Socio-ecological infrastructures: rural communities and habitability in Southern Puglia. – This article examines traditional living places and socio-ecological reproduction as infrastructure among farmers practicing natural and regenerative agriculture in Southern Puglia. Exploring intergenerational knowledge, it shows how farmers enhance socio-ecological systems through cooperation with natural laws and refusal of extractivism. Case studies include “Torre dei Mastro” (Castellana Grotte), “Amadeco” (Salento), and neo-farmers in and around the Itria Valley. Findings show how neoliberal threats affect farmers’ capacity to sustain their systems, while double movement, self-governance and self-sustainability emerge, rooted in place-consciousness and autopoiesi. These practices embody restanza, stressing the potential of traditional farming for socio-ecological reproduction and their medium-long term potential socio-territorial change.

Collective land tenures: socio-ecological infrastructures in the mountain territories of l’Aquila, Italy. – This study examines collective land tenures as socio-ecological infrastructures articulating multi-scalar relationships among local communities, rural commons, and mountain governance. Despite extensive dismantling and erasure during the twentieth century, these institutions persist as self-governed systems supported by statutes and assembly-based practices. Drawing on qualitative methods including participant observation, interviews and walking as a research method in the mountain territories of L’Aquila, the research shows how collective land tenures continue to sustain ecological stewardship yet struggle to reproduce civic participation and territorial habitability due to depopulation and the erosion of cultural transmission. Recognizing them as socio-ecological infrastructures highlights their potential for civic regeneration, ecological care, and shared decision-making, offering self-organized responses to contemporary political and socio-ecological challenges in mountain areas.

The contract of life: transdisciplinarity and territorial governance in times of polycrisis. – The article, which deals with the problematic nature of territorial planning in times of polycrisis, reflects on some of the questions that the current issue of the journal puts to the attention of researchers, namely: what theoretical apparatus does geography have at its disposal to deal with problems that need to be tackled in an interdisciplinary manner? Can the current debate on climate change lead to a geographical attitude towards transdisciplinarity? Is a transdisciplinary vision aimed at the integration of knowledge capable of co-design as a mental attitude before a research programme? How can geography contribute to the operationalisation of such a scenario? In short, by using geographical analytical skills, one wonders if it is possible to envisage a method of governance that brings out a design suggested by the peculiarities of places and by the knowledge/experience of the inhabitants, who are no longer seen exclusively as recipients of interventions, but as designers and evaluators of the intervention itself.

Climate change as an opportunity for a new “habitability” of the mountains: the Orobic massif system. – Rising temperatures in many cities are altering their habitability, leading to the return of urban populations to the countryside and generating new opportunities for mountain areas. To trigger a new habitability of these areas, it is necessary to have a more correct geo-historical and territorial reading of them. Geo-historical and territorial interpretation based on the systemic culture of massive and the reticularity between different valleys. The Orobic Massif is an exemplary case of such dynamics and leads to the development of a change of perspective, bringing to light the material and intangible heritage still widely diffused and contrasting its valley disarticulation. To guarantee the habitability of the mountain it is also necessary to activate co-designing actions that transform the inhabit-ants into stakeholders in the role of planners and evaluators. The contri-bution presents the first results emerging from the research conducted by the authors within the framework of the PRIN 2022: “Governance for mountain reticularity: co-design and activation of a “contratto d’abitare” for the territorial regeneration of the Seriana Valley”.

The management of water resources in mountain contexts in ecological transition. – The frequency and concatenation of environmental and climatic phenomena requires a reflection on our way of managing the change, and in this direction the principle of “custody of the high lands” enhances the awareness of the communities on ecosystem services related to the precious water resources, essential to the biodiversity and the basis of stable economies for the mountain. The contribution intends to build a critical framework on interventions oriented to stem the water crises, adopted in the most vulnerable national mountain areas but which at-tempt the difficult territorial transition path on the climate tendency scenarios. The strategies will be analyzed, promoted by regional legislation and innovative regulations, for the territorialization of the actions on the management of the resource, but also complex projects and multi-sectoral studies with direct repercussions on physical and cultural landscapes, which therefore lead to inclusive forms of governance and participate.

