The Cultural Landscape of the "Grecanic Area" and the Recovery of the Genius Loci of its Historical Centres

The "Grecanic Area" in the province of Reggio Calabria is a region with an enormous heritage of great cultural value, surrounded by a still intact natural heritage, but now, despite some attempts to nominate the "Ellenofona Island" (ancient Greek - speaking area) in the List of the immense Cultural Heritage of mankind, this territory is not still considered despite of its value: it would be sufficient to focus mainly on the values of the great cultural heritage and the natural heritage and on the "genius loci" of the historic centres of the "Grecanic Area". The aim of this paper is to highlight how the protection and enhancement of these assets could contrast phenomena of emigration and depopulation of the inland areas and the socio-economic disintegration in favour of a re-appropriation of the cultural identity of an area that has remained virtually unchanged for many centuries. Starting from the new discovery of the "genius loci" of the ancient historic villages in the Grecanic Area, the conservation and the enhancement of natural and great heritage allows to pursue a sustainable development, using local resources as a "visiting card" of the territory, the natural landscape and the wildlife heritage

M.C. Escher and the Calabrian Cultural Landscape of Linguistic Greek Minorities

The Calabrian Region, in the past centuries, has been a refuge land for groups of different culture and religion from various Mediterranean areas. Today in this area it is still possible to identify three major ethnic language minorities related to historical events dating back to times past: the Greek of Calabria minority in the province of Reggio Calabria, the Waldensians one in the province of Cosenza and the Arbëreshë culture in the province of Cosenza, Crotone and Catanzaro. The existence in the same region of three "historical linguistic minorities", protected by the Law no. 482/1999, is unique in the Italian panorama: this territory is characterized by an ancient culture, an historic and architectonic heritage, and it is also inserted in an environment of great natural value, such as to create the conditions for the attempts to inclusion of this areas in the UNESCO heritage sites within the "Cultural Landscape" category. These territories are formed hierarchically by different ecosystems, deeply influenced by various factors such as the geological composition of the soil, the microclimate, the presence of the fiumare (characteristic Calabrian rivers), the geographical setting difficulties for agriculture and the use of terracing techniques to overcome the lack of large flat areas. The different combinations of these micro-ecosystems creates a complex landscape that can be observed at different scales and is determined by the human management of the various natural resources. No wonder that this landscape inspired Maurits Cornelis Escher to spend many months in this region, drawing and sketching

L’USO SOSTENIBILE DELLE AREE INTERNE ATTRAVERSO IL PAESAGGIO CULTURALE E LE CULTURAL ROUTES

Cultural Routes and Cultural Landscapes have now been assumed as key elements in the panorama of cultural tourism, because they can combine, in one place, various aspects desired by tourists: contact with nature, identity and intangible heritage, knowledge and local production, etc. This paper analyses a territory in the province of Reggio Calabria that fulfills the cultural route and cultural lan- dscape criteria: it has inside a big abandoned infrastructure, which could become a driving force for sustainable development of inland areas. DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.12.13            

GREENWAYS E VELORAIL: UNA CULTURAL ROUTE LUNGO GLI INSEDIAMENTI RUPESTRI DEI MONACI GRECI IN CALABRIA

The research project starts from a survey of the hypogean sites, on the Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts of the Province of Reggio Calabria, in which there is a presence of “Italian-Greek” monks. Since the first immigrations they have contributed to the realization of a Cultural Landscape. This historical period of Calabria, that is not yet fully known, is critical to understand origins of Greek’s religious and spiritual life and in the same time the cultural and social evolution of this Italian region. This project develops from a thorough analysis of the best practices of some European countries in the promotion of slow travel. Slow Travel and Slow Tourism have all the potential to use the cultural resources already existing in the territory through a sustainable repurposing of currently abandoned infrastructures. The creation of slow routes, as greenways, velorails, etc., may result in the creation of a “Cultural Route” on the trail of Greek monasticism in Calabria

The Recovery of the Historic Centres in the Metropolitan Area of Reggio Calabria through the Use of Bergamot

