1. Working the landscape – Terraces and dry-stone walls between identity and values
Cembra, May 4, 2013
‘TERRACES ADOPTION’ PROJECT:
LOOKING TO FIND A SUITABLE CONTEMPORARY USE
Danilo Cecchini, Luca Lodatti, Cinzia Zonta
Comitato ‘Adotta un terrazzamento in Canale di Brenta’

2. ‘Terraces Adoption’ - Project Overview:
The Brenta Canal Area
-
Some geographic references:
- Valley Lenght: 22 Km
- Valley Average Width: 4 Km
- Surface square Km:
- Main towns: 7 municipalities (Bassano del Grappa,
Campolongo sul Brenta, Cismon del Grappa, Pove, Solagna,
Sdfsafan Nazario, Valstagna)
- Population: 11.389 (2001)
To the right; 1:50000 IGM Chart of the
area of study (IGM, 1970)
On top, encircled: the area of study,
within a map of the Veneto Region

3. ‘Terraces Adoption’ - Project Overview:
Few hints on the area’s history and evolution
-
To the right : Two historic pictures portraying Valstagna in the first
decades of the 20th Century (Collezione Todesco)
A short history of the Brenta Canal:
- In ancient times it was a transit road
connecting the Padano-venetian Plain to
Northern Europe. In the moern age it
became a junction point for lumber
tradebetween Venice and the Asiago
Plateau
- From the 18th up until the 20th Century,
tobacco plantations were present in the
area. The construction of the first terraces
(locally known as ‘masiere’) goes back
to the same period construction of te
della coltivazione del tabacco e
(localmente ‘masiere’). The total lenght
of those valley slopes on which the
terraces were erected reach 230 km.
- In the aftermath of WWII tobacco
production plummeted and many towns
located on the steep slopes of the valley
were progressively abandoned,
- Today, only few of buildings are still
inhabited, and most of the valley
population concentrates in the valley
bed.

4. -
‘Terraces Adoption’ - Project Overview: The Brenta Canal today
Four recent
photographs of
the area of
study

5. The project has its roots in a number of
initiatives that, since the early 2000s,
promoted the study of the Brenta Canal
area’s terraces, and supported their
valorisation. Such initiatives have brought
public attention back to topics such as
landscape value of terraces and their role
in preventing hydro-geological hazards:
- The inauguration of the etnographic
museum ‘Canal di Brenta’ in Valstagna
(2003)
- The publication of the volume ‘Men and
Landscapes from the Brenta Canal’ (Perco
and Varotto, 2004)
- The activities of research and mapping,
included in the European Project ALPTER
‘Alpine Arc’s Terraced Landscapes’ (2005-
2008)
- The inauguration of the hiking track ‘The
High Road of Tobacco’ (2010)
‘Terraces Adoption’ - Project Overview: Previous experiences of
terraces research and valorisation

6. -
Two retired school
teachers fromi
Bassano del Grappa
asked the Valstagna
Municipality for
permission to restore
a terrace in order to
cultivate vegetables
and flowers (2009).
‘Terraces Adoption’ - The Project:
Inspired by chance

7. ‘Terraces Adoption’ - The Project: Management structure
‘Terraces Adoption’ has been developed starting
from spontaneous initiatives:
- A Committee in charge of managing the
project’s activities has been instituted
-Partners of the Committee are the Municipality
of Valstagna, the University of Padua, the CAI
section of Bassano del Grappa, numerous local
residents, and the tenants of the terraces
- The Committee functions as intermediary
between owners of the terraces and the
tenants/partners who cultivate and maintain
them.
To the right: The ‘Adopt a Terrace in the Brenta Canal Area’
Committee’s first meeting,Valstagna Town Hall, October 2010
CLUB ALPINO
ITALIANO
COMUNE
DI VALSTAGNA
UNIVERSITA '
DI PADOVA
Some potential obstacles to a
successful 'adoption' and recovery of
the terraces:
-The fragmentation of ownership
-Negotiations with owners
-Agreeing on shared maintenance
and construction techniques
-Agreeing on shared overall
framework for management

8. ‘Terraces Adoption’ - The Project:
The Free-of-Charge Leasing Agreement
A legal leasing
agreement was
produced by the
Committee,
outlining rights
and obligations
for the parties
involved (obligation
to keep vegetation
under control, obl. to
an acceptable and
responsible use,
Ususcaption right of
ownership)
Above: Leasing Agreement and Annexed Use Regulations (Elaborati in collaboration with the University of
Padua, Department of Labour and Private Law, 2010)

9. ‘Terraces Adoption’ - The Project:
Pilot-attempts at terraces recovering
Two terraced sites were chosen to begin the activities of recovery and maintenance. The first,
Contrada Ponte Subiolo, was easily accessible, while the second, Val Verta, was a terracing
more at risk of ruin and collapse.
Next, more sites entered the project, to reach a total number of 9.
Bird's-eye
photographs of the
pilote sites of Ponte
Subiolo (to the right)
and Val Verta (left).
THe areas coloured in
blue indicate the
areas recovered
throughout the
project
(Guido Medici
photos, image-editing
by the author)

