Applicare la Convenzione Europea del Paesaggio a San Marino

The essay is an account of the research Paesaggio, storia, partecipazione. La Convenzione europea a San Marino (eds. Anna Laura Palazzo, Biancamaria Rizzo, Roma, Officina editore, 2009). According to the European Landscape Convention, the Manifesto of San Marino is a theoretical and operational instrument providing an interdisciplinary approach aiming at safeguarding, planning and managing San Marino landscapes. Part One (Milestones) regards landscape as a “common place” for sharing opinions and visions between expert knowledge and local knowledge; such philosophy implies an overlap between different policies and practices and a precise definition of policy design measures, actions and instruments suitable to achieve shared “landscape quality objectives”. Part Two (Threats) deals with the “predictory state” by using indicators such as land fragmentation and settlement patterns. Both show at what extent previous relations between built space and open territory as expression of peculiar rationalities, have been replaced by a commixture dismissing any attempt at reading landscape as a “text”. Part Three (Landscape patterns, quality objectives and operational issues) deals with “relevance”, “integrity” and “permanence” issues in landscape. An inclusive notion of landscape offers the ideal ground where to comprehend and guide future transformations, focusing on different aspects of landscape, notably seen as a biodiversity reservoir, and as the scenery of outstanding cultural heritage as well. Part Four (Policies and managerial tools for landscape) draws some major issues in order to increase conditions of environmental and social sustainability. Firstly, in order to avoid urban sprawl everywhere and to contain related urbanization costs, the choice should be that of collecting building rights inside homogeneous districts, more precisely next to existing villages. This approach encounters the need for implementing ecological networks, that implies “biological thickness” much wider than physical separations between land uses. An efficient set of policies for a multifunctional agriculture has to be launched as well. According to European Union and OSCE guidelines, farmers and landowners, directly providing a large set of consumer goods and facilities, including welfare facilities towards the population and the tourists, at the same time keep watch over territories preventing abandonment and hydrogeological risks. Part Five (Implementing quality objectives) takes into account the constitution of the San Marino Landscape Centre, with the aim of promoting studies and researches tied up to landscape issues and to increase awareness among the civil society, private organisations and public authorities.