Project number: 639 Project acronym: trAILs Project title: Alpine Industrial Landscapes Transformation

DELIVERABLE D.T1.3.2

Pilot profile (draft)

WPT1 Map AILs: data collection, harmonization and transfer into Work package: webGIS

Activity: Activity A.T1.3

Organization: LAMORO Development Agency – Project Partner 6

Deliverable date: November 2018

Version: 1

Dissemination level: Regional and Local stakeholders

Dissemination target: Regional and Local

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

CONTENT

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 3

1.1 REGIONAL PP S AND LOCAL STAKEHOLDER NETWORK ...... 3 1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE REGION...... 3 1.2.1 – GESSO VALLEY ...... 9 1.2.2 VALLE ...... 9

2 REGIONAL PROFILE ...... 10

2.1 NATURAL CONDITIONS AND LANDSCAPE ...... 10 2.1.1 VALLE VERMENAGNA...... 15 2.1.2 VALLE GESSO ...... 15 2.1.3 PLAIN AND HILLS ...... 16 2.2 ALPINE CLIMATE DESCRIPTION ...... 17 2.3 TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRAFFIC ...... 19 2.4 SPATIAL STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENTS ...... 22 2.4.1 Soil consumption – VALLE VERMENAGNA ...... 23 2.4.2 Soil consumption – VALLE GESSO ...... 24 2.5 POPULATION AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE ...... 25 2.6 ECONOMIC SITUATION ...... 28 2.7 ACTORS AND NETWORKS ...... 30

3 SITE PROFILE ...... 31

3.1 SITE - ...... 31

4 CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS ...... 38

4.1 PRESENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION...... 38 4.2 PRESENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE ...... 38

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 REGIONAL PPS AND LOCAL STAKEHOLDER NETWORK

LAMORO involved the Regional Authority (Land Planning and Landscape Sector) as Observer and it started to work for pilot area description in close cooperation with local stakeholders (first of all municipalities). The network of stakeholders includes the following actors: - Piemonte Region (Land Planning and Landscape Sector); - ; - Municipalities (8 Municipalities of the pilot area); - The Mountain Unions “Alpi del Mare” and “Alpi Marittime”; - Italcementi SpA HeidelbergCement Group; - Trade associations at the provincial level; - Environmental associations (Legambiente); - Civil Society and citizens.

The Mayors of Borgo San Dalmazzo and Valdieri shared with LAMORO info about the territory, development proposal idea and knowledge about past industrial settlement (mining and productive lines). Some information was also shared with Italcementi SpA. The Municipalities’ technical offices have been also involved. Anyway, for data collection it was necessary to involve stakeholders at 3 different administrative levels (regional, provincial and municipal). The major information of the pilot area has been processed on the basis of the Regional Landscape Plan (2017), the Regional Territorial Plan (2011), the Town Plans, the Provincial Territorial Plan (2005).

1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE REGION

Table 1: Facts & Figures of the Pilot region

Pilot region Valle Gesso e Val Vermenagna - Gesso Valley and Vermenagna Valley Country Location Region (NW Italy) Area (in sq. km) About 400 sq. km Inhabitants About 21.000

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Borgo San Dalmazzo, , , , Valdieri, Municipalities , , Characteristics Flat and (mainly) mountainous

The pilot region is characterized by the presence of many quarries and mines. The pilot area is located in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region borders.

Figure 1: The pilot area, in red the quarries and in yellow the pilot site.

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Figure 2: In red, you can see where the pilot is located in relation to Italy and Europe (the picture is catch up from the Geographic Catalogue of the Piemonte Region (Regional Authority).

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Figure 3: In blue you can see the pilot area in relation with the regional territory

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The pilot area is inserted in the Maritime territory which embraces the part of the Alps between the Colle di Tenda (Tenda Pass) and the Colle della Maddalena (Maddalena Pass), including the three valleys that lie on the Italian side of the : Vermenagna, Gesso, and Valleys. To be more precise the right side of the Vermenagna Valley is in the , and the left side of the Stura Valley is in the southern Cozie.

