A geographical and crosscutting look at the COVID-19 pandemic in an international framework. Introduction

In many research and educational contexts, the geographical approach, supported by GIS applications and Earth observation, can closely collaborate with other scientific and disciplinary sectors in terms of concrete proposals and detailed analysis aimed at tackling this and future health emergencies. And it can i.e. happen: - providing theoretical and methodological contributions founded on solid contents and thoughtful critical thinking; stimulating renewed didactics and third mission, also taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the remote teaching systems and on line platforms, and an active participation of the population and companies; - promoting a deep culture and knowledge of the events and phenomena, social and sanitary guidelines, behaviours to adopt, territorial disparities, main contagion areas etc.; - encouraging joint discussions, international conferences and interdisciplinary researches, also to think about measures, decrees and specific actions promulgated by the government of different countries, and draft summaries of good practices; - rigorously elaborating and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data at different geographical scale, enhancing GIS tools and functionalities for the geospatial, multitemporal and geostatistical analysis and an effective visualization; - participating in the development of robust and high-performance geotechnological solutions, ad hoc models and harmonised platforms to help citizens, communities, hospitals, Local Health Units and organisms in charge etc. New challenges, new opportunities to make science advance, new possibilities to underline the crucial role of geography in didactics, third mission, applied research and interdisciplinary project!