 17, a seminar will be held in Grandori Room (Building 4), starting at 9:30 CET.
The seminar will be given by Takanori Hoshino, Professor at the University of the Ryukyus, Japan, and is titled “Prewar Reforms of Human Waste Disposal Policies in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya”.
Abstract
This research examines changes in the night soil disposal policy in Japan before World War II and compares the situation in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. In the early modern period in Japan, human waste had value as manure, so farmers and night soil peddlers bought it. That situation did not change in the Meiji era. After the latter half of the 1910s, urbanization and the spread of other fertilizers led to a decrease in the value of human waste, that collapsed the network of night soil circulation that developed in the early modern period. Local governments promoted municipalization of human waste disposal, taking into account not only urban sanitation but also fertilizer demand in suburban agriculture. As part of the rural economic revitalization plan, rural areas near Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya utilized urban human waste, saving on fertilizer purchases and revitalizing their agricultural management.
From 18 to 20 September, Milan hosts the return of the International Engineering Festival of Politecnico di Milano: three days of free admission, across the Bovisa and Leonardo campuses, with a programme of talks, conferences, open labs, activities for children and teenagers, exhibitions and performances, designed to bring engineering closer to audiences of all ages.
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering takes part with undici attività, including outreach talks, open labs and events dedicated to younger audiences.
Talks
Kids activities
Teen activities
Open Labs
Attività congiunte
Il DICA partecipa inoltre a due attività congiunte:
- In collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Architettura, Ingegneria delle Costruzioni e Ambiente Costruito (DABC):
Strutture sotto controllo: misura, scopri, decidi!
- In collaborazione con i Dipartimenti di Matematica (DMAT), di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria (DEIB) e di Energia (DENG):
Collaborare per l’ambiente: l’ingegneria incontra la filosofia e le scienze sociali
- In collaborazione con l’Area Campus Life – Equal Opportunities Unit:
STEM senza frontiere: le materie scientifiche non hanno genere!
The full Festival programme and registration details are available on the sito dell’iniziativa.
Marco Davolio, PhD graduate from our Department, has been awarded the Best Oral Presentation Award at the "2nd International Conference on CO₂ Mineralization in Construction Materials and Products (CMCMP2026)", held at the Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) in Lisbon, Portugal, from 15 to 17 July 2026.
The award-winning presentation, titled "Rheology of CO₂-mixed cement paste: Two case studies", showcased the effects of using carbonated water to modify the rheological and mechanical properties of cement pastes and concretes, within the framework of concrete carbon mixing technologies. These technologies aim to reduce the carbon footprint of cementitious materials by fixing carbon dioxide and enhancing the materials' performance.
CMCMP2026 was the second edition of the conference dedicated to the use of carbon dioxide in construction products — a necessary step forward to transform the construction sector by turning emissions into valuable resources, based on CO₂ mineralisation processes at laboratory and industrial scale.
Learn more about the conference: https://events.lnec.pt/cmcmp2026/index.html
Professor Alberto Guadagnini has been elected Full Member (Membro Effettivo) of theIstituto Lombardo – Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, in the Class of Mathematical and Natural Sciences – Engineering Section.
Founded in 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Istituto Lombardo – Accademia di Scienze e Lettere is one of the oldest and most prestigious Italian scientific institutions. For over two centuries it has promoted the advancement of research, fostered dialogue between the scientific and humanistic disciplines, and brought together scholars of recognised national and international standing.
Professor Guadagnini's election represents an important recognition of his contribution to research in the fields of water engineering, hydrogeology and the modelling of flow and contaminant transport processes in porous media. It adds to the series of international scientific recognitions he has received and constitutes a further acknowledgement of the value of his research activity and of the contribution of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to the advancement of engineering sciences.
The recognition is also a source of pride for the research group MIPORE – Porous Media across scales @Polimi. which he coordinates at Politecnico di Milano.