The pilot area includes two alpine valleys (Vermenagna and Gesso) and the municipality of Borgo San Dalmazzo. More precisely, the pilot area is identified as follows: - Valle Gesso – Gesso Valley (Municipalities: Entracque, Roaschia, Valdieri); - Valle Vermenagna – Vermenagna Valley (Municipalities: Roccavione, Robilante, Vernante, Limone Piemonte); - the flat and hill territory where the Municipality of Borgo San Dalmazzo is placed. Borgo San Dalmazzo Municipality is settled at end of the flat area and it’s the starting point of different alpine valleys: Gesso Valley, Vermenagna Valley and Stura Valley.

Figure 4: The mountain valleys in the province of Cuneo

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Figure 5: The Municipalities borders (Borgo San Dalmazzo, Roccavione, Robilante, Roaschia, Valdieri, Vernante, Limone Piemonte, Entracque).

This territory is characterized by a configuration of small villages with: low population density (lower than the national level), aged population, weak level of migratory dynamism, low prevalence of children under 14 years old (versus the total of the population). Families are small, the demographic dynamism is negative, both in the short both in the long term, and is affected by low birth rates that will impact on the short future. An aggravating factor is the level of education, since the lack of young graduates’ people is alarming. The number of pupils is shocking and it is relevant for a situation of a demographic shock in short term. Moreover, the houses not occupied for various reasons are very numerous. Commercial Structures (shops) are fragmented. The number of public concerns per inhabitant are undersized compared to the territorial surfaces. Tourism also does not constitute an element of strength for these areas (except for the Municipality of Limone Piemonte), in spite of the increasing number of holiday’s homes. From the analysis of wealth, production and services provided, the number of bank branches and money deposits are very low, as well as services to individuals and businesses. Also, agriculture does not seem playing an alternative role in the local development (the use of the soil is low in comparison to the total area). there are few major economic contributors and in the fragmented partition of the production structure there are employees with low income levels.

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1.2.1 VALLE GESSO – GESSO VALLEY

The Gesso Valley is situated just outside the town of Borgo San Dalmazzo and goes up towards Valdieri where it splits into the valleys of Entracque and Terme di Valdieri. It’s the core zone of the Nature Park of the Maritime Alps . The park is one of the largest protected area in Piedmont and it touches the municipalities of , Entracque, Roaschia, Valdieri e Vernante. These valleys and villages have undergone serious depopulation from the 1960s onwards. The mountains are very high, with an altitude over 3000 metres, for instance the (3.297m). The park borders are situated, for 35 km, in the French National Park Mercantour (a twinning agreement was signed between the two neighbouring protected areas in order to reinforce the cooperation). Its territory is divided between the municipalities of Entracque, Roaschia, Valdieri and Roccavione. Nearby valleys include the Valle Vermenagna, the Tinée valley in and the Valle Stura di . After Valdieri, the valleys divided into two sub-valleys known as Valle Gesso di Entracque and Valle Gesso della Valletta. From the sky, the Gesso Valley looks like an open hand. The language spoken by the inhabitants belongs to the Occitan language family. Historically, the valley was inhabited by the Ligures, who were defeated by the Romans in 14 BC. After the fall of the Roman empire, around 600, the Benedictines founded here the Abbey of Pedona, which controlled the valley until emperor Louis I gave it to the Bishops of Asti in 901. In the 13th century, after a short period under the Marquisate of , it was acquired by the Angevines, who had created a county in Piedmont with Cuneo as its capital. After the 14th century it became a fief of the Duchy of Savoy, to which it belonged until the 19th century, aside from a short French rule after the French Revolutionary Wars. The Savoy family created here a resort and a personal hunting reserve, which later became the Maritime Alps Natural Park. As a part of the from 1861, the valley remained economically based on animal husbandry and agriculture; after World War II the presence of hydro-electric plant favoured the creation of industries (especially cement plants), while tourist became increasingly relevant starting from the 1980s.

1.2.2 VALLE VERMENAGNA It would seem that the name Vermenagna derives from Verbena, a flower with exceptional properties. The valley is bordered on the west by the Gesso Valley. From the outlet downstream at Roccavione, the valley goes back south-east until Robilante where takes a more direct way to the south. Among Robilante and Vernante the valley resumed a trend towards south-east to the village of Vernante. From this village the main valley goes back in the direction south-west, then bend slightly to the south to Limone Piemonte, historic Piedmontese ski resort, with over 80 km of slopes.

