UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA GHENT UNIVERSITY Dipartimento di Antichità, Filosofia, Storia Department of Geography e Geografia (DAFIST) DOCTORAL STUDY PROGRAM IN SCIENCE: Scuola di Dottorato di Ricerca in SOCIETÀ, GEOGRAPHY CULTURE, TERRITORIO Corso di dottorato in “GEOGRAFIA STORICA PER LA VALORIZZAZIONE DEL PATRIMONIO STORICO-AMBIENTALE Ciclo (XXVIII)........ TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE RURAL MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE. EXPLORING THE (HI)STORIES OF VAL BORBERA (NORTHERN APENNINES, ITALY) Msc. Rebekka Dossche Genova, October 2016 Promotors: Prof. Diego Moreno, University of Genoa Prof. Carlo Montanari, , University of Genoa Prof. Veerle Van Eetvelde, Ghent University Members of the Jury: Dr. Elke Rogge, Flemish Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries, Belgium Dr. Matthias Bürgi, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Switzerland Prof. dr. Roberta Cevasco, University of Gastronomic Sciences, Pollenzo, Italy Dean UNIGE: Prof. Stefano Pittaluga Dean UGent: Prof. Herwig Dejonghe Rector UNIGE: Prof. Paolo Comanducci Rector Ugent: Prof. Anne De Paepe TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE RURAL MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE. EXPLORING THE (HI)STORIES OF VAL BORBERA (NORTHERN APENNINES, ITALY) Rebekka Dossche Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor (PhD) in Historical Geography (UNIGE) and in Science: Geography (UGent) Please refer to this work as follows: Dossche, R. (2016) Towards a sustainable rural mountain landscape. Exploring the (hi)stories of Val Borbera (northern Apennines, Italy). PhD-thesis, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. This dissertation has been executed under a Joint Collaboration Agreement between the University of Genoa and Ghent University. Additionally, it has been made possible thanks to the financial support of the Flemish Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries (ILVO) for the period march 2014-february 2016. The author and the promoters give the authorization to consult and copy parts of this work for personal use only. Every other use is subject to the copyright laws. Permission to reproduced any material contained in this work should be obtained from the author. Subordination and disobedience, humility and the longing for freedom, the ugly and the sublime are closely interwoven and, thus, present an undeniable combination of opposite elements, a combination in and through which the one provokes the other and vice versa. Van der Ploeg (2008) We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect Aldo Leopold In one hand I have a local farmer who passes me his knowledge on how to produce this land, in the other I have a bunch of study books on production systems. Combining the two is my way to create a sustainable farm. Interview M. Carucci (2014) Voor N.D., die me leerde zowel mijn handen als mijn hoofd te gebruiken i ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “The Three Oddest Words” When I pronounce the word Future, the first syllable already belongs to the past. When I pronounce the word Silence, I destroy it. When I pronounce the word Nothing, I make something no non-being can hold. Wisława Szymborska I thought writing this part would have been the easiest, but maybe it is the contrary. There is an endless list of people I would like to thank. People I met during these last 4 years, people who supported me consciously or not, people who taught me, sometimes without even realising themselves. From some of them, I don’t even remember the names, or neither the faces. From others I do, and they are worth mentioning. Prima di tutto, Diego e Carlo. 4 anni fa sono arrivata in dipartimento, non sapendo bene come e dove muovermi in questo mare di accademici che, al mio parere, parlavano un altro linguaggio (oltre all’Italiano). Peró ho guardato, ho osservato, ho cominciato a capire, e ho imparato. Vi vorrei soprattutto ringraziare per le tante discussioni che abbiamo avuto (durante il Semper e non). Non è stato sempre facile, non ci siamo sempre capiti (fino alla fine…), peró vi assicuro che durante questi anni ho imparato almeno a seguire i vostri discorsi. E poi ho anche imparato la bellezza della discussione in sé. Veerle, in 2011, after a few years of working experience abroad, I arrived back at the university of Ghent, not really sure what to do exactly. You gave me the possibility to work on my first ‘landscape research’ project. And look now where it led me … Thanks for supporting me during these years, and being my promotor. Elke, I know you’re not officially mentioned as supervisor, but you surely more than deserve the ‘title’. Your availability, transparency, constructive