Planning, Policies and Governance for Terraced Landscape: A General View

Abstract

Guidelines for planning, policies and governance are suggested by class of terraced landscapes taking into consideration the main features of geographic domains and environmental contexts. Dealing with irreversibility, reversibility and development processes the guidelines can help the communities to adopt integrated strategies based on an effective institutional design. Input and basic information are provided in the 3rd International Congress on Terraced Landscapes (Italy , 6th–15th October 2016) by the working groups “Rules and policies” held in Trento/Rovereto and “Agronomic and Social Innovation” held in Valstagna , Canale di Brenta (Vicenza).

Annex

Summary and adjustment from the document prepared by the working group “Rules and policies”, Trento/Rovereto, III World Meeting on Terraced Landscapes .

1.1 Foreword

On issues related to the abandonment of TL and aging farmers, there has been renewed interest on the quality and environmental sustainability of agricultural production. Strategies are based on multi-value functions that, beside production, keep such aspects as social interactions, community and cultural development, environment and related activities together, such as compatible tourism and local food markets.

To maintain the TL, the farmer’s role is crucial and concerns tangible and intangible values. It requires a constant presence and a strong subsidiarity of the public.

The public actions include empowerment (education and knowledge), rules and regulations , efficiency, facilities and infrastructure, and efforts to design a governance approach.

Here below the actions in detail.

• 1. Empowerment

  Analysis and knowledge

  Geography: general census and sample based surveys on physical-functional assets (atlas, maps, classification and alike)

  Economy/ecology: estimate economic capital values of TL (production, environmental externalities, eco-system services)

  Agronomy: ensure quality of the food production and processing, knowledge and traditional practices

  Education and research

  Agronomy: search for new high-value crops (innovation)

  Development of new technologies that can be adapted to the specific conditions of TL (new machinery appropriate to the nature of the terraces ) and/or enhancement of traditional techniques with contemporary (presence of working animals, etc.) and their supply chains

  Promotion, education and training on building and construction techniques, on traditional maintenance (dry stone structures: training courses for farmers, civil engineering specifications to encourage the dissemination of good practices, technical standards for testing drywalls, and so forth).

• 2. Rules and regulations

  Rules, beyond rules, reducing bureaucracy

  Facilitate farmers” work, support their direct intervention for restructuring and recovering abandoned areas (see TL1), income for TL oversight

  Facilitate the use of abandoned terraces through temporary uses, public acquisitions, adverse possession, bank of land, and so forth

  Simplification of approval procedures to start works for land improvement and re-cultivate wasteland

  Simplification of licensing procedures for small processing activities of local products

• 3. Efficiency

  Farming profitability

  Encourage interactions among operators (farmers, producers, associations, tour-operators, traders, schools and alike)

  Certification of products

  Designation of origin (DOC, DOP, IGP, Subzone)

  Brand

  Introduction of value-added crops

  Local processing of primary products

• 4. Facilities and infrastructures

  Infrastructural provision (roads, accessibility, irrigation, drainage and alike)

• 5. Public - private partnership: funding and taxation

  Project and implementation partnership (co-financing) between public and private to attain sustainable performances

  Direct funding (see, for instance, the Japanese model)

  Tax benefits

  Design and implementation of a project portfolio through programs or strategic plans combining incentives (for environment , landscape and heritage ) and direct funding

• 6. Governance

  Pro-active role of local authorities

  Enhancement of the participation of local communities and associations

  Planning-policies interactions

  International cooperation for the exchange of good practices (ITLA, Slow Food and alike)