Rethinking the places of life and work: the inner areas facing the challenges of syndemics. – After a ten years long debate on the SNAI and the goal of demographic in-version to be pursued with a «reversal of the gaze», or «bringing the margins to the center», we can talk about the controversial process generated by this objective, still ongoing: centering the strategy on a spatial practice (living) has led to a concentration of scientific and policy responsibilities on territorial planning which, while certainly crucial, works if the project is equipped in advance with a strong analysis of the places. This is the basis of the thought on inner areas that must be strengthened so that these places can be freed from intellectual subalternity. In fact, the theory and practice of planning also need to recover a good description of the territory, that ability to interpret the complexity of the relationships between natural space and human action, which is the work of the geographer. The paper aims to reflect on the need to re-think the descriptive investigation as a prerequisite for good planning, due to the urgencies issued by climate change and the pandemic shock, phenomena which, closely connected to each other, have shown how unpredictable and diversified they can be territorial responses to external stresses. The complementarity between description and planning, i.e. the alliance between geographers and architects, will be adopted as a guiding category to be able to read the depopulation of internal areas not as a merely housing issue but, rather, in a holistic vision, as the effect of the limits of a production system based on unsustainable territorial hierarchies.

I paesaggi, gli studi, i progetti, gli strumenti e il lessico delle e per le aree interne definiscono la struttura di questo corposo volume, che raccoglie i numerosi contributi di studiose e studiosi – in prevalenza architetti – impegnati nella riflessione scientifica e nella progettazione territoriale concernente l’arcipelago di paesi protagonisti della SNAI.

Remote, inner, left behind? The actors, social infrastructures and multivelevel governance of remote habitability. – This paper focuses on the assemblage of material and immaterial infrastructures, actors and multilevel policies that enhance (or impair) what we define as “remote habitability” in left-behind, remote areas. Applying the ethnographic sensitivity urged by Tomaney et al. (2024) for understanding in-depth the “making, unmaking and remaking” of contested social infrastructures in left-behind places, we present theoretical reflections and empirical evidence that draw upon a multisite fieldwork in the municipalities that compose the “Gran Sasso-Valle Subequana” subgroup within the Italian “National Strategy for Inner Areas” national policy framework (SNAI). The archival research, semi-structured inter-views and empirical observations that engaged institutional and non-institutional actors let emerge patterns of action, discourse and perception of social infrastructures and resources that are necessary for grappling with the identification and conceptualization of “remote habitability”.

La produzione letteraria sulle aree marginali italiane è stata particolarmente feconda nell’ultimo decennio, parallelamente a un interesse della politica che si è concretizzato, tra l’altro, in una Strategia Nazionale per le Aree Interne (SNAI) e in alcuni voci del Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR).

Home tourism for a destination proposal: the Prenestini Mountains. – The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant shift in tourism patterns, particularly favoring domestic and proximity-based travel. This study investigates the impact of these changes on the Prenestini Mountains, a mountainous area near Rome. By analyzing data on tourism infrastructure, local initiatives, and community engagement, it is explored how the region has adapted to the new tourism landscape. Findings reveal that while the pandemic initially disrupted the tourism industry, it also presented opportunities for local development. The Prenestini Mountains has seen an increase in near-home tourism, particularly among hikers. The study highlights the importance of local products, cultural heritage, and sustainable tourism practices in attracting visitors. Furthermore, it is discussed the role of local communities, institutions, and networks in shaping the region’s tourism future. By leveraging its natural beauty, agricultural heritage, and proximity to Rome, the Prenestini Mountains has the potential to become a destination for sustainable and experiential tourism.

LA SCOMMESSA DELLA SNAI. LA STRATEGIA NAZIONALE DELLE AREE INTERNE

Territorial disparities and SNAI criteria: re-thinking the classification criteria of inner peripheral areas– The concept of periphery can be defined at different scales (cities, regions, states) and according to multiple aspects which, over time, have attenuated the meaning of spatial position to favor the condition of socioeconomic marginality. In the regional context, there is a tendency to underline the decline in population and economic competitiveness, and the social decline of a territory in terms of poor relationships, often attributing them to the lack of opportunities and services, other times to poor accessibility. Some of these new meanings have been adopted by the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI in Italian matter), launched in 2012 and revised in 2020, to identify and classify peripheral municipalities, i.e. those municipalities that suffer from the distance from some public basic services offered by the larger cities. This conceptualization has stimulated a large debate on the choice of classification criteria and applied methodology that directly influence the elaboration of territorial rebalancing policies. Considering this debate, the authors of this paper have analyzed the criteria underlying the SNAI classification as a pretext for exploring the different narratives of peripheral areas that have been following one another for several decades, sometimes overlapping, other times integrating and flanking each other. According to all this, the authors propose a revision of SNAI criteria and methodology to consider the accessibility of areas and their resources and endowments, recognizing the inner and peripheral areas as a place of opportunities.

NRRP and Inland Areas. A Reflection on Inclusion and Cohesion Strategies in tge Grecanica Subregion. – The work aims to analyse the possible role that the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) may have for the Inner Grecanica Area (Calabria Region), in the margins of the work plan implemented by the SNAI (National Strategy for Inner Areas). The objective of this contribution is therefore twofold. On the one hand, to map the main results of the local development plan of the SNAI in the Grecanici territories; on the other hand, to verify the current needs of the area in question within the framework of Missions 4 and 5 of the PNRR, with particular regard to the components related to: i) the strengthening of the supply of educational services linked to the re-appropriation of the Grecanici language and culture; ii) social infrastructures; iii) special interventions for territorial cohesion. Through semi-structured interviews administered to institutional actors and to the component of cultural associations, social promotion, foundations, and non-profit organisations of the local community, an attempt will be made to identify social, educational and cultural developments and marginalities in the Grecanica Area and thus to verify whether they can find a response from the reforms envisaged by the PNRR. By means of GIS mapping, the scientific community and those who are working in the sector will be provided with a picture of the Grecanica area, following the policies launched by the SNAI, from which to reflect on the “reforms” envisaged by the PNRR for the Region of Calabria.

The Italian Small Islands in the PNRR Missions. A vision of the future. – The paper aims to understand the possible effects of the PNRR on the Italian Small Islands. The relationship between insiders and external actors, as well as the relationship of interdependence with the mainland, highlight the Italian Small Islands as a promising “laboratory” for investigation, not only as case studies but also as a complex and articulated spatial and territorial context in which some of the general dynamics tend to be emphasised. The peripheral dimension of the Italian Small Islands (Turco, 1980) has meant that since the Second World War they have been included among the “underdeveloped areas” and subject to the interventions of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno. Within this scenario, the smaller islands were the subject of specific funding or actions, in some cases emphasising their dependence on the mainland. This dependence has also been recorded in the policies of the National Strategy for Internal Areas (SNAI), which classifies island municipalities as peripheral or ultraperipheral, without however taking into account deeper local dynamics that effectively cancel out these conditions of peripheralisation. The PNRR proposes some missions explicitly addressed to small island territories, such as the achievement of a circular economy, forms of development that dialogue between tourism and sustainability, but also more general actions aimed, for example, at the mitigation of territorial gaps. The paper seeks to connect PNRR, tourism development and the challenge of Small Islands’ seasonal geographies.