BUILDING CAPACITY: INTERNATIONAL ADVANCED TRAINING COURSE ON GIAHS
(Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) 

For the resilience evaluation in three different socio-environmental and bio-cultural frameworks: Africa, Asia e Latin America.

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The project, financed by the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation (AICS), aims to promote the knowledge of agricultural heritage systems and traditional landscapes, supporting the FAO GIAHS program, through training and research activities, especially in the AICS Priority Countries. The GIAHS program is aimed at the worldwide identification of agro-silvo-pastoral systems that reflect the ingenuity of human adaptation to the environment, expressing the richness of biocultural diversity and the relationship between man and nature, able to sustain livelihoods for local communities.

The project
Operate in the more general framework of rural development in developing countries, in particular it is linked to the support to rural communities in areas where the preservation of traditional agricultural landscapes associated with quality food production can represent a non-reproducible from competition added value, which can be enhanced.
Creating professionals
In this framework, it is particularly necessary to create professionals able to identify and manage the GIAHS sites. This technician must possess skills for the application of the dynamic conservation principles to ensure the maintenance of traditional knowledge related to food production, of cultural values of local communities, of biocultural diversity, and of the characteristics of the landscape
The GIAHS program
The inscription of agricultural landscapes in the GIAHS program often takes place in the context of national and regional planning processes aimed at preserving and enhancing these sites, and the inscription includes the preparation of an Action Plan for the management of the site. The research activity, part of the project, intends to identify in the Priority Countries of the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, potential sites to be included in the FAO GIAHS program. This research part of the project will be carried out through preventive investigations, taking advantage of the scientific expertise developed for the creation of the Italian National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and Traditional Agricultural Practices.
AICS
The project is funded by the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation (AICS – www.aics.gov.it/language/en). The Agency is the operative platform of the Italian cooperation system, and it is called to perform activities associated with the elaboration, development, financing, management and control of international cooperation initiatives. The Agency seeks to participate in the global debate on development issues, and to act as a major player in the pursuit of the Sustanable Development Goals.

GOALS OF THE PROJECT

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The general goal of the project is to promote the conservation of traditional agricultural landscapes, contributing to the improvement of the quality of life and work of rural communities, reducing the abandonment and emigration, promoting food quality and safety and improving the income of farmers. These goals will be achieving following the principles of sustainable development and dynamic conservation, enhancing the role of Italy for supporting the GIAHS program, as well as the planning and conservation of agricultural heritage systems. The identification and definition of guidelines for the conservation and management of agricultural heritage systems able to adapt to different environments and climates will be carried out, in order to preserve biocultural diversity and agro-biodiversity, to maintain cultural values, traditional knowledge and the characteristics of landscape. The project takes as its scientific reference, the “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems” FAO program, the values established by the program and the characteristics of the registered landscapes. More generally, the project also intends to promote the awareness of these issues among the general public, public decision makers and scholars, to develop greater attention and sensitivity regarding the continuous degradation and the progressive disappearance of traditional agricultural landscapes.

The specific goals of the project are related to carry out a master  courses for students coming from the Priority Countries of the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, and to identify and map potential GIAHS sites in the Priority Countries. The training will be based not only on the scientific expertise of the Laboratory for Landscapes and Cultural Heritage of GESAAF, but it will take the sites of the National Register of Rural Landscapes of Historic Interest as examples of management strategies for the preservation of agricultural heritage systems. The Laboratory has developed a Memorandum of Understanding with FAO GIAHS Program, in 2012, specifically addressing the intention to develop academic training on GIAHS. Participants at the training course will have the opportunity to visit different study areas in Italy, belonging to the National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and Traditional Agricultural Practices,  and to learn how to apply the principles of dynamic conservation and sustainable development for the planning and management of traditional agricultural landscapes, and how to activate proposals for including agricultural heritage systems in the GIAHS program. The project also aims to identify and map agricultural landscapes potentially able to apply for GIAHS program, by studying the characteristics of the sites already registered and then identifying areas with similar characteristics in the Priority Countries of the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development. Finally, the goal is also to create a training center for high training on these issues at the University of Florence, that can establish itself at international level even beyond the end of the project.

  • Activity A1: University Master Course, 1 Level, on agricultural heritage systems.
  • Activity A2: identification of potential GIAHS sites in the Priority Countries.
  • Activity A3: communication and dissemination of the results of the project and  the opportunities offered by the GIAHS program.
Expected main results:
  • R1: To train professionals able to identify, manage and submit applications for the FAO GIAHS program.
  • R2: Identification of potential GIAHS sites in the Priority Countries of the Italian Cooperation Abroad Program
  • R3: Contribute to spread the knowledge about agricultural heritage and the FAO GIAHS program at international level.

MAIN ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

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