Cultural Landscapes and the Ecological Transition

This open access book explores cultural landscapes as living territories where heritage, ecology, community practices, risk, accessibility, and sustainable regeneration intersect, with a particular focus on collaborative governance and territorial resilience. The UNESCO concept of “cultural landscapes” has broadened heritage protection beyond individual monuments, extending it to ordinary landscapes as essential expressions of community identity, shaped by history, everyday practices, and ecological relations. Today, the valorization of these landscapes is closely linked to global challenges such as climate change, territorial fragility, social inequalities, and the need for sustainable spatial and socio-economic development models. This calls for a shift from restrictive conservation toward collaborative, public-oriented governance, recognizing landscapes as shared and livable territorial assets. This book brings together research outcomes developed at University Federico II Department of Architecture, within CHANGES – Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Sustainable Society, Spoke 1 “Historical Landscapes, Traditions and Cultural Identities,” supported by the NextGenerationEU programme. Through interdisciplinary contributions, the volume explores cultural landscapes as living territories where heritage, ecology, risk, accessibility, production, welfare, and community practices intersect. It views cultural heritage—even in fragmented, vulnerable, and degraded areas—as a key asset for territorial regeneration, promoting a regenerative and circular approach based on existing urban resources, neglected spaces, and marginal landscapes. The research establishes a Heritage Community Urban Living Lab and proposes a co-productive, proximity-based planning methodology aimed at reactivating heritage as a shared community resource. This approach is applied to the Phlegraean Fields / Campi Flegrei, in the metropolitan area of Naples (Italy): a high-risk volcanic territory where uncontrolled urban expansion and land consumption have compromised an extraordinary archaeological, rural, and ecological heritage, rendering many sites and landscape resources “invisible,” difficult to access, and excluded from cultural, and economic valorization.