Introduction; Mauro Varotto et al.- Part 1: Terraced landscapes in the world: a general overview.- 2. Terraced vineyards in Europe: the historical persistence of highly specialized regions; Luca Bonardi.- 3. Italian terraced landscapes: the shapes and the trends; Mauro Varotto et al.- 4. Slovenian terraced landscapes; Lučka Ažman Momirski.- 5. Landscape typology of French agrarian terraces; Jean-François Blanc.- 6. Terraced fields in Spain: landscapes of work and beauty; Sabina Asins Velis.- 7. Terraced landscapes in the Canary Islands: La Gomera, “the terrace island”; Lidia Esther Romero Martín et al.- 8. Terraced landscapes in Perù: terraces and social water management; Lianet Camara, Mourik Bueno de Mesquita.- 9. Australian dry stone terraces: an historical and contemporary interpretation; Raelene Marshall.- 10. Agricultural terraces in Mexico; José Manuel Pérez Sánchez.- Part 2: Towards a multifunctional vision of terraced landscapes.- 11. Mapping agricultural terraces. Methodologies applied in the MAPTER project; Francesco Ferrarese et al.- 12. Terraced landscapes: land abandonment, soil degradation, and suitable management; Paolo Tarolli et al.- 13. Health, seeds, diversity and terraces; Salvatore Ceccarelli.- 14. Comparative studies on pattern and ecosystem services of the traditional rice agricultural landscapes in East Asia; Yuanmei Jiao et al.- 15. Terraced lands: from put in place to put in memory; Ada Acovitsióti-Hameau.- 16. Economic analysis of the traditional cultural terraced olive-growing landscape and participatory planning process; Biancamaria Torquati et al.- 17. The multidimensional benefits of terraced landscape regeneration: an economic perspective and beyond; Luigi Fusco Girard et al.- 18. The challenge of tourism in terraced landscapes; Theano S. Terkenli et al.- 19. Innovative practices and strategic planning on terraced landscapes with a view to building new Alpine communities; Federica Corrado, Erwin Durbiano.- 20. Planning, policies and governance for terraced landscape: a general view; Enrico Fontanari, Domenico Patassini.- 21. Integrated policies for terraces: the role of landscape observatories; Anna Marson.
Terraced landscapes are all over the world. They are the tangible evidence of how food production, rural activities and human life can express itself in the steepest slopes of mountain areas in the world.
Despite the multi-disciplinary values that terraced landscapes represent, they were scarcely appreciated in the past decades. Indeed the interest in their wise management and broader understanding has been constantly growing since the end of the past century.
Some outstanding terraced landscapes have been recognized at international level for their importance in the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, many other terraced landscapes in the world are abandoned or facing the same risks of collapse, trivialization or destructive urbanization, losing both their valuable environmental function and their intangible knowledge and heritage.
The volume collects the best scientific contributions presented in the 3rd World Conference on Terraced Landscapes held in Italy from 6th to 15th October 2016, for the first time offering a deep and multifaceted insight into the geographic distribution and the remarkable heritage of terraced landscapes in Europe and in the world. The manifest “Terraced Landscapes: Choosing the Future” signed in Padova in 2016 by all members of the International Terraced Landscapes Alliance aims to stimulate their renaissance as a model for sustainable development.