Territorial management and promotion of the tourism offer: a study on the city of Benevento. – This paper explores tourism management in the Sannio region, focusing on Benevento. It highlights the importance of integrating the region’s natural, cultural, and gastronomic resources into a cohesive tourism offer. Through surveys and interviews with visitors, the study identifies key strengths, such as the region’s unique identity and attractions, but also highlights challenges like limited accessibility and inadequate infrastructure. Wellness, nature-based, and cultural tourism are identified as high-potential growth segments. The paper recommends strategic, integrated management, including infrastructure improvements, targeted marketing, and collaborative governance to enhance tourism developTerritorial management, Proximity tourism, Tourism, Territo-rial competitivenessment and competitiveness.

Strategic planning and local tourism: the case of Grecìa Salentina. – The XXVI edition of the Report on Italian Tourism from the Institute of Sciences of Cultural Heritage of the National Research Council (CNR ISPC) revealed that in 2022 (Marasco et al., 2023), out of the 70.1 billion euros spent by Italian tourists within the country, only 15.2 billion euros remained within the visitors' home regions. This marked a decrease of about 0.5 percentage points compared to 2019, showing a negative trend for local tourism. Despite this, proximity tourism shows strong potential, especially in marginal and inland areas, which can contribute to these places' development and cultural awareness. To achieve this, it is important to integrate local tourism into a long-term process led by the local community, emphasizing environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability as outlined in Agenda 2030. This approach is exemplified by the Strategic Plan for Tourism Development for the Union of Municipalities of the Grecìa Salentina, which aims to promote sustainable tourism.

Cooperations, mediations and conflicts between Italy and Switzerland in the Ticino River catchment basin: some geographical reflections. – This paper aims to describe and critically analyze the set of agreements, common laws and practices that were build up, across the years, to regulate cooperation between Switzerland and Italy around the Ticino River catchment basin on a series of issues concerning lakes and rivers. We identified five: shipping, fishing, regulation of water levels, electricity supply and production, and environmental protection. Interreg projects that were developed in the area are analyzed as recent means to solve conflicts based on innovative cross-scale governances. Eventually, issues of potential discord demanding mediation and cooperation in the near future are outlined, specifically in relation to climate change.

Hydric resources as patterns for a community regeneration: the Gleno dam between memory and innovation in Scalve Valley. – Geography offers tools for territorial analysis and planning which, by integrating field research with geographic information technologies, propose innovative approaches to support re-generation processes. This is strategic in mountain contexts where, over time, water resources management has been at the core of a delicate co-evolutionary relationship between humans and non-humans and, sometimes, has caused catastrophic fractures induced by anthropic action, like dam collapsing. The essay presents the case study of the Gleno Dam in the Scalve Valley, province of Bergamo, where, since the collapse centenary (1923-2023), the geographers of the Imago Mundi Lab at the University of Bergamo have been carrying out research aimed at reconstructing the territorial stratification generated over time, focusing on the role of water and the disastrous results of the dam collapse on the entire valley. Many places abandoned after the disaster can today be regenerated through co-design processes using mapping systems and placing water at the centre of new symbolic meanings, cultural functions, and production practices.

Mega events and urban spaces: Paris, Olympic City 2024. – Geographical reflection has now sedimented, through theoretical reflections and empirical analysis, the assumption that the organization of major events has disruptive effects on the balance, albeit always dynamic, of urban ecosystems. Infrastructure construction and preparatory governance processes are then accelerators of transformative dynamics that implicitly or explicitly impact the spaces and communities involved. The construction of the Olympic village in the St. Denis neighborhood for the 2024 Paris event explicitly seeks to intervene on the area’s marginal territorial milieu. Investment and infrastructure constitute the line of intervention on which, naturally, critical debate has been activated. This paper, based on a qualitative methodological approach, through Document analysis, and a number of field surveys aims to identify the main critical ribs specific to the case study.

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.

