which cannot be dissociated from the cause-and-effect of natural, economic, human, and identity progressions.

The tendency to put forward the indivisibility of the place, the products, the human groups, the social relationships, and the perceptions of all kinds is visible in the inscription of the dry-stone fashioned landscapes on the UNESCO world heritage lists. Among a dozen so distinguished sites between 1996 and 2014, two-thirds include, or consist completely, of agricultural terraces, and half of those show vine growing as the key activity, followed by olive growing and rice growing. All are qualified as “cultural landscapes.” The holistic approach is clear in the arguments’ discourse, where social links, practices, and customs take as much place as the purely material data. Arguments in favor of a set of terraced rice fields on Bali in 2012 even give primacy to a local philosophical system (the Subak), which simultaneously manages land holding and use, means of production, social implications of organizations, and distribution of goods. In the arguments for the partial inscription of a vineyard in Burgundy, France, (2014), popular know-how about geomorphology and microclimates plays a role as important as academic data. The focus of examining and judging dry-stone landscapes seems to be the idea that proven environmental, social, and cultural practices work in favor of the parallel self-fulfillment of people and lands. They also help to discover or assert mentalities, ways of action, and identical or similar interests, which strengthen understanding of the other and promote collaborations. Terraced territories are—apparently—a good laboratory to test these benefits.

References

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Acovitsióti-Hameau A (2010) Une montagne à vivre et à partager: le territoire de Montegrosso-Pian-Latte en Ligurie. In: Tzortzis S, Delestre X (eds) Archéologie de la montagne européenne, Actes du colloque de gap (septembre 2008). Errance et Centre Camille Jullian, Paris et Aix-en-Provence: pp 97–107

Ambrosi A (1990) L’archittetura in pietra a secco: costruzione, progetto, tipologie. In: Ambrosi A, Degano C, Zaccaria DA (eds) Architettura in pietra a secco, Actes du 1er séminaire international sur la pierre sèche—Noci-Alberobello, septembre 1987, Schena, Brindisi, pp 17–84

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agricole en Europe (XVIIe-XIXe siècle). M.S.H, Paris

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Leroi-Gourhan A (1943) L’homme et la matière. Albin Michel, Paris

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Varotto M (2008) Conclusions. Vers une redécouverte des “paysages intermédiaires”. In: Scaramellini G, Varotto M (eds) Paysages en terrasses des Alpes Paysages en terrasses des Alpes, Projet ALPTER. Marsilio, Venise, pp 112–117

Chapter 16

Economic Analysis of the Traditional

Cultural Terraced Olive-Growing

Landscape and Participatory

Planning Process

Biancamaria Torquati, Lucio Cecchini, Sonia Venanzi

and Giulia Giacchè

Abstract Terraced landscapes are increasingly considered as valuable cultural, social, and environmental systems. However, we could attribute the loss of most of these landscapes and their tangible and intangible heritages to the abandonment or degradation of these areas that could be valorised and protected. The main goals of this study are providing a methodology and tools to analyse traditional terraced landscapes integrating spatial analysis with socio-economic analysis and suggesting operational or political proposals to reduce the abandonment of agricultural terraces. The selected study area is the olive-growing area in the municipality of Trevi (Umbria Region, Italy). This study’s innovative contribution is its methodology composed of two main steps: construction of an integrated and open database followed by launch of a participatory planning process. The results show that the main weakness of the conservation of the olive-growing landscape is the profitability level of olive oil production and sale. Some measures need to be implemented to address these issues, and a joint public and private effort is required. On the one hand, public institutions should provide direct funding and incentives, and on the other, consumers should be willing to pay more for extra-virgin olive oil with landscaped value. Moreover, nomination for inscription into UNESCO’s World

B. Torquati (&) L. Cecchini S. Venanzi

Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

e-mail: bianca.torquati@unipg.it

L. Cecchini

e-mail: luciocecchini89@gmail.com

S. Venanzi

e-mail: sonia.venanzi@gmail.com

G. Giacchè

Mixed Research Unit Spaces and Societies (ESO), University of Rennes, Rennes, France

e-mail: giacche.giulia13@gmail.com

M. Varotto et al. (eds.), World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life, Environmental History 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96815-5_16

Heritage List as a cultural landscape, advocated by local institutions, could generate useful synergies to implement efficient collective marketing policies, which are particularly demanded by olive growers.

