Relational goods, imbalances, and the society-environment relationship. – The interactions between the economy, the environment, and territorial systems form a complex network that influences the structure and development of regions. The reflection is carried out both in relation to imbalances and in the reinterpretation of ecological and socio-spatial relations, collaborative processes, and the organisation and reorganisation of space as relational goods. The issue of territorial imbalances is linked to the question of conflicts within political ecology. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to present a theoretical reflection that aims to deepen the relationship between the economy, the environment, and territorial systems, focusing specifically on relational goods in the context of two spatiotemporal dimensions and referring to a territorial system as an alternative approach. The complexity of the territorial system, therefore, suggests taking into account the communicative and relational interdependencies between local actors, that influence economic growth and sustainable development. Finally, the responsible use of territorial resources requires public policies that reduce spatial inequalities, promote the active participation of territorial actors and the sustainable management of resources as components of local development.

Textures and scalar relationships of transhumance between tradition and innovation. The Sportumanza project for a slow and responsible tourism. – Recalling the importance of transhumance as a territorial process and as the demonstration of the three attributes of space - scale, metric, substance – we can reveal the power of this ancient practice: it proceeds by multiscale relationships, foresees multiple metrics and it shows all its richness in substance, through the three characterizations of inhabiting (relational, functional and temporal). Through the case study of the vertical transhumance of the Orobic pre-Alpine context, we investigate how it generates relationships between human and non-human agents, functional practices for pastoral activity and for other ecosystemic services, care and preservation of biodiversity sites, enabling the shepherd and his animals to become sensors of environmental changes on a global scale. We then move on to the analysis of transhumance as an opportunity for innovation in the forms of living and doing tourism, especially in areas defined as peripheral and internal, by presenting the “Sportumanza” project.

Paesaggi transumanti: a variable geometry approach to interpreting the relational flows of nomadic transhumant pastoralism in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. – For centuries, a particular type of entrepreneur has been traversing the countryside of Friuli Venezia Giulia, climbing up the valleys and reaching the mountain pastures: they are the nomadic transhumant shepherds. The shepherds do not only make a vertical oscillatory journey that connects the mountains to the plains, but move with perpetual horizontal motion, which sees the herds make daily movements covering an area that affects the green spaces of almost the entire territory of the region, including protected areas, bringing out management and relational conflicts that deserve to be investigated. Despite urbanization, infrastructure and industrialization, transhumant pastoralism continues to exist and stands as an interesting example - complex and full of ambiguity - of resilience and sustaina-bility. “Paesaggi transumanti” is a research project that integrates disciplines of geography, ethnography and contemporary art. The article pre-sents a mapping updated to 2023 of transhumant shepherds in Friuli Ve-nezia Giulia and a proposal for the interpretation of the regional landscape according to their specific point of view.

Transhumance and landscape conservation in Northeastern Italy. An open question – With Apparent relic of a world close to extinction, the practice of transhumance is today reconsidered because of both its own important cultural heritage, and the role played in landscape management. While roaming and crossing complex landscapes as those of mountains and lowlands, animals and shepherds become actors of micro-processes of maintenance and regeneration, creating relationships between rural and urban systems. But this role is far from being socially recognized everywhere, and often transhumance practitioners are left alone, or even obstructed, by political and administrative structures. Starting from the results gathered during the Erasmus+ project TRANSFARM, employing field research, mapping and policy analysis, this article focuses on the constantly changing relational space of the North-Eastern regions of Italy: in this complex context the practice of transhumance and its issues become an opportunity for highlighting the deep inter-connection between mountains and lowlands and a still scarce consideration of the importance of transhumance in landscape management among herders, administrations and planning practice.

The relational space of transhumance: practices, values, visions. – In the past few decades, the study of transhumance has shifted from documenting a declining practice to adopting a more comprehensive approach, integrating heritage studies, political ecology, and the analysis of territorial resignification dynamics. This monographic issue aims to emphasize an articulated and relational perspective on the phenomenon. By using both old and new transhumance practices as a foundation for exploring forms of territoriality, the focus lies on the interplay between mobility and the creation of patrimonial value, cultural landscapes, and governance processes. The central question addressed is whether an operational approach to transhumance routes can effectively reconnect the past and the future. The contents of the volume are organized to prioritize research objectives, with contributions concentrating on the knowledge and patrimonialization of transhumance areas at risk of abandonment, ultimately aiming to preserve their ecological, biological, and cultural values.