observations, … have made this research and writing process a lot more understandable and feasable. Several times you’ve opened my eyes and changed my perspective, so I could see my objectives clear again. I really want to thank you for the chances you gave me, and the very fluent collaboration. Even at a distance. iii One of the hardest challenges of doing a PhD, from my point of view, was the loneliness. Oddly enough, being part of three research institutes did not always make that easier. The large variety of colleagues at UNIGE, Ghent University and ILVO, surely deserve a big thank you for understanding and supporting me. At the Italian side: Robert, Raffaella, Valentina P., Nicola and the other members of the LASA-research group. At the Belgian side: Lien, Lies, Eva, and all the ILVO-colleagues who made me feel at home during this last summer of writing. E poi ci sono gli attori, la gente con cui ho lavorato, chi ho intervistato, e che mi hanno ispirato con le lore storie, i loro racconti: Sergio, Maria Angela e Marco Crosetti, Marco Guerrini, Maurizio & Martina, Giuse Cresci, Giannino Delbarba, Walter Sorlino, Paulo Ferrari, Tamara, e molti altri. Siete voi le persone che avete in mano il territorio, ho imparato tanto da voi, spero che anche voi impariate qualcosa da me. Ma oltre agli attori locali, ci sono anche delle persone che mi hanno dato una mano nel loro modo. Ottavio Rube per essere semplicemente un’ispirazione, Jeff per farmi da specchio ogni tanto, Mario Zadra per dimostrare un interesse in quello che facevo, Paco per aiutarmi con Photoshop, e poi tutti gli amici di questo territorio ‘nostro’. Per avermi appoggiato e sopportato, senza forse neanche capire bene cosa stavo facendo. And in supporting, distance does not matter. That was clear during the huge support by family (mama, dike merci!) and (old) friends in Belgium: Thank you so much for cheering! I felt your energy on 1000km away! E poi, alla fine ci sei tu, Michi. Anche se gli ultimi mesi la nostra vita è stata un po’ su ‘pausa’, ci sei sempre stato. A parte del fatto che sei la persona per cui mi sono trasferita in queste zone rurali, sei il filo rosso in tutte le cose che faccio. Non vedo l’ora di riprendere la nostra vita in mano, e costruirla insieme a te e Leandro. And now? Now it’s time for something else. Something different. Something new. Thank you all. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................................iii Table of contents .......................................................................................................................... v List of figures ............................................................................................................................... xi List of tables................................................................................................................................ xv Chapter 1 - Problem setting, objectives and research questions ................................................1 1.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................3 1.2 The destabilizing effect of land abandonment ..............................................................6 1.3 Dualities within current rural landscape and rural life ..................................................8 1.3.1 Dualities influencing the rural landscape ...............................................................8 1.3.2 Dualities influencing the rural life ..........................................................................9 1.3.3 Global changes causing tensions in the rural .......................................................11 1.4 Future Sustainable Development.................................................................................12 1.5 Objectives and research questions ..............................................................................13 1.6 Outline of the dissertation ...........................................................................................14 Chapter 2 - Exploring dynamics and processes of rural mountain landscapes..........................17 2.1 Exploring … ...................................................................................................................20 2.1.1 … the different meanings of ‘Paesaggio’ – ‘landscape’ – ‘landschap’ .................20 2.1.2 … the key aspects for landscape research ............................................................26 2.2 Dynamics and Processes of rural mountain landscapes ..............................................34 2.2.1 Historic land management: the agro-silvo-pastoral system ................................34 2.2.2 Land abandonment and its largest consequences ...............................................37 2.2.3 In need for a sustainable development