The Role of Local Governing Bodies in the Management of Heritage Agricultural Landscapes: Italian Perspective

Abstract

The increasing interest in the protection of the agricultural landscape as a category of heritage can be observed both in the growing number of globally recognized agricultural landscapes and in the development of new legal and institutional tools for their protection. The multifunctionality of agriculture, involving the multiplicity of interests and actors, engenders the questions of how and who manages the heritage agricultural landscapes at the local level? The research aims to provide an empirical model for the identification and evaluation of the local governance models used in the management of multifunctional agricultural landscapes. It focuses on two heritage agricultural landscapes in Italy and bases on field observations, semi-structured in-depth interviews with the local stakeholders and comparative analysis of the case studies. The research draws the map of interaction between the local stakeholders. It outlines the crucial role played by the local governing bodies in the management of heritage agricultural landscapes, involving several administrative and sociocultural units.