The tradition of poet shepherds in the complex relational space of the Sibillini Mountains – For centuries, the practice of transhumance thrived in the Sibillini Mountains, particularly towards Maremma and Agro Romano. This pastoral society witnessed the establishment of both major and minor farms, leading to the gradual growth of a pastoral industry that persisted largely unchanged until the mid-20th Century. Enduring a challenging environment with extreme living conditions, the shepherds embarked on strenuous journeys from the mountains to the plains, spending months away from home, yet managing to preserve a deep cultural understanding. During their leisure time, these shepherds orally transmitted and safeguarded legends that have endured in the Sibillini region to this day. They also committed to memory poems of chivalrous exploits (such as Tasso’s Gerusalemme). Some, like Giuseppe Rosi, who fought alongside Garibaldi during the Risorgimento, even composed their own verses, adding to the richness of a distinct oral tradition that has been upheld for generations. Unfortunately, with the last of these poet shepherds disappearing, this unique oral tradition now faces the risk of extinction. This paper aims to explore the origin and evolution of these exceptional poet shepherds, with the intention of encouraging efforts to study, protect, and preserve what little remains of these precious pastoral and oral traditions.

Muslim spaces in Turin: a relational perspective, beyond secularisation and sacredness. – This paper aims to present Muslim spaces in Turin, including non-worship spaces. To this end, considering the ongoing debate on secularised and sacred spaces and the relational perspective between spaces, this study investigates the presence of official sacred spaces in relation to unofficial sacred spaces such as halal butcher shops and kebab shops in the urban context of Turin. These spaces were analysed mainly with semi-structured interviews. The secularisation of religious spaces does not only occur within an institutional dynamic, but can also take place within the community itself. This occurs through changing relationships between spaces and people over time. Another variable that comes into play is the interpretation of spaces according to the different sensitivities of their users, who may interpret certain practices and places as sacred or without sacredness.

The experienced space between mobility and Covid-19 restrictions. – If it is true that lived space represents our becoming and our being individual in our society, any variation on it, it implicates for the human race a physical, mental and relational disturbance. Human being lives in his territory and territory is modeled, for better or for worse, by human being. Global events, such as pandemics, force human being to confront himself with an enemy more and more underhand, able to undermine his certainties, gained until today.
Daily mobility has to be reconsidered in a new way; principles, for example, as The Schengen Agreement, is put to the test, causing a block in every region, and calling into doubt the worth of the same principle.
Which scenarios shall we face at the end of this pandemic? How is human being going to take on global future events? And what restrictions are adaptable to our freedom and democracy? Are we ready to face them?

The Gordian Knot and Ariadne’s string. The shape of space in the Covid-19 crisis. – Two antithetical versions of space seem to lie under the political management of the Covid-19 pandemic: on the one hand, the neutral and objective conception with which the Chinese lockdown has been implemented; on the other hand, the notion of space based on tracing and de-tecting specific relationships, exemplified by Taiwan. In Italy, a quasi-Chinese notion of space seems to have prevailed, with the noticeable exception of Veneto Region, where the system of swabs and track-and-trace on the territory was prevalent.

Covid-19 between north and south of the world. – The article takes on a dialectical and relational vision of the metabolic relationship with nature. In this perspective, viruses are constantly changing in order to survive and the circumstances in which a mutation becomes dangerous depend on human actions. What are the factors that contribute to the spread of epidemics and their rapid transformation into pandemic event? A possible answer is precisely in the historical process: when geographic boundaries become blurred and the world is interconnected, pathogens spread faster, because they travel with goods, animals, plants and with man. And the human being is a node of relationships in all directions, beyond time and space. If we are able to recognize the value and dignity of every human being, we will have started to defeat the pandemic.