16.1Introduction

Terraced landscapes exist all over the world. They have been studied widely both due to their considerable landscape value, the delicate environmental balances they help safeguard, and the increasingly neglected state they have fallen into (de Graaff et al. 2008; Duarte et al. 2008; Barbera et al. 2010; Kieninger et al. 2013; LaFevor 2014; Tarolli et al. 2014; Agnoletti et al. 2015; Arnáez et al. 2015; Torquati et al. 2015; Bonardi and Varotto 2016; Fukamachi 2016; Ridder et al. 2016; Ferro-Vázquez et al. 2017).

Terraced landscapes are increasingly considered as valuable cultural, social, and environmental systems to be protected and enhanced. In cultural terms, their value lies in the related traditional farming practices and the presence of historical hydraulic-agricultural works, while in social terms, they represent a source of livelihood. Environmentally, terraced landscapes mean a low degree of agricultural mechanization and an extremely limited option for external inputs. However, policymakers are having trouble identifying clear and, above all, coordinated strategies for their conservation.

In Italy, several initiatives foreground the protection of terraced landscapes. They range from international cooperation (e.g. International Terraced Landscapes Alliance) to landscape catalogues (e.g. Italian Historical Rural Landscapes: Agnoletti 2012), from the establishment of local landscape observatories (e.g. Canale del Brenta) to local spatial planning (e.g. Regolamento urbanistico di Radda in Chianti [Urban planning by the municipality of Radda in Chianti]), and from measures towards rural development programmes (e.g. support for non-productive investments) to listing of the location as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (e.g. Cinque Terre and Costiera Amalfitana).

In recent years, new approaches to the study of traditional landscapes have been proposed. These approaches are mainly based on integrated and interdisciplinary methodologies (Barbera and Biasi 2011), and they often rely on the application of the Geographical Information System (GIS) (Cullotta and Barbera 2011) . GIS technology has allowed scholars to investigate the historical evolution of traditional landscapes by comparing multi-temporal maps; produce a series of ecological indices underpinning landscape metrics and quantitatively measuring their structure and function (Bender et al. 2005; Vizzari 2011; Modica et al. 2012; Sklenicka et al. 2017); integrate local knowledge with knowledge of experts in conservation-oriented landscape planning (Torquati et al. 2011); and characterize the spatial structure of farms to provide a more accurate picture of the real structure of the agriculture sector.

Moreover, it offers useful information for designing policies to improve competitiveness in remote rural areas (Colombo and Perujo-Villanueva 2017).

To our knowledge, no study has combined spatial information on traditional terraced landscapes with socio-economic information on farms on which they are located.

In this context, this study aims to provide a methodology to analyse traditional terraced landscapes that can integrate spatial analysis with socio-economic analysis, by focusing on the interrelationship between farms, terraced landscapes, and economically and socially sustainable intervention strategies. Additionally, this study tries to identify public and private interventions that can help prevent the abandonment of marginal terraced olive growing, since, despite a favourable economic context, it still is vulnerable.

The study area is represented by the olive-growing area in the municipality of Trevi (Umbria region, Italy) (Fig. 16.1a), which has been chosen for two reasons. First, modern olive groves coexist in this area with traditional terraced olive groves, which is typical of contemporary arboriculture in foothills and mountainous areas (Barbera and Biasi 2011) (Fig. 16.1b). Second, the local extremely dynamic olive economy is supported by active institutional initiatives. These initiatives include, among others, cultural events organized by the association Città dell’Olio (Oil Towns); protected designation of origin (PDO) certification; historical routes linked to Saint Francis; registration in the National Registry of Rural Landscapes of Historical Interest, of farming practices and of traditional knowledge; presence of several hectares of organically grown olive groves; and nomination for inscription into UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Municipality

of Trevi

Umbrian

Region

Fig. 16.1 a Geography location of municipality of Trevi (Italy). b Olive-growing area in 2012 with the position of dry-stone walls (coloured in red), slopes (coloured in yellow), and level line of 400 m above sea level (coloured in blue). c Olive-growing areas that disappeared between 1955 and 2012 (coloured in blue). Source a our elaboration; b elaboration of Leonardo Laureti