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During the Middle Ages, the valley suffered incursions by the Saracens (10th century), which probably caused serious damage to Limone Piemonte. More reliable historical information about the valley began to appear in documents starting from the XI century, when the whole valley was under the control of the Bishop of Asti. Passed under the dominion of the Marquisate of Saluzzo, the valley underwent a political division in the XIII century, when the territories corresponding to today's municipalities of Limone Piemonte and Vernante pass under the dominion of the county of Tenda (1269). In the 13th century the valley offered shelter to a group of Cathars fleeing from Languedoc, who found hospitality in Roccavione. With the arrival of the Savoy, the road of the hill of Tenda was strengthened: after a first attempt to build a road tunnel started in 1614 and never completed, the road was made carriageable in 1782, and the road tunnel was finally realized and inaugurated in 1882

2 REGIONAL PROFILE

2.1 NATURAL CONDITIONS AND LANDSCAPE

The pilot area is covered by many protected areas and high mountainous areas over 1600 meter above sea level (Image 6 and Image 7). As protected areas we find two Natural Parks: - Parco naturale del Marguareis; - Parco naturale delle Alpi Marittime. We also find three Natural Reserves: - Grotte del Bandito – Bandit’s Grotto near Roaschia and Valdieri municipality; - Rocca San Giovanni-Saben near Valdieri municipality; - Gesso and Stura rivers.

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Figure 6: Protected Areas, Cirques and Areas over 1600 asl in the pilot area

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Figure 7: Natural Parks and Natural Reserves in the Pilot Area

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Figure 8: Land Cover of the Pilot Area, Corine Land Cover (2010 version) Map.

The Corine Land Cover (2010 version) Map (Image 8) indicates that our pilot area is structured by simple areas like urban areas (included industrial sites, productive sites, quarries and caves according to CLC description), rural areas (plans and hills) and the biggest part is covered by natural and half-natural sites of mountain and high-mountains.

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

From the Regional Landscape Plan, our pilot area is made up by the units listed in the map (Image 9, see the legend):

Figure 9: Landscape Units of the Pilot Area, Regional Landscape Plan October 2017

In October 2017, the Regional Council of Piedmont approved the REGIONAL LANDSCAPE PLAN, for protecting and promoting the regional landscape. The Plan aims at: regulating the transformations of the landscape; supporting the strategic role of the landscape for the sustainable development of the area. The Plan identifies 76 landscape scenarios (or areas) in Piedmont region. The Pilot Area is included within 3 different landscape scenarios: - Valle Vermenagna (number 56); - Valle Gesso (number 55) - Cuneo Plan and hills (number 58).

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2.1.1 VALLE VERMENAGNA

- The main urban centers are located on the valley floor, in close relation with the waterways and the roads/railway infrastructures. The urban centers of the valley were shaped according to a linear development on roads and along the Vermenagna river towards the Colle di Tenda tunnel ending up in France (Costa Azzurra). The town center of Vernante is situated where the valley becomes narrower and more tortuous; Limone Piemonte (Piedmont Lemon) is a dynamic winter touristic settlement and it is historically divided into two parts: one more ancient and one more modern. - The alluvial river bed and part of the slopes are occupied by numerous large limestone quarries with related cement and lime production plants. In the area there are numerous rock quarries limestone and siliceous. - The SPA (Special Protection Area) and SCI (Site of Community Importance) "Alpi Marittime" in the near the watershed represents a link between the Alpi Marittime Natural Park and the Natural Park Alta Valle Pesio and (outside the pilot area). - The Natural Reserve of the Woods and Lakes of Palanfrè (between Entracque and Vernante municipality) is a rare example of beech forest made up of secular specimens up to 300 years. - The Colle di Tenda area offers landscapes of particular value and accessibility, thanks to the trail and ex-military road that acts as a national border. - LANDSCAPE - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INSTRUMENTS: o SCI Alpes-Maritimes (IT1160056); o SPA Alpi Marittime (IT1160056); o Declaration of public interest in the area including the urban center e surrounding lands of the municipality of Limone Piemonte (Cuneo) (D.M. 09/12/1959); o Declaration of public interest in the Limonetto district in the municipality of Limone Piemonte (D.M. 22/06/1967).