Requalification of peripheries with an industrial background: the case-study of Mirafiori in Turin. – The paper intends to develop a reflection, starting from the case of the Mirafiori neighbourhood in Turin, on the role that the peripheries can adopt as a laboratory of transversal innovation in the field of urban design, policy, governance, active citizenship and overall the global themes of Agenda 2030 (United Nations, 2015). The Mirafiori neighbourhood can be highlighted as an emblematic case, since it is an industrial suburb closely connected with the former FIAT (now Stellantis) industrial plant. Over the years, the neighbourhood has suffered a socio-demographic and identity crisis, and over time numerous projects have been launched to address these crises. Participation in European projects insisting on the neighbourhood allows us to be privileged observers and actors for: the re-designing and re-qualification of Mirafiori Sud through the realisation of Nature-based Solutions, useful to strengthen and increase the connection of the food system, a tool for social inclusion and territorial development, as well as to increase the envi-ronmental value of the already existing natural elements; to address activities with a Place-based Education approach, useful in the redesigning of spaces. The analysis of projects settled in Mirafiori is needed in order to assess the possibility of constructing new urban centralities starting from marginal places.

Landascape of Decay. Landscape of the Camorra: Characters, Perceptions and Storytelling. – For a reading of the landscapes of the Camorra, the peculiarities of a territorial nature should be analyzed: economic, urban planning, social, criminal and narrational of these particolar landscape scenarios of degradation. By practicing a critical analysis of the relationships that are established between organized crime and the landscape. In its physical forms and in those of individual and community life. The Camorra landscape is produced by a system of community relations achieved by a range of widespread illegal attitudes and behaviors, converging in actions of laceration of the civil fabric. The perception of this set of negative values is a fundamental component of the generation and perpetuation of this landscape. The individuals and communities of those territories have the perennial cogency of an "underlying" landscape present to their sensorial and cultural perception, based on disvalues distorting every action and behavior, therefore every feeling of them. The territory, its use and its governance, is strongly characterized by uses, practices, meanings and a particular storytelling. Made up of values charged with social and criminal negativity, but also fully perceived by the communities. Communities are forced to undergo this particular territorial connotation, which becomes fundamental in the emergence of this landscape of organized crime.

For a model of governance of Cultural Routes: Territorial Business Systems. The case study of the Via Francigena between Monti Prenestini ed Ernici. – Cultural routes and way are gradually assuming a leading role in territorial planning policies because on the one hand they are capable of responding to the criteria of environmental, social and economic sustainability and, on the other, of favoring an expansion of the tourist offer with a strong connotation identity. The study aims to support the hypothesis that a geographical approach by aggregates can represent the indispensable premise for the development of a governance model which, through the itinerary and the way, guarantees the implementation of actions aimed at enhancing and managing extended coherent territorial areas.

Spatial and temporal dimension of the pandemic covid-19: from the territorial repre-sentation to the governance processes. – The Covid-19 has been increasing interesting and now it results widely argue. This theme is territorial and geographical studies are such important to the role of Italian territorial or-ganization to stem it. The methodology refers to the analysis of spatial and temporal dimensions unfolds along the effects of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy on a regional and sub-regional scale with respect to the trend and the current scenario; according to a methodology specific to a position paper, taking into account the situation in the making, the contribution addresses the question of territorial organization and governance with reference to the state and local management of government processes triggered by the crisis and, in particular, the role played by public health. The acknowledgment of evolution and diffusion of Covid-19 is a necessary condition, but it is no sufficient too, despite the recognition of the government best level and the group of authorities. The last question of this topic is about a new proposal to individuate the best institution and the features: the role for the authorities and territorial for the dimension.

 

Cultural heritage and urban regeneration. Roma Capitale suburbs Announcement for the launch of a culture driven development. – The management and the rethinking of urban spaces, old and new, central and peripheral, in use or in assignment, is an essential and unavoidable challenge for the competitiveness of any urban systems. This implies a profound change of policy and relations between the actors and the stakeholders that act in it. In this challenge, the culture is a new, and so far underestimated, competitive advantage, able to act as a catalyst to encourage and stimulate creative and innovative processes of territorial development, starting from available local resources. In fact, in the current globalizing scenario, each territory must continually generate local revitalization processes, in order to remain economically competitive and culturally attractive. In this context, urban areas characterized by inadequate spaces and public services, in which there are abandoned structures with particular emphasis on those connoted by landscape features and historical architecture of a certain level, may represent flywheels and natural incubators with a cultural background from which starting to redefine the overall structure of any local systems. The recovery projects proposed for three areas of the northwest area of the city of Rome, falling in the suburbs Announcement recently presented by the municipality, fit in attempts to develop urban resilience proposals according to an approach of culture driven development.