10. -
After two and a half years, the figures are: 80 project partners involved, 96
terraces reconverted to the cultivation of vegetables. Terraces were
'adopted' in 9 municipalities. 40% of tenants/cultivators come from the main
urban centers in the area (Bassano, Rosà, Marostica, 40% ca), but also from
Vicenza, Mirano, Dolo, and Venice. Over the last months the percentage of
young cultivators has increased (25% approx.), and so has the number of
association involved (mostly social cooperatives) The Agricultural Institute
'Parolini' of Bassano has also become involved.
‘Terraces Adoption’ - The Project:
Results achieved between October 2010 and May 2013

11. ‘Terraces Adoption’ - The Project:
A first example of cultivation recovery
Below, an example of recovery. Yet, today we possess more direct testimonies…

12. Casarette Project
A social and agricultural redevelopment
pattern for the terraced areas of
Valstagna and the Brenta Canal

13. Sites of uncertainty: the Casarette terraces
have lost their historical role and function
(intensive tabacco cultivation, animal
farming, subsistence agriculture,
maintenance of the territory)
Sites of indecision the Casarette area was
cut out, ever since the 1960s, from decision-
making in the dimension of agricultural
production, landscape maintenance, social
integration and cultural heritage
valorisation.
Sites of reflection. Abandoned sites suggest
a multitude of questions. Our fundamental
dilemma is: simple recovery or area
redevelopment?
Sites of abandonement are sites of uncertainty

14. Recovery:
It links to memory and harkens
back to a formal
traditionalism. It looks at the
past and 'fixes' a close ans
static structure. Recoveries
typically aim to defining
patterns of cultural heritage
redevelopment. We consider
such approach only partially
useful: it can lead to socio-
culturally concrete and
'active' results only in very
specific situations.
Recovery and Redevelopment are concepts
inextricably linked to our present. Yet, the two terms
open to quite different future developments:

15. Redevelopmente:
It links to memory, yet it also
presents itself as a project that
endorses and nurtures the site's
potentiala, from a productiveo,
sociale, and cultural perspectivee.
Redevelopment thus looks at the
future, while relying on an open and
dynamic structurea. Due to its focus
on dynamism and on maximizing
the areas' potentialo,
redevelopment places itself within
the historic process of interaction
between tradition ed innovatione.

16. The Casarette Project: towards a stable
and sustainable settlement, under a
human and environmental perspective
Casarette presents itself
as an open (thus ready
to involve at any time
new environmentally
sustainable proposals)
and modular structure
(thus composed of
many integrated, and
yet autonomous and self-
sufficient modules).
Our terraces re-
development project is
ultimately aimed at
establishing a didactic
farm.

17. The didactic farm - Re-development
MATERIAL:
Re-activaton of the terraces.
- Re-start cultivation:
experimentation in
plantations. New plantations
shall not be specialized in one
crop, but rather oriented to
personal consumption, one-
to-one trade, small-scale
commerce.
- Preservation of the natural
and environmental balance,
that often hinges on
sustainability of the
cultivated/not-cultivated land
ratio.
- Prevention from hydro-
geological hazards.
- Local buildings
redevelopment

18. Maximum (if not exclusive) use of
on-site materials and resources.
The active involvement of local
labour-force will prove essential.
Non-invasive installation of solar
panels, in pursuit of energy
independence.
Small-scale bee-keeping
enterprise to be started in 2014.
Establishment of infrastructures to
be devoted to local-aware small-
scale tourism (a form of tourism
favoured by the non-existence of
transit roads and consequent
impossibilty of reaching Casarette
by car).

19. SOCIAL:
Development of relationships under the
basis of participation, exchange and
sharing:
with other actors: (individuals or groups)
who are part of a broader and
comprehensive understanding of 'Adopt
a Terrace' (services, materials,
equipment, seeds, other..). SOciability,
knowledge and practices exchange.
with the town of Valstagna: community
where we feel always integrated and
welcome. For instance, support of local
workforce in gathering and structuring
skills needed to implement the local
projects, reactivation of dwells and
opening of trails.
activation of relatinships with other
realities, working together with other
projects focused on uman and
environmental sustainability (responsible
consumption, seeds exchange, ancient
seeds search, respect for the dignity of
living creatures, and so on..)

20. CULTURAL:
Preparation of a little section of a
terrace for the cultivation of
tobacco , as well as the
construction of a space following
the traditional model for tobacco
drying and manufacturing.
Creation of a space within a cultural
centre for the promotion of
mountain culture , human and
environmental sustainability,
experimentation in crop-growing
techniques and ecological
livestock breeding and life-style.
Establishment of a Seed Bank : for the
autonomy, exchange and the
preservation of biodiversity
Promotion of activities in local
schools: small conferences,
guided tours.
Field research : anthropological+
agricultural experimentation;
alpine culture; tradition and
innovation, historic memory.

21. ECONOMIC:
Construction of a context
that supports minimum
wage earnings.
Valuation of public
property: common spaces
are common
opportunities