2.1.2 VALLE GESSO

- The valley is characterized by a big number of beautiful valleys, different from each other by landscape and for the presence of many lakes both of natural and artificial origin. - The area is also important for the presence of the most southern glaciers in the Alps, in detail of the glacier of Mount Gelas and the glacier of Lourousa, on the homonymous gully. - In the past, the most peculiar and most closely connected activity to the morphology of the valley was mining, so much that Valdieri was remembered as the town of the lousatier (slate quarrymen). Valdieri counted three royal caves of marble that produced white quality, (bardiglio, bigia); Entracque had limestone and dike quarries plaster; finally, in the Vallone della Comba there was an iron mine.

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- Since the major roads are far from this valley, the waters structured the valley organisations: the water system that - most of all - characterizes the valley is the artificial basin above Entracque; it is fed by the overlying lakes of Chiotas and Rovina and serves the hydro power plant “Luigi Einaudi”, which can be visited and almost entirely built in a cave; - The dynamics of abandonment are generated by: abandonment of marginal pastures far from roads and with difficulties for the access; abandonment of anthropogenic forest surfaces (chestnut groves); expansion of limestone mining for cement; small villages not renovated. - The excessive seasonal tourist load impacts on the natural landscape. - LANDSCAPE - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INSTRUMENTS o Natural Park of the Maritime Alps; o Natural Reserve of the Bandit’s Grotto; o Rocca San Giovanni Nature Reserve - Saben; o Gesso and Stura contiguous area; o SIC Alpes-Maritimes (IT1160056); o SPA: Alpi Marittime (IT1160056); o Declaration of public interest in: the Gelas Massif (existing m 3143) in the Municipality of Entraque (D.M. 19/03/1927); the existing Lake Vei del Buch (2060 m) in the Municipality of Entracque (D.M. 19/03/1927); Lake Brocan (m 2005) existing in Municipality of Entracque (D.M. 19/03/1927); the Cascata delle Rovine (1535 m) existing in the municipality of Entracque (D.M. 19/03/1927); Lago Carboner (2821 m) (D.M. 05.28.1928); in the area of the Maritime Alps and the Mount Argentera located in the municipalities of Aisone, Valdieri, Entracque, Roaschia, Vernante (D.M. 01.08.1985); monumental trees called Faggi of St. James of Entracque (D.G.R. No. 20-2253 of 27/02/2006).

2.1.3 CUNEO PLAIN AND HILLS

The plain opens at the bottom of a series of valleys arranged in a fan and dominated, at both ends, by the peaks of Monviso (m 3841) and Argentera (m 3297); therefore, the area is characterized by a strong hydrography, with rivers running parallel from south-west to north-east towards the greater waterways of the region, the Tanaro and the . The road infrastructures are important: the railway branches link the capital to the north with and then , to the south with Nice, and to the east with Mondovì. In this area, only the city of Borgo San Dalmazzo is a part of our pilot area.

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2.2 ALPINE CLIMATE DESCRIPTION

The mountainous areas have the typical characteristics of the Alpine climate. In Borgo San Dalmazzo the climate is temperate with significant rainfall.

Figure 20: Average temperatures and precipitation in the Pilot Area (source: www.meteoblue.com).

The “mean daily maximum” (Image 10, solid red line) shows the maximum temperature of an average day for every month for Borgo San Dalmazzo. Likewise, “mean daily minimum” (solid blue line) shows the average minimum temperature. Hot days and cold nights (dashed red and blue lines) show the average of the hottest day and coldest night of each month of the last 30 years. For vacation planning, you can expect the mean temperatures, and be prepared for hotter and colder days. About precipitation, the area is characterised by high levels of precipitation (due to the presence of the mountain chain, the closure by the morphology of its valleys and the presence of the humid air from the Ligurian Sea).

The climate change will have effects on the environment and ecosystems. The climate change will involve an overall higher heating during the summer than the winter. Other changes are expected in rainfall, with more frequent summer droughts and greater precipitation during the winter, and moreover an increase in extreme weather events (floods, heat waves, dryness, etc. ...). These changes pose greater risks for a territory that is fragile from a hydrogeological point of view (risks of landslides and flooding).

