The Technological Project for the Enhancement of Rural Heritage
71
2 The Project for the Landscape Fruition of the Oglio Po
Significant on a territorial scale is the experience developed with the LAG Terre
d’Acqua Oglio Po within the framework of the inter-territorial and transnational cooperation project LANDsARE “Landscape Architectures in European Rural Areas: a
new approach to local development design”,
2 for the identification and promotion of
innovative modalities for the fruition of rural heritage and for adding both economic
value, as a lever of attractiveness for tourist flows, and social value, by reconnecting
elements of the territory’s identity.
The territory of Oglio Po is a context with a prevalent agricultural vocation, located
between the provinces of Cremona and Mantua, characterized by the presence of
noteworthy environmental, landscape and historical-cultural peculiarities, as well as
by a diffused fabric consisting of rural buildings only partially still working and
productive. The SWOT analysis conducted for the characterization of this context
outlined, on the one hand, the excellence of the heritage and, on the other hand,
the need to define a strategy of integrating the enhancement of this heritage, not
adequately used and in some cases entirely neglected, as a basic condition for the
economic development and for the tourism-focused promotion of the area.
The first phase of the project is focused on landscape heritage through the establishment of a database for the classification of historical and architectural heritage
with its relationships with the system of environmental resources, a catalogue of
the collected information, a selection of character-defining elements on which to
develop emblematic actions of rural heritage enhancement, a survey of the conditions of degradation of the selected heritage and thus the identification of intervention priorities. The second phase, presenting an experimental nature, consisted in
the organization of the design workshop “Land-LAB” and of the “Call for ideas for
the restoration and enhancement of rural heritage of the LAG Oglio Po territory”,
aimed at collecting design proposals for the implementation of tourist fruition ideas
for the area. Eventually, the third phase launched actions of dissemination and the
presentation of the achieved results, through traditional channels (exhibition, catalogue, public presentation) as well as innovative solutions (digital devices and the
cohesion platform).
2 “Realization of a survey for the knowledge of the landscape heritage of the area of the Oglio
Po and its conditions of degradation” (2013), LANDsARE Project–Measure 421 “Inter-territorial
and transnational cooperation” of the PSR 2007–2013 of the Lombardy Region—FEASR. Project
of transnational cooperation “LANDsARE”, research contract between Territorial Pole of Mantua
of the Politecnico di Milano and LAG Terre d’Acqua Oglio Po, scientific responsible R. Bolici,
operative coordinators G. Leali and S. Mirandola, work group E. Mussinelli, F. Schiaffonati, A.
Poltronieri, D. Fanzini, M. Gambaro, A. Tartaglia, R. Riva, G. Castaldo, C. Giordano, L. Mora, R.
Scalari. The outcomes are published in: Bolici 2015; Mussinelli et al. 2015; Fanzini et al. 2019.
71
2 The Project for the Landscape Fruition of the Oglio Po
Significant on a territorial scale is the experience developed with the LAG Terre
d’Acqua Oglio Po within the framework of the inter-territorial and transnational cooperation project LANDsARE “Landscape Architectures in European Rural Areas: a
new approach to local development design”,
2 for the identification and promotion of
innovative modalities for the fruition of rural heritage and for adding both economic
value, as a lever of attractiveness for tourist flows, and social value, by reconnecting
elements of the territory’s identity.
The territory of Oglio Po is a context with a prevalent agricultural vocation, located
between the provinces of Cremona and Mantua, characterized by the presence of
noteworthy environmental, landscape and historical-cultural peculiarities, as well as
by a diffused fabric consisting of rural buildings only partially still working and
productive. The SWOT analysis conducted for the characterization of this context
outlined, on the one hand, the excellence of the heritage and, on the other hand,
the need to define a strategy of integrating the enhancement of this heritage, not
adequately used and in some cases entirely neglected, as a basic condition for the
economic development and for the tourism-focused promotion of the area.
The first phase of the project is focused on landscape heritage through the establishment of a database for the classification of historical and architectural heritage
with its relationships with the system of environmental resources, a catalogue of
the collected information, a selection of character-defining elements on which to
develop emblematic actions of rural heritage enhancement, a survey of the conditions of degradation of the selected heritage and thus the identification of intervention priorities. The second phase, presenting an experimental nature, consisted in
the organization of the design workshop “Land-LAB” and of the “Call for ideas for
the restoration and enhancement of rural heritage of the LAG Oglio Po territory”,
aimed at collecting design proposals for the implementation of tourist fruition ideas
for the area. Eventually, the third phase launched actions of dissemination and the
presentation of the achieved results, through traditional channels (exhibition, catalogue, public presentation) as well as innovative solutions (digital devices and the
cohesion platform).
2 “Realization of a survey for the knowledge of the landscape heritage of the area of the Oglio
Po and its conditions of degradation” (2013), LANDsARE Project–Measure 421 “Inter-territorial
and transnational cooperation” of the PSR 2007–2013 of the Lombardy Region—FEASR. Project
of transnational cooperation “LANDsARE”, research contract between Territorial Pole of Mantua
of the Politecnico di Milano and LAG Terre d’Acqua Oglio Po, scientific responsible R. Bolici,
operative coordinators G. Leali and S. Mirandola, work group E. Mussinelli, F. Schiaffonati, A.
Poltronieri, D. Fanzini, M. Gambaro, A. Tartaglia, R. Riva, G. Castaldo, C. Giordano, L. Mora, R.
Scalari. The outcomes are published in: Bolici 2015; Mussinelli et al. 2015; Fanzini et al. 2019.