The abuse of land is devastating our country: environmental disasters (landslides, floods, mudslides, etc.) are becoming more frequent because of the abandonment of agricultural lands and an inadequate care of the land, particularly in the inland areas. But Calabria, and the province of Reggio Calabria, in particular, has agricultural vocations that makes it unique in the Italian panorama and there could be development opportunities for the region, not only in the agriculture sector but also in the recovery of the historic centers with an innovative use of waste materials coming from the production of bergamot, or citrus, for the restoration of historic buildings and vernacular architecture. From a metropolitan city point of view, we must put an end to the soil consumption in favor of the recovery and the enhancement of endogenous resources, utilizing innovative techniques and innovative methods we can diversify the use of existing resources to make them more productive

The Unesco Intangible Heritage as Input for the Development of Rural Areas: A Theoretical Model for the Valorization of the Mediterranean Diet

AbstractThe study aims to identify guidelines for defining a model of cultural planning, oriented to the development of the city of Reggio Calabria as a metropolitan centre. It will focus specifically on the rural areas, to provide an integrated plan for the advancement of cultural identity. This study develops a theoretical operating model for the valorization of the Mediterranean diet. The methodology consists of a preliminary fact-finding investigation. The second step involves the selection of municipalities able to apply best practices in the area in order to promote the Mediterranean Diet

GREENWAYS E VELORAIL: UNA CULTURAL ROUTE LUNGO GLI INSEDIAMENTI RUPESTRI DEI MONACI GRECI IN CALABRIA

The research project starts from a survey of the hypogean sites, on the Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts of the Province of Reggio Calabria, in which there is a presence of “Italian-Greek” monks.  Since the first immigrations they have contributed to the realization of a Cultural Landscape. This historical period of Calabria, that is not yet fully known, is critical to understand origins of Greek’s religious and spiritual life and in the same time the cultural and social evolution of this Italian region.This project develops from a thorough analysis of the best practices of some European countries in the promotion of slow travel. Slow Travel and Slow Tourism have all the potential to use the cultural resources already existing in the territory through a sustainable repurposing of currently abandoned infrastructures. The creation of slow routes, as greenways, velorails, etc., may result in the creation of a “Cultural Route” on the trail of Greek monasticism in Calabria.DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.16.0

LO SPIN-OFF UNIVERSITARIO “URBAN LAB S.R.L.” STRUMENTI E METODI PER LE TRASFORMAZIONI URBANE IN PPP

The LaborEst has made available in to the territory, the enormous expertise and the scientific production with the intention of encourage and achieve virtuous processes for the territorial development, since its establishment. This action was carried out, always, by the involvement of local authorities, by trade associations and other stakeholders, working in the Calabria area, and more specifically, in the Metropolitan Area of the Strait. In this scenario, among other initiatives, starts the spin-off UrbanLab s.r.l, an initiative in the area of construction services companies to develop methods and models to support the sustainability research and the feasibility of urban transformation projects. These methods and models can be implemented in public-private partnership, offering an innovative service characterized by an economic-estimate service, computerised systems and related to feasibility and pre-feasibility studies.  DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.09.1

ALLE ORIGINI DELL’UMANESIMO: UN ITINERARIO CULTURALE PER UNA RETE COMPETITIVA DI CITTÀ DEL MEDITERRANEO

The identification of the Metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria has highlighted the need to start a series of strategies that will allow the city to be competitive in the Mediterranean Sea. In this area the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria, because of the geographic location, has a position of particular strategic interest. One of the characteristics that distinguishes metropolitan cities is the ability to set their own international relations. The cultural route under study, emphasizing the period of “maximum splendor” of the city, would allow the launch of a system of international trade that starting from the cultural resources would allow then the networking of infrastructure, universities and businesses.DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.09.0

GREENWAY DELLA COSTA VIOLA: IPOTESI DI VALORIZZAZIONE DELLE FERROVIE DELLA CALABRIA

The idea of recovery of a railroad section of the Calabro-Lucane railways is based on trying to reuse neglected and now useless and unproductive structure, with the intent to promote a railroad which is the identity of the local communities and which assumes a special beauty in its contrast between the engineering solutions of steel bridges and tunnels in stone and brick, in unspoilt natural surroundings and farmland and very rich in local resources. The main objective is the re-appropriation by the community of its cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) and of its identity in order to promote, to encourage and to support sustainable processes of endogenous growth and improve the quality of life in rural areas. The paper, using a multidisciplinary approach, hypothesizes the possibility of the railway enhancement. Choosing among alternatives by proceeding lexicographically through a sequence of criteriais a common description of practical decision-making: this paper uses these sequences as a theoretical tool.DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.10.0