Changing landscapes of Apulia: Towards participatory models for planning cultural landscapes

Rural landscapes are a fundamental part of the European territory and are generally recognised for their specific ecological, economic and cultural qualities. Great importance is attached to identifying new strategies for protecting, conserving and developing these landscapes, which are often characterised by the coexistence of a fragile balance between natural resources, agricultural traditions and small urban settlements. Citizen participation is among the most pressing demands in the international debate on heritage and landscape. Although documents such as the European Landscape Convention (ELC) promote the engagement of locals in defining landscape heritage values and identifying strategies for its protection, management and planning, observance of these principles is not widespread in practice. The aim of this thesis was to develop and evaluate a methodology that makes it possible to uncover local heritage perceptions and integrate them into a planning strategy in order to implement the ELC principles and foster widespread participation in the landscape planning practice. To this end, PPGIS and geo-design methods were combined to engage the Brindisi Plain community in Apulia (Italy) as a case study. Citizens, stakeholders and experts from different fields were involved through map-based online questionnaires and co-design workshops, allowing them to actively participate in defining and planning the local cultural landscape. Through this study, the developed methodology proved to be an effective way to implement the European Landscape Convention principles by facilitating participation and the involvement of the local population in the definition and planning of cultural landscapes. The three-step approach allowed us to uncover local heritage perceptions of the Brindisi Plain community and integrate them into a shared planning strategy. Combining citizen and expert knowledge produced a multivocal representation of heritage values, which could then be translated into design proposals. The use of GIS-based tools facilitated community engagement in landscape planning in rural contexts, enabling citizens to co-design their future cultural landscapes.