A DSS model for the governance of sustainable rural landscape: a first application to the cultural landscape of Orcia Valley (Tuscany, Italy) Massimo Rovai -
[email protected] - University of Pisa, DISAAA, Via del Borghetto, 56124 Pisa; Italy Maria Andreoli -
[email protected]; University of Pisa, DISAAA, Via del Borghetto, 56124 Pisa; Italy Simone Gorelli -
[email protected] – EMA srl Heikki Jussila –
[email protected] – Laboratorio di Studi Rurali Sismondi . Italia 1 1. Introduction and State of the Art1 2 The European Landscape Convention (ELC) defines landscape as “an area, as perceived by 3 people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human 4 factors” and underlines that “a landscape forms a whole, whose natural and cultural components 5 are taken together, not separately” (Council of Europe, 2000). This not only asks for an 6 integration of the methodologies and approaches that concern bio-physical and socio-cultural 7 aspects, but asks also for the adoption of proper tools able to highlight the effects of human 8 activities on landscape. Indeed, as highlighted by Conrad et al. (2011a), the Explanatory Report 9 of ELC observes that landscape protection, management and planning can be a complex matter 10 necessitating multi-disciplinary work. The need for public intervention in this field derives from 11 the economic characteristics of landscape; indeed, rural landscape is a pure public good and an 12 externality (positive or negative) of farming and other economic activities that exploit and 13 modify the land. Although landscape protection could be pursued by means of “command and 14 control” policies, based on the definition of standards to be respected on land transformation, 15 nevertheless standards are usually scarcely effective and often opposed by people who suffer for 16 their implementation.