Ripensare i rifiuti agricoli per la bioenergia nelle aree rurali: un modello di applicazione per la provincia di Foggia (Puglia, Italia). – Studi recenti e agende politiche internazionali si concentrano sempre più sulle geografie dei rifiuti e sull’equilibrio degli obiettivi di sostenibilità nelle politiche energetiche, rivelando problemi soprattutto nell’implementazione su scala locale. Sebbene l’uso della biomassa residua proveniente dai rifiuti agricoli e zootecnici per la produzione di energia rappresenti attualmente una delle fonti alternative più promettenti per la produzione di energia e il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile, inclusa la riduzione dei rifiuti, delle emissioni inquinanti, la conservazione di beni preziosi, paesaggi e biodiversità, è scarsamente incentivato e sviluppato a causa di varie limitazioni. Questa ricerca mira a sviluppare un modello sostenibile per la produzione di energia dai rifiuti agricoli con la tecnologia appropriata, ancora poco considerata ma compatibile con le risorse, i valori e i vincoli locali. A tal fine, si considerano le specifiche caratteristiche e potenzialità locali, utilizzando una metodologia qualitativa-quantitativa applicata in un’area di particolare interesse nella regione Puglia.

Sardinia between transhumance and the Blue Zone. Socio-spatial dynamics, rural lifestyle and diet of a geographical area of exceptional longevity: Ogliastra. – The rural dimension of Sardinia is strongly represented by the historical and social role assumed by agricultural activities on the island, which have always been characterised by transhumance phenomena (in Sardinia Tramuda) that, at different scales from the rest of Italy, have characterised some Sardinian rural territories (Ortu, 1988; Lai, 1998). Ogliastra has long been one of the lands of transhumance in Sardinia (Schiavone, Schiavone, 2014), and is marked by a high number of long-lived individuals (Blue Zone), for which, the rural environment, lifestyle and local interrelation-ships and genetics have influenced the health status in this area (Pes and Poulain, 2014). The work aims to investigate the socio-spatial dimension of food production linked to the rural (transhumant) culture of Ogliastra, trying to understand the configurations of territoriality (Turco, 2010) and how this socio-spatial, rural and food model may have influenced the particular longevity of the area. The Blue Zone diet, in fact, typical of transhumant territories, can become a catalyst for the sustainable devel-opment not only of Sardinia but also of many small Mediterranean rural areas and, furthermore, can facilitate the re-appropriation by the younger generations of their ancient identity heritage.

From transhumant to sedentary and “return”: the case of small pastoral activities in the Gulf of Augusta. – The processes of territorialisation and de-territorialisation that have taken place in the Gulf of Augusta are the result of an ‘oil culture’ that has long favoured economic growth and employment to the detriment of the territorial context and the original productive uses. It thus happens that, within the district formed by the four municipalities of Au-gusta, Melilli, Priolo Gargallo and Syracuse, Sicily, very different forms of economic activity coexist, some inherited from a late industrialism based on the petrochemical industry, others on more ancient agricultural and breeding practices. In this case study, the focus of the research was the observation of a small group of transhumant sheep and goat breeders, originating from an area north of Etna but who, for economic reasons, have become settled in areas that are close to industrial activities and, for the same reasons, transhumate in the small territory of the province of Syracuse. However, dairy products are sold to Etna’s dairies, potentially creating an information gap with the place of production. Between the chemical industry and agriculture, between different livestock farms, the area lives with forced coexistence that can hardly ever be considered an added value for one another, and the reason for this is easy to guess. The aim of the research is to understand these cohabitations and what drove the farmers to leave their territory of origin and settle in the Priolo Gargallo area with its controversial dynamics. To do this, documentation techniques typical of geography and visual research and interview techniques used in anthropological research were used.

The Protection of Agricultural Areas and Urban Legislation. Reflections on Building Uses of Rural Soils. – Since the Second World War, the dynamics that have animated the processes of urbanization have generated a radical transformation of the Italian rural landscape causing a change not only in order to the localization modalities residential functions but, more generally, on the whole organizational structure of the territory. As far as the protection of agricultural areas is concerned, the Italian town planning legislation has taken on a role only in recent times, referring to the concept of reducing land consumption.
Starting from a brief overview of the international context, the contribution focuses on the regional scale highlighting the critical issues of the regulatory system of reference, identifying some critical elements relating to the lack of protection of the agricultural territory.
In the conclusions some brief indications for updating the regulatory framework are proposed.

 

Rural Development Index (RDI). Hypothesis for a synthetic indicator of rural development. – This paper contains proposals contributing to the compo-sition of a synthetic macroeconomic indicator able to measure/assess on a European, national and regional scale the effectiveness of rural development policies up to now implemented by the EU. Since Agenda 2000, the rural development program is the “second pillar” of the CAP and it aims to maintain the competitiveness of rural areas through a quality policy, promotion of employment (in particular for young people) as well as environmental and rural protection; the measure’s central theme is the search for synergies between productive activities and those based on the territory and the traditions of the rural environment. The contents of this research refers almost exclusively to rural Europe, because the framework of these reflections is the Common Agricultural Policy, but some hints can be generally considered for development assessment relating to rural areas outside Europe.