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The climate change can also have an indirect effect on the mountain tourism. From this point of view it will be necessary to take advantage of the opportunities (such as the increase of the fruition of the mountain summer) carried by climate change at the same time minimizing the potentially most disruptive aspects (for example the lack of snow winter). The climate impacts on the presence of glaciers. Indeed, we can see form the elaboration of the Regional Authority Environmental Agency (Image 11) that the glaciers line in 2010 are reduced by 73 meters (historical data collection from 1961). This situation has serious impacts on the natural environment but also on the economic activities derived by the winter tourism.

Figure 11: The glaciers line, Authority Environmental Agency, 2010.

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2.3 TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRAFFIC

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Figure 12: The Pilot Area, road and rail networks.

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Figure 13: The major roadnetwork in the Pilot Area.

The Pilot Area is characterised by two main roads (Image 12, grey colour): SS21 and SS20 (SP20). There is also one railroad line (Image 12, black colour). The SS20 is the main road from Piedmont to France and it is made by 2 branches: the first one links Turin to Colle di Tenda tunnel (the ends up in Cote d’Azur, France), the second one from France to Ventimiglia (Liguria region). The SS21 starts from Borgo San Dalmazzo and runs near river towards the Colle della Maddalena (that ends in France). There are local roads within the pilot area and minor roads along slopes and valley. Sometimes is quite easy finding ex-military road in high mountain since this area is disseminated by fortifications.

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

There is one major railroad: the line denominated “Cuneo-Limone-Ventimiglia rail”. It’s a railway line (96 km) that connects Cuneo to Ventimiglia (Liguria region), crossing a stretch of French territory. There are also local branches unused and abandoned (e.g. Railroad Cuneo Gesso - Borgo S. Dalmazzo, 12,050 km).

2.4 SPATIAL STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENTS

The Regional Territorial Plan describes the area where our pilot is marked as a region affected by the urban sprawl. Unfortunately, the urban sprawl is increasing, due to the fact that the abandoned villages are no more restored (for bad preserving situations) and new buildings are made on free soils. On the other hand, the phenomenon of the second houses creates a false market that impacts on the soil occupation.

Figure 14 Urban sprawl in Piedmont and in the Pilot Area. The Regional Landscape Plan has individuated a system of traditional architecture in Roaschia, Valdieri and Vernante, called “Tetti” (Roof) that are made by local stone and wood (Image 15).

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There are 2 existing ski infrastructures: the “White Area of Limone and Limonetto” and the Ski touring area in Entracque (Image 15).

Figure 15: Traditional architecture and ski infrastructures in the Pilot Area.

2.4.1 SOIL CONSUMPTION – VALLE VERMENAGNA

- The overall mountain use is defined by: degradation, caused by the abandonment of the small villages on the slopes of the valley; traditional small pasture (for milk) in regression towards intensive pasture (for meat) with erosion problems in development; the impressive building activity followed by the affirmation of a modern tourism way has compromised the ancient mountain villages with 60’s -70’s buildings far from the local characters; numerous and large limestone rock quarries with related production facilities of cement and lime heavily condition the naturalness at the confluence of the plain Valley.

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2.4.2 SOIL CONSUMPTION – VALLE GESSO

- The dynamics of abandonment are generated by: abandonment of marginal pastures far from roads and with difficulties for the access; abandonment of anthropogenic forest surfaces (chestnut groves); expansion of limestone mining for cement; small villages not renovated. - The excessive seasonal tourist load impacts on the natural landscape.

Figure 16: Density of the settlements in the Pilot Area.

