19.3.3 The Role of Two Projects

19.3.3.1The Strategic Plan

These practices, which are already underway in the territory, have encouraged a reinterpretation of this resource as part of a Strategic Plan. This plan, which was very much desired by the local community, was completed with the help of a scientific team that supported the entire process of analysing and defining the plan itself.1 The territorial profile produced by the Strategic Plan was based on the definition and fine-tuning of strategic thematic quadrants that group the various different resources found during the reconnaissance phase and have them interact in a thorough, integrated way. The definition of these quadrants has permitted the setting up of new strategic perspectives as well as the organisation of resources, perspectives that are the necessary basis for constructing scenarios that can view the various entities involved in the plan as a part of a single identity. The strategic quadrants, which are far-reaching and thematically inclusive, have been divided into the following categories: (a) the landscape and the quality of the environment;

(b) the system of linear infrastructures; (c) historic, artistic and architectural heritage; (d) leisure time and outdoor activities; (e) tourist facilities and identity-forming entities. A survey was carried out on each thematic quadrant so as to define the strategic sphere to which each feature of the territory belongs—in order to evaluate the relationship between individual elements and the level to which they belong to existing networks or circuits—and to identify its inclusion in and importance for local policies and mechanisms. The relationships between different resources were examined, taking into account spatial relationships and the territory’s morphological and physical conditions; in many cases, territorial resources were placed in more than one quadrant. Once analysed in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, the strategic thematic quadrants permitted the outlining of strategies and contributed to the concise construction of the plan’s territorial profile. The process of defining and attributing resources to the various different quadrants involved, first and foremost, the active participation of local authorities as players responsible for governing the many mechanisms at work in the territory.

Following a number of interviews with local groups and perception studies, the importance of terraces emerged, recognised not only for their role in constructing the local landscape but also as an identity-forming feature that qualifies the territory and its economies. Terraces were recognised as a feature that crosses boundaries between spheres and belongs to a number of different strategic thematic quadrants. Their environmental and landscape value was particularly recognised, as was their role as part of historic and artistic heritage and the potential they offer local tourist

1Scientific support was entrusted to the Italian branch of CIPRA (the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps). The working group’s members are Federica Corrado (Politecnico di Torino and CIPRA Italia), Antonio De Rossi (Politecnico di Torino) and Erwin Durbiano (CIPRA Italia).

Fig. 19.3 A typical terraced landscape in Alto Canavese (Piedmont Region) Photo Municipality of Settimo Vittone

facilities and identity-forming entities. The actions that were identified on the basis of meetings with local authorities and focus groups held with territorial stakeholders assign terraces two different roles. The first has to do with the promotion of agriculture and high quality crafts as part of a perspective that concentrates on employment and the salvaging of the territory and is applied through actions designed to promote the free leasing of agricultural land, research into the most suitable crops for the area and training courses set up to create new jobs maintaining the territory. The second method for improving terraces involves specific actions and is linked to the feasibility of enhancement work as regards hydrogeological and landscape problems and the application of specific regulations, particularly with a view to encouraging improvements to private land and the protection of the terrain and the landscape through town planning guidelines that are mutually agreed and focus on reuse (Fig. 19.3).

19.3.3.2Trans-Regionally Initiatives to Define New Actions at a Supra-Local Level

The Strategic Plan and the Third World Meeting on Terraced Landscapes proved to be the chance to look beyond the territory of individual projects, taking in the entire environmental context of terraced landscapes, which go far beyond regional borders and extend as far as the entrance to the Aosta Valley up until the sluices of Bard.

The initiatives launched by a number of local authorities located along the borders of these two regions highlight different approaches to salvaging terraces: the Aosta Valley side has demonstrated a more organised and matured approach to managing local projects and policies, while the Piedmont side is particularly interested in launching initiatives of strategic importance for the future of terraced landscapes.

The Conference has proved to be a particularly beneficial stimulus, inspiring the local community to tackle the challenge by building a route that stretches from Carema to the slopes of Mont Blanc, with the aim of increasing awareness of the terraces and highlighting the activities that are carried out by local people on stone-built landscapes. The involvement of local groups has become essential for the success of this initiative and has become an opportunity to strengthen the network of people that work on stone landscapes. The initiative has involved the following resources and players:

–The terraced landscape and its peculiarities, such as the tupiun and pilun and relative techniques;

–Museums, particularly ecomuseums, that can explore the theme of terraces and the activities that take place there;

–Places where agricultural produce is processed, particularly wine cellars;

–Aspects to do with popular traditions, particularly as regards farming techniques;

–Historical and architectural landmarks to be considered as both assets worth discovering and places where new activities can take place;

–Traditional local products and supply chains;

–Outdoor activities carried out both spontaneously and in an organised fashion in terraced areas;

–The initiatives that take place during the year in terraced areas and locations.

The success of this initiative, combined with the interactive dialogue-based process of the Strategic Plan, has thus strengthened the idea among members of the local community that terraces can be an enormous resource (active participation process, Virgilio and Imbesi 2007), to the point where there is talk of creating a festival based on this theme and on terraced locations, in the hope of networking the resources and initiatives that today have a beneficial effect on terraced areas, and at the same time strengthening the profile of a landscape that is alive and maintained, capable of manifesting new forms of management that are nevertheless based on tradition. This awareness also becomes the strength needed to make an impact on supra-local visions, starting with the Metropolitan City of Turin’s Strategic Plan, which is currently being drafted, right up to experimental trials included in the PPR Regional Landscape Plan.