Conservation and Management of Agricultural Landscapes through Expert-Supported Participatory Processes: The “Declarations of Public Interest” in an Italian Province

Fabrizio Aimar, Francesca Cavagnino and Marco Devecchi
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Fabrizio Aimar: Department of Architecture and Engineering, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Polis University, 12 Rruga Bylis, 1051 Tirana, Albania
Francesca Cavagnino: Cavagnino Studio, Via Serafino Grassi 33, 14100 Asti, Italy
Marco Devecchi: Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, 2 Largo Paolo Braccini, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-28

Abstract: The adoption of the European Landscape Convention by the member states of the Council of Europe emphasized the importance of raising awareness of, promoting and educating local communities in, and fostering the activism of all European citizens in the process of transforming the European landscape. The work carried out by the Landscape Observatory for Montferrat and Astigiano was to raise awareness in local communities regarding landscape protection processes that those communities could steer, as required by the Code of the Cultural and Landscape Heritage of the Italian State (2004). Consequently, for the first time, a participatory model was established in the province of Asti and the Piedmont region in Italy to support the community-driven requests for a special protection decree for some targeted areas. In this paper, the process and novel multisource methodology used for the two pilot cases are reported, where the landscape values to be protected were identified through local community involvement. Supported by the Landscape Observatory and experts, the broad participation allowed their recognition of Public Interest. These recognitions are relevant because they rely on a shared perspective of populations for the self-management of their landscapes. They represent an operational model for other local communities in the Council of Europe countries.

Keywords: agricultural landscapes; UNESCO cultural landscapes; landscape observatory; cultural heritage; bottom-up approaches; community participation; people-centred approach; integrated management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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