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2.5 POPULATION AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The pilot area is characterized by the demographic problems as it is a mountainous territory. Due to the morphology, the industrial and economic crises, the natural migration flows towards big cities and plain, our pilot area is facing the situation as below in the table (2018 updates):

Table 2: Population of the Pilot region

Municipa lity Inh (2016) Density inh/sq. km BORGO SAN DALMAZZO 12.427 557,21 ENTRACQUE 835 5,24 LIMONE PIEMONTE 1.469 20,84 ROASCHIA 104 6,33 ROBILANTE 2.279 97,88 ROCCAVIONE 2.693 149,87 VALDIERI 917 6,19 VERNANTE 1.166 18,98 Total 21.890

Table 3: Population and variation of the Pilot region

Borgo San Dalmazzo: inhabitants trend Borgo San Dalmazzo: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

Entracque: inhabitants trend Entracque: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

Limone Piemonte : inhabitants trend Limone Piemonte: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

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Roaschia Municipality: inhabitants trend Roaschia Municipality: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

Robilante: inhabitants trend Robilante: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

Roccavione: inhabitants trend Roccavione: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

Valdieri: inhabitants trend Valdieri: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

Vernante: inhabitants trend Vernante: number of births (in green) and dead people (red).

The density is very low as you can see from the below table (from the Rural Development Programme, elaborated by the Regional Authority): less than 50 inhabitants / square km except Borgo San Dalmazzo, Robilante and Roccavione Municipalities.

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Figure 17: Density of population in Piedmont and in the Pilot Area.

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2.6 ECONOMIC SITUATION

The major pillars of the economic development in the pilot area is represented by the agriculture (and livestock), manufacturing industries, energy production and tourism. A relevant index useful to define the economic scenario of the area is the marginalisation index. It has been calculated on the basis of different economic indexes such as income, employees, number of SMEs, inhabitants, level of education, scholarship and social indexes such as age and migration flows. Valdieri, Entracque, Vernante, Robilante and Vernante are categorised as municipalities with a medium level of marginalisation; Roaschia has a high level of marginalisation and Borgo San Dalmazzo with Limone Piemonte have a high level of dynamic socio-economic development. Limone Piemonte is classified as dynamic territory since its deep specialisation in the agrifood sector and tourism. Borgo San Dalmazzo receives the benefits from Cuneo city (the capital city of the province of Cuneo).

As a mountainous territory, the pilot area is characterized by common aspects: depopulation by young people, high rate of ageing people (with the related problems about services for older people), low level of accessibility (due to the morphology), lack of infrastructures like internet via fast line and social infrastructures (due to the depopulation), low level of services (for example the presence of schools in each municipality, hospitals or health poles).

The economic situation of the pilot area (as a total) is positive because the tourism is the leading sector (Limone Piemonte ski infrastructures and Natural Parks facilities). The mining industrial sector was a key sector in the past but nowadays many productive sites have been dismissed for different reasons: the world crises of the building sector (with impact on the production of cement), no more profitable for economic reasons, no more raw materials to be extracted and for environmental reasons. This kind of situation generated a considerable impact on the economic situation of the pilot area for many workers with the components industry and services connected to the mining industry.

About the tourism, the Rural Development Programme for Piemonte (2014-2020) has elaborated some data about the level of touristic specialisation for restaurants and hotels respecting the total number of employees. Our pilot area has only one specialisation in tourism, that is the Municipality of Limone Piemonte, famous for the leisure facilities dedicated to the mountain (outdoor, indoor, winter and summer sports). the other municipality have no this kind of specialisation. The manufacturing specialisation is as follows: wood and paper industry for Valdieri and Borgo San Dalmazzo; agrifood vocation for Entracque, Vernante e Limone Piemonte (with tourism); cement industry for Robilante and Roccavione; nothing for Roaschia.

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The Rural Development Programme for Piemonte (2014-2020) identifies the municipalities of our pilot area as “rural areas with constraints to the development”. This definition is given by the Italian Ministry for the Agriculture through a tool called Rural Index (based on three different indexes: environment and clime, innovation and competitiveness, development of rural areas). The Rural Index is available for all Italian municipalities and it is useful for the Regional Authority in charge of the Regional Rural Plan.

Figure 38: The pilot area (red circle) and the Rural Index

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2.7 ACTORS AND NETWORKS

The pilot area is ruled by different programmes. Regione Piemonte, as a programming body, has guidance functions and implements policies for the safeguard and development of its territory.

