1. Integrated Valorisation of a rural territory:
The tourist potential
Working the Landscape
terraces and dry-stone walls between identity and values, Albiano, May 4th, 2013
Mariangela Franch
eTourism Research Group - Università degli Studi di Trento

2. The terraced landscape:
a ladder from the ground to the sky

3. The “intermediate landscapes”
Terraced landskapes are …
 located in between “urban growth and territorial
marginality” (G. Scaramellini, M. Varotto, Paesaggi terrazzati dell’arco
alpino. Atlante, Marsilio, 2008)
 characterized by functional complexity
 Included on EU level in the EEC list of “natural
habitats” of relevant interest (Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC)
 Included on national level in the Regulations of
Cultural heritage and Landscape (Leg. Decree 42/2004, -
reviewed in 2008)

4. Agenda
1. The value of rural landscapes for local
development
2. The role of tourism in the maintenance and
management of terraced landscapes
3. The role of agriculture in landscape valorisation
4. The sustainable development model for the
valorisation of terraced vineyards in the
CembraValley

5. The value of terraced landscapes
Several national and international studies identify
different levels of value:
 landscape
 cultural and identitarian
 economic
 for the prevention of geological hazards
 for the recovery of abandoned cultivations
 for the plantation of high-quality products
 for integration and social cohesion
 …..

6. The value of terraced landscapes for the local
development
un'offerta turistica?
From the perspective of local development,
attempts at valorising terraces have
encountered a number of obstacles, primarily
linked to the economic model that has
dominated in the Alpine territories ever since
end of World War II

7. The transition of Alpine economy
 In the past, growth and development have been
primarily linked to the exploitation of natural products
within a multi-functionality framework
 in more recent times, some Alpine regions have
completed a transition from multi-functional models
oriented to income support to intensive production
models. The sectors influenced by this variation were
primarily agriculture and tourism.
 In many territories, such change, marked the transition
from subsistence farming and small-scale tourism to
agricultural specialization and tourism industry

8. The main consequences
 In agricultural sector, decrease of
competitiveness of local products, and increase
of homogeneity in industrial agriculture (e.g.
French Alps' milk, cereals ...)
 In tourist sector, diffusion of mass tourism and
of standardized services (holiday offers such as White
Week Packages)

9. The value of terraced landscapes in the context of
local development
How to combine landscapes valorisation to the
local development model?
As far as "fragile" territories are concerned,
reconsidering the dominant economic model
seems necessary. In so doing, equally
necessary seems to make adoption of
sustainability and welfare measurement
principles

10. Sustainable development model
Sustainable development model implies:
 balanced and integrated management of
economic, social and environmental capital
 consciousness the three kinds of capital aren't
fully replaceable, and their exhaustion is
irreversible in many cases
 adoption of medium-long term perspective
 compliance with the inter-generational contract
with regards to transfer assets/resources
 integration among sectors, and specifically
agriculture, crafts and tourism

11. Preconditions
 with respect to the area where the three types of
capital operate, it is important to remember that the
territory and the lanscape are factors that
contribute to the qualitaty of the outputs
(agricultural products and tourist offer)
 culture, history, local identity and environment
are common good belonging to the local
communitiy, and secundarily are tourist attractions
 local communities should be involved into the
policy-making processes regarding the valorisation
and governance of terraced areas

12. The role of tourism in maintaining and managing
terraced landscapes
The sustainable tourism development model
 highlights a landscape peculiarities in order to
differentiate the offer
 promotes "diffused hospitality“ and other forms of
tourism respectful of the natural balance
 promotes new hospitality networks (e.g. B&Bs,
agriturs, "diffuse hotels, hotels, camping sites)
 promotes an integrated tourist offer that also
includes sectors such as oenogastronomy

13. The role of agriculture in defining a pattern towards
sustainable development
The agricultural sustainable development model
 can create new opportunities for SMEs (Small
and Medium Enterprises)
 sets its sight on typical and high-quality
products
 sets its sight on production processes that
are attuned with the landscape environmental
features

