The AIA program for the Year of Sound

A story of shared enthusiasm among people passionate about sound

Since the very beginning of the International Year of Sound planning, AIA (the Acoustic Society of Italy) has been involved in organizing and coordinating a broad number of activities.

The long-lasting experiences in being an active member of International associations, as well as in chairing International educational and awareness initiatives in the field of acoustics, has made easier for AIA to establish a team of experts and young acousticians who are carrying on with enthusiasm and passion the task of National coordination, guided and supervised by AIA presidency and general secretariat. At the same time a very nice team of young acousticians, including Chiara Bartalucci and Sara Delle Macchie, is managing the International Competition for Student as a part of the International Activities, directly organized by ICA.

As reminded by AIA President, Eleonora Carletti,
“The Acoustical Society of Italy (AIA) was founded more than forty-five years ago with the mission to promote the studies on acoustics in Italy. Currently AIA has nearly 400 members with different cultural background and interests; it has members from Italian Universities, Research Centres, environmental protection agencies and also several consultants. This interdisciplinary connotation has led AIA to become the Italian reference in all the fields of acoustics, including research, development, education and standardisation. The promotion of the Acoustics in Italy is one of its main purposes and in this respect every year AIA awards the best degree and PhD theses on acoustics undertaken at Italian Universities and offers grants to young scientists and students for their attendance at National and International events on Acoustics. AIA has a leading role at international level, with the presence of its members in the governance of all international associations (ICA, IIAV, I-INCE, EAA). Thanks to the voluntary work and enthusiasm of its members, AIA also hosted important international conferences, such as the 17th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA) in Rome (2001), the 5th EuroNoise Conference in Naples (2003), the Hand Arm Vibration International Conference in Bologna (2007), AIA-DAGA Conference in Meran (2013) and ICSV22 in Florence (2015). Currently AIA has submitted an application for hosting the FORUM ACUSTICUM conference in 2023 in Turin, which has successfully passed the first selection phase.”

Giovanni Brambilla, who served as Vice President of EAA Board until 2019 notices that
“AIA was one of the Acoustic National Societies founding the European Acoustics Association (EAA) in 1992, and since then has been involved in different roles (President, Vicepresidents) to implement the EAA activities. Among these, since 2008 AIA handles Documenta Acustica, the EAA product which is the literature distribution system of conference and symposia proceedings, books, reports and theses, as well as the archive of the initiatives carried out every year since 1997 by the various National Societies within the International Noise Awareness Day (INAD). In 2017 the first European INAD was celebrated, including the pan-European scholar competition “Sounds of my place” with the enthusiastic participation of primary and secondary schools from various European countries; the film “EAA-Sounds of my place” collects the best drawings and movies produced by the schools, showing as environmental sounds are a sign of identity of a place.”

In the opinion of Antonino di Bella, the present AIA General Secretary,
“A strong point in AIA organization is to be able to communicate effectively with its members and with all those interested in acoustic problems through numerous information channels, not limited to its website. Numerous activities are promoted through social networks with a specific communication, particularly oriented to a wide audience, not necessarily limited to researchers, professionals, consultants, companies or other subjects operating in the field of acoustics.”

Finally, as remembered by Rossella Natale, National Coordinator of AIA INAD-ITALY (the International Noise Awareness Day campaign) for more than ten years, and now involved in IYS National and Student Competition organization,
“The AIA working group working for ICA in the implementation of the Year of Sound initiatives is made up of many acoustics experts who every year offer their availability to organize workshops and to involve students in educational projects related to acoustics. All the activities proposed aim to make children and young people aware of the problems related to excessive exposure to noise and to educate them to listen to sounds and soundscapes. The success of INAD Italia is made possible thanks to the commitment of the students, the availability of the teachers and the passion of the acoustics experts who collaborate in the organization of the initiative. Hopefully the same passion will drive to success the IYS Student Competition.”

The AIA IYS 2020 team is very happy and proud to give a significant contribution to the IYS program, directly organizing a number of events located in various places of Italy, promoting and coordinating multiple events proposed by independent groups (universities, institutions, schools, musical associations, companies, etc.). These 21 (at the time of writing) events scattered throughout the year can be seen from the event calendar tab (https://sound2020.org/event/) and the Filter by Country for Italy. Some are new activities organised by AIA for the IYS 2020, others build upon past experiences of AIA with outreach activities and others are new collaborations with organisations wishing to have a greater focus on sound in their 2020 event because of IYS 2020.

On behalf of AIA, we hope to share our enthusiasm and work with other Acoustic Societies from all over the world, for making the International Year of Sound, organized by ICA, a fantastic and successful event to not forget.

   Sergio Luzzi
   Member of the AIA Board
   IYS National Coordinator for Italy
   ICA IYS International Competition Coordinator