Service oriented approach to historical rural landscape analysis and valorization

The paper is aimed at discussing a methodological framework for the identification, preservation and dynamic management of historical rural landscapes, merging the two approaches of landscape service and service design. Historical rural landscapes are strongly linked to practices kept and passed over from generations of farmers, shepherds and woodsmen, whose work has created of complex systems based on a variety of ingenious techniques. All that is a testimony of a key contribution to a tangible and intangible heritage which represents the continuous adapting of humans to hard and uncertain environmental conditions, delivering many products and services able to contribute to social and life quality as well creating fascinating views. Social and technical transformation of last decades are threatening historical rural landscapes in their heritage, economic and ecological significance, whilst they are resources still able to play a key role in social and economic development. According the landscape definition from the European Landscape Convention, historical rural landscapes can be considered a territory consisting of environmental structures and functions delivering many ecosystem services that provide benefits enjoyable by mean of landscapes by a wide range of stakeholders. The ecosystem services perspective on historical rural landscapes requires novel approaches for its investigation and valorisation, such the service design theories. Service design supports the planning and management of people, infrastructures and organizations with the aim to deliver services centred on users’ needs, which are useful, profitable and relevant to the beneficiaries as well as effective for the service provider (being, in this case, the rural landscape The full paper will discuss the service approach to historical rural landscape by the case study of Southern Italy inner areas, where all interested parties (farmers, producers, resellers as well as visitors, consumers etc.) are cooperating subjects for the preservation and maintenance of rural landscape.