Abstract:

Although they often face problems that threaten survival, villages in marginal areas are usually genuine biological and cultural diversity reserves. They have resources that remind us of the sense of integration and harmony that links places to the people living there, giving life to an inextricable whole, consolidated in a long, co-evolutionary process. At a time when we are questioning the sustainability of development models and rules of coexistence that are inadequate to contain and repair the damage caused by past and current crises o (starting with the ecological and pandemic crises), villages in marginal areas can be privileged places to promote innovative development models based on the centrality of the human person in their relationship with the environmental components.

In line with this consideration and the most recent policies issued by the European Parlament to promote the sustainable revitalisation of the inner areas, the research REACT (financed by the University Italian Minister and by the University of Florence) focuses on the Casentino Valley addresses this relevant topic according to a strongly interdisciplinary approach that, thanks to the concept of the cultural landscape, welds the different dimensions of the problem into a comprehensive vision: settlements and architectural emergencies, cultivated landscapes and natural systems, community practices and experiences. Accordingly, the research aims to enhance the available heritage and human resources and define strategies and actions to generate ecologically and environmentally compatible, socially inclusive, and economically sustainable territorial development processes based on local communities' active and conscious participation.

Among the various activities developed by REACT, the three University Departments involved in the research group (the Architectural Department DIDA, the Science for Economics and Business Department DISEI, and the Department of Education, Languages, Interculture, Literature and Psychology FORLIPSI) organised a dedicated interdisciplinary workshop between July and November 2023 to develop innovative regeneration models for the historical village and rural territories. The workshop followed an interdisciplinary approach and analysed specific case studies in Casentino in light of the tangible and intangible resources available. This educational activity allowed university students and local communities to investigate the concept of cultural landscape, enhancing heritage elements linked to forest culture, including tourism development.

The paper will show the interdisciplinary educational methodology adopted in the workshop experience and present the results achieved to promote the Tuscan marginal areas' innovative social, environmental, and economic development. The objective is to develop a replicable educational strategy based on participating in design activities to regenerate similar European urban settlements.

Keywords:

Active Learning, Interdisciplinary workshop, cultural heritage, marginal areas, sustainable development.