Dare to imagine. Explorative scenarios for re-shaping human-nature relationships in an inner periphery in the Italian Apennines

Bibliographic Data

ID9846436
AuthorsMarco Mareggi (0000-0002-4978-9546, Politecnico di Milano, corresponding author), Luca Lazzarini (0000-0001-8971-6678, Politecnico di Milano)
Year2024
Volume158
Pages103358
Publication date2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFutures (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-3287 • E-ISSN: 1873-6378
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.futures.2024.103358
OpenAlexW4392511177
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited41

The article investigates the relationship between planning and future by presenting and discussing the application of the scenario-making approach to an inner periphery in the Italian Northern Appennine, the semi-abandoned village of Ebbio, in the province of Piacenza. Inner peripheries are commonly described as the territories that have “no future”, namely those where the idea of the future is most problematic due to socio-economic decline, marginalization, and demographic shrinkage. In particular, we present two explorative scenarios and discuss them comparatively, looking at their space and time declinations, and their capacity to shape different patterns of human-nature relationships. The two scenarios imagine the case study transformed, respectively, into an “agroecological village” in which food is interpreted as a key component in the creation of a new local economy based on agroecological practices, and into a “wild village” with the invasion of nature in the village according to a “more-than-human” perspective. Results highlight the relevance that the scenarios’ reflexive and dialogic construction can have for exploring possibilities about the future that were not previously considered by local institutions and civil society. Moreover, the scenario-making approach proved a relevant means to guide local communities to change their relationship with and perception toward nature, passing from a traditional view of “dominance” over natural resources and habitats, toward more balanced patterns of coexistence shaped by reciprocal socio-ecological relations

Geography · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Urban Planning and Valuation

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