Cultural practices as territorial management: a strategy for the Aso valley

This thesis examines how community-based cultural practices can contribute to theregeneration of small rural centres facing demographic decline, fragile liveability, andincreasing climate pressure. Moving beyond approaches that reduce culture to heritagepromotion or tourism, the research frames it as a set of situated and collective practicesthrough which communities interpret places, maintain social ties, and engage withterritorial change. In this perspective, climate change is not treated as a separateenvironmental issue, but as a condition that intersects with agriculture, settlementfragility, water stress, and the erosion of local knowledge.Methodologically, the thesis combines conceptual and policy analysis with theconstruction of a portfolio of selected cultural practices from rural European and Italiancontexts, organised through proper factsheets. This analytical framework is then appliedto the Aso Valley, in the Marche Region, interpreted as a connected territorial systemshaped by the river corridor, the agricultural matrix, and a shared cultural geography.On this basis, the thesis develops a place-based strategy that places the agriculturallandscape at the centre of regeneration, understanding it both as a cultural archive andas a living system increasingly exposed to climate stress. The proposed actions usewalking, oral archives, cultivation, workshops, residencies, and low-impact culturalformats to reconnect communities with landscape transformation, strengthenintergenerational exchange, and support local awareness and adaptive capacity. Thethesis argues that cultural practices matter when they are continuous, locally grounded,and embedded within a broader territorial approach.