In order (from up to bottom):

The “Regional Territorial Plan”: it is a framework for the whole regional territory. It is issued by the Regional Authority and it gives mainstreaming and directions for socio-economic development. The Regional Territorial Plan identifies the territory where our pilot is inserted as important for the high level of environmental sustainability index (it is a complex index calculated on the basis of the presence of natural parks, rivers, natural resources…). Our pilot is inserted in a good area from this point of view: this is important for the impacts of the ecosystem services on the territory and population. The natural level of the territory is a powerful resource for the socio-economic development. The use of the soil is limited due to the morphology of the territory: the Regional Territorial Plan defined the soils in our pilot area as limited up to the use of wood and pasture.

The Regional Landscape Plan” was approved by the Regional Authority in October 2017. It is a tool for the protection and promotion of the regional landscape, aimed at regulating its transformations and supporting its strategic role for the sustainable development of the territory. It connects and correlates all the aspects revolving around the concept of landscape, and establishes the rules for the safeguard and promotion of the natural, historical-cultural and landscape heritage. The goal is the protection of the landscape of Piemonte to strengthen active and responsible citizenship by promoting sustainable development models. The Plan entered into force the day after the publication of the approval resolution on the Regional Official Bulletin (B.U.R. No. 42 of October 19, 2017). Within 24 months from that date, all urban planning or territorial planning instruments must be adapted to the Landscape Plan.

Municipal Town Plan: it is a tool that regulates the transformation of the municipal territory and therefore the building activity that can be accomplished in it.

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3 SITE PROFILE

3.1 SITE BORGO SAN DALMAZZO-VALDIERI

Table 4: Facts & Figures • Italcementi Spa industrial plant and “Terra Rossa” Quarry in Borgo San Site name Dalmazzo • Italcementi Spa “Monte Cros” Quarry in Valdieri. Area (ha or m²) • Borgo San Dalmazzo: the “Terra Rossa” quarry is no more authorized and the industrial plant is used only as a grinding center (with less than 20 employees, Status while up to 30 years there were about 400 employees) • Valdieri: the mine is authorized by the Regional Authority but there are no extraction activities at the moment Type of industry Limestone extraction Owner Italcementi Spa

After the Second World War, in Borgo San Dalmazzo and Valle Vermenagna, some of the most important heavy industries in the province came into operation. The first settlement of heavy industry in the Province of Cuneo was the Italcementi Spa plant in Borgo San Dalmazzo Municipality.

Italcementi is set up in 1864 in Scanzo (Bergamo) as Società Bergamasca per la Fabbricazione del Cemento e della Calce Idraulica. In 1927 it changes its company name into Italcementi Spa. After becoming the leading cement manufacturer in Italy, at the end of the Eighties it begins implementing the first initiatives to internationalize the Group becoming one of the main global cement producers. In 1997, Italcementi consolidates its strategy with the acquisition of Calcestruzzi, thus becoming Italian leader in the ready-mixed concrete sector. In 2016 Italcementi Group was purchased by HeidelbergCement (with more than 62.000 employees and more than 3.000 plants all over the world). In 2018 Italcementi acquires the Italian activities of Cementir in the cement and concrete businesses, enhancing its industrial and market leadership in the national building materials sector.

The Italcementi cement plant in Borgo San Dalmazzo (Image 19-20) was founded just after the Second World War in 1941. In 1947 Italcementi started the first two furnaces with the plant for the production of lime and two hydroelectric power plants to which, in 1955 and 1956, two other furnaces were added (in order to encourage greater production).

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Until 2008 in Borgo San Dalmazzo plant 3 furnaces were active. The Borgo San Dalmazzo plant boasts a long history on the territory and, for many years, the cement factory was one of the best sources of work for those who lived in the area, from Cuneo to the valleys. Since 2009, the economic contraction and the obsolete plant type led the company to decide the closure of the cooking lines. In 2009 it risked closure: on December 22, 2008, the shutdown of the kilns marked the first difficulties for the 97 employees at the time. Strikes, protests and interventions of various kinds implored the closure. The plant was transformed into a grinding center; the number of employees dropped drastically (in 2008 there were 97 employees, in 2015 there were 34 employees, today there are about 20). Some workers were transferred, others had early retirement, others found another job or required the period of leave, or had been reintegrated into other sectors of the company. Currently the quarry in Terra Rossa (Image 21) is no longer active and the plant of Borgo San Dalmazzo (Image 19-20) is used only as a grinding center (with about 20 employees, while up to 30 years there were about 400 employees). The quarry of Monte Cros (Image 22-23-24-25) has an ongoing systematic environmental recovery action, mainly with greening the soil (with hydroseeding).