14. The role of agriculture in defining a pattern towards
sustainable development
 aims to promote local products consumption
(so called "Zero Kilometers products"), which is
more likely to generate positive externalities
 integrates the offer of local products with the
offer of “tourist services"
 takes into account the fragility of the
environment

15. The role of agriculture in defining a pattern towards
sustainable development
The terraced landscapes represent a potential
source for the local development of a valley, if:
 they result integrated within the sustainable
development careful to the delicate historic,
environmental, cultural and economic balance
 coherent interventions of political economy and
integrated planning are activated

16. Landscapes and an equal, sustainable
wellbeing
The sustainable development model introduces the
opportunity to measure the outcomes of local
development, also in terms of ESD(Equity and
Sustainable Develoment)
The Cnel-Istat Report Equal and Sustainable
Wellbeing in Italy (Bes), considers landscapes and
cultural heritage
among the indicators of landscape wellbeing the
report mentions the presence of historical rural
landscapes, among which terraces

17. Does the valorisation of Cembra Valley's vineyard terraces fit
into a model of sustainable development?
Vineyard terraces express “local cultural identites,
contribute to maintaining the cultural heritage of
mankind, and translate into the armonic
coexistence of income-generating productive
activitites and in the preservation of the landscape's
environment as well as of many of its traditional
cultural features“ (Terraced Vineyards of the Cembra Valley, in:
M. Agnoletti (ed.), Rural and historical landscapes. Towards a
National Catalogue, Laterza, 2011)
Therefore, we can argue that the preconditions for
successfully implementing the sustainable model
exist

18. Economic Sustainability
Economic sustainability
 farming of high-quality and identity-rich
products, to be commercialized through
“specialized” channels
 promotion of forms of rural and oeno-
gastronomy tourism
 promotion of agricultural experimentation
projects and of process innovation
 valorisation of porphyry crafts and integrated
fruition of tourist routes

19. Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability
 Increase of agricultural varieties
 Recover of marginal areas
 valorisation of terraced landscapes through
forms of rural tourism

20. Social sustainability
Social sustainability
 involvement of local communities in the cultural
recovery of terraces
 participation in decision-making processes related
to the valorisation of terraced areas
 activation of social cohesion processes
The sustainable development model could offer a
new multifunctional approach to manage
resources within a territory

21. Model's criticalities
 problems of channeling financial resources in
the direction of landscapes valorisation
 low awareness of the terraced landscape value
 fragmentation among units of production and
difficulty in generating networks of actors
 higher production costs

22. Model's criticalities
 Imbalance of contractual power between
productors and intermediaries in both typical
agricultural products and "niche tourism"
distribution
 Difficulty to express a shared vision for
governance processes
 delays in the introduction of technical and
organizational innovations

23. Model's opportunities
 demand for new professional jobs to satisfy the
requirements of different sectors
 oportunities for integration and social cohesion
(e.g. Adopt a Terrace in Valstagna)
 experimental agricultural projects (high-quality
local productions)
 opportunity to test the Bes indicator

24. Thank you for your attention!
Working the Landscape
terraces and dry-stone walls between identity and values, Albiano, May 4th, 2013
Mariangela Franch
eTourism Research Group Responsible - Università degli Studi di Trento

25. Principali riferimenti
M. Agnoletti (a cura ) (2011), Paesaggi rurali e storici. Per un
catalogo Nazionale, Laterza, Bari
Direttiva UE Habitats 43/1992
E. Fontanari, D. Patassini (2008), Paesaggi terrazzati dell’arco
alpino. Esperienze di progetto, Marsilio, Venezia
Rapporto Cnel-Istat (2013) Benessere Equo e Sostenibile in
Italia (Bes), Roma
G. Scaramellini, M. Varotto (2008), Paesaggi terrazzati dell’arco
alpino. Atlante, Marsilio, Venezia
T. Tempesta (2006), Il valore del paesaggio rurale, in T.
Tempesta, M. Thiene, Percezione e valore del paesaggio, F.
Angeli, Milano
M. Trentini, M. Romano (2012), Piccola Terra, Docu-film, Cierre
edizioni- Antersass, Università Padova, Comune Valstagna,
Trozdem Film