Paesaggi rurali e itinerari culturali. Rural Landscapes and Cultural Itineraries

Over recent decades, landscapes have gained importance in cultural heritage protection, recognized as a collective good essential for community well-being. The European Landscape Convention has elevated aesthetic qualities, emphasizing landscapes' role in forming community identities and promoting local involvement in their conservation and enhancement. The study of landscape palimpsests increasingly attends to rural aspects, examining how agricultural and livestock practices have shaped territories and influenced community interactions with them. Landscape archaeology's methodological frameworks facilitate a better understanding of these complexities, aiding in analyzing peasant dwellings and spontaneous villages. This approach supports examining rural structures, such as cadastral divisions, hydraulic systems, and road networks, which significantly impact the landscape and can be traced through historical and geographical investigations. Documenting these elements is pivotal for revitalizing the rural landscape. A knowledge planning process should reconstruct historical usage and modifications to preserve the rural landscape as cultural heritage, highlighting the historical ties binding local communities to their territory. This reconstruction aims to identify and restore the unique identity of landscapes, which underpin cultural itineraries sought by European communities for knowledge dissemination and shared heritage. Cultural itineraries serve as navigational tools for exploring landscapes and offer insights into the socio-cultural systems that forged these environments. The discussion includes methods for cataloguing and identifying cultural heritage components, emphasizing community participation in conservation efforts. Cultural itineraries, as defined by the Council of Europe, are vital for promoting shared heritage, allowing travelers to engage with the histories and cultures embedded in the rural landscapes, such as historical transhumance routes, which connect individuals to their cultural roots through experiential learning. Methodological frameworks from landscape archaeology facilitate a better understanding of these complexities, aiding in analyzing peasant dwellings and spontaneous villages. This approach supports examining rural structures, such as cadastral divisions, hydraulic systems, and road networks, which significantly impact the landscape and can be traced through historical and geographical investigations. Documenting these elements is pivotal for revitalizing the rural landscape. A knowledge planning process should reconstruct historical usage and modifications to preserve the rural landscape as cultural heritage, highlighting the historical ties binding local communities to their territory. This reconstruction aims to identify and restore the unique identity of landscapes, which underpin cultural itineraries sought by European communities for knowledge dissemination and shared heritage. Cultural itineraries serve as navigational tools for exploring landscapes and offer insights into the socio-cultural systems that forged these environments. The discussion includes methods for cataloguing and identifying cultural heritage components, emphasizing community participation in conservation efforts. The Council of Europe defines cultural itineraries as vital for promoting shared heritage. They allow travellers to engage with the histories and cultures embedded in the rural landscapes, such as historical transhumance routes, which connect individuals to their cultural roots through experiential learning.