Image 19: The industrial plant of Italcementi Spa in Borgo San Dalmazzo

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Image 20: The industrial plant of Italcementi Spa in Borgo San Dalmazzo

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Image 21: The Terra Rossa Quarry in Borgo San Dalmazzo

The quarry (Image 21), initiated by Italcementi Spa, provided schists for cement production. The quarry is strongly related to the construction of the factory in Borgo San Dalmazzo which was started in 1941. In Gesso Valley, mining is a millennial activity. As regards the Vermenagna Valley more specifically, the development of mining activities has "exploded" during the first decades of the last century, increased by the important routes of communication present in the bottom of the valley. Referring to the pilot area, only the Municipality of Entracque seems to have never authorized the opening of quarries, while in Limone Piemonte operated a plant downstream of the village with silica quarry operated (it is abandoned for over forty years). The quarrying activity is strongly related to the construction and development of the plants in the valley and the industrial fortune and the consequent economic-social repercussions on the territory during the post-war economic recovery. It is also emphasized the good geological vocation of the territory for the deposits of raw materials suitable for the production of cement and the presence of important communication and transport networks.

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Image 22: The Monte Cros Quarry in Valdieri

Image 23: The Monte Cros Quarry from Borgo San Dalmazzo view

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Image 24: Some views from Monte Cros Quarry in Valdieri

Image 25: The position of the Monte Cros Quarry (without scale map)

The Monte Cros Quarry (Image 22-23-24-25) is situated between Valdieri and Borgo San Dalmazzo Municipalities, in the territory of Valdieri Municipality. It was opened in 1950 for the extraction of limestone that was transformed in the cement industry of Borgo San Dalmazzo. The quarry is situated on the Monte Cros at 950 meter above the sea, near Gesso river.

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Here below it is possible to have a general overview on the quarries (red circles):

Image 26: The position of the Italcementi “Terra Rossa” Quarry in Borgo San Dalmazzo and Ialcementi “Monte Cros” Quarry in Valdieri. (without scale map)

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4 CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS

4.1 PRESENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION.

The local economy has undergone important transformations over the last 30 years. The industrial sector based on traditional activities and the presence of national and multinational industrial groups in the extraction and processing of silica sand and cement, in the paper industry and in the agrifood industry constituted a fundamental resource for the territory. With the closure of important industrial companies that provided jobs to local people, the region had to convert to open up new opportunities for development.

The main present and future challenges in the development of the region can be as follows:

- integration and enhancement of territorial vocations (agrifood, tourism); - searching for new specialisation (summer and winter tourism, environment, green economy); - integration of natural parks and protected areas; - forestry chain management; - integration and enhancement of the thermal system (Valdieri with in Valle Stura); - enhancement of winter tourism through the creation of new cross-country ski trails; - valorisation of typical products in agrifood sector (chestnut, potato, snails, cheeses, official herbs); - enhancement of the intangible cultural heritage linked to the Occitan culture; - completion of road connection infrastructure with France (Tenda Pass); - mitigation of the negative environmental and landscape impact of the mining areas and quarries; - searching for new job opportunities for local people; - creation of links with the major international mobility networks (airports, motorways ...); - elaboration of wide area policies on the provision and management of environmental services; - integration of vulnerable people (immigrants).

4.2 PRESENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE.

The main present and future challenges can be as follows: - involvement of the ownership of Italcementi SpA in a process of redesigning and rethinking the industrial site;

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- involvement of the local stakeholders and citizenship in the future redesigning of the industrial plant; - identifying and assessing the actual condition of the industrial site; - rehabilitation of the industrial site; - environmental restoration of abandoned quarries (mitigation works by the owners of the industrial plants); - mitigation of the negative environmental and landscape impact of the mining areas and quarries; - planning of new use for the industrial site: o for specialised sports: mountain bike, trekking…; o as a museum of the former industrial vocation of the territory (Eco museum of the concrete materials); o experiment of eco-life-cycle solutions; o creation of collaborative processes of renovation based on the participation of the population (policy makers, social parts, public administrations, SMEs).

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