Terraced Landscapes Regeneration in the Perspective of the Circular Economy

Antonia Gravagnuolo,Mauro Varotto

doi:10.3390/su13084347

Abstract

Terraced landscapes were for centuries forms of sustainable and multifunctional land management, results of a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their environment. They demonstrated a rich cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity through sustainable land-use systems. These productive cultural landscapes in many cases were expressions of a pre-industrial circular model of rural development, where no resource was wasted. However, not all terraced landscapes have to be considered sustainable in themselves: in recent times, the terraces have undergone changes that have threatened their sustainability with abandonment and degradation as well as exclusively productive exploitation. This paper explores whether and how terraced landscape can recover an active role in modern society, analyzing emerging terraces recovery practices from the perspective of the circular economy. Innovative circular and productive uses of abandoned terraced landscapes aim at reducing the waste of natural and cultural resources, enlarging the lifetime (use value) of landscapes and preserving cultural and natural values for present and future generations. Results show that new functional uses of terraced landscapes are able to enhance in different ways their role as “middle landscapes” or places of mediation among economic, ecologic, ethical and aesthetic needs through circular adaptive reuse practices, becoming key drivers of new “circular” economies and a new pact between rural and urban regions.

Highlights

Terraces are among the most evident human signatures on the landscape, and they cover large areas of the Earth
[104], local green bottom-up actions and newheritage governance measures nologies, and both the systemic first and cooperation third wave [104], local bottom-up actions and newactors govare needed to enhance between research actors, institutional ernance measures are needed to enhance systemic cooperation between research actors, and business and community actors, supporting the knowledge economy, knowledge institutional actors and democracy, business and community actors,transition supporting knowledge society and knowledge and socio-ecological in rural the landscapes
The current practices of terraced landscape reuse and regeneration presented in this paper showed how it is possible to activate circularization processes, enhancing “virtuous loops” of value creation at the local level

Summary

Introduction

Terraces are among the most evident human signatures on the landscape, and they cover large areas of the Earth. Sustainable land management practices contributed to maintaining multiple natural and rural areas functions, especially for water management and protection from hydro-erosive processes and events [1,2]. Terraced landscapes were in the past forms of sustainable and multifunctional land management, results of a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their environment. They demonstrate a rich cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity through sustainable land-use systems, as expressions of a pre-industrial circular model of rural development, where no resource was wasted. Terraced landscapes are living systems that are present in many forms in the UNESCO

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