Ecological Restoration in Agricultural Landscapes 

This interdisciplinary course explores the complex dynamics of the implementation on the ground of the vision, missions, goals and targets set up by the CBD Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and by the EU’s Green Deal, the EU’s From Field to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies and Law on Nature Restoration. In particular, the transformative targets and actions deemed necessary to achieve the overall goal of “living in harmony with nature by 2050”, supposed to be initiated and completed by 2030, will be analyzed at local level in the environmental, economic and socio-cultural contexts of Tuscany. Problems and opportunities that may arise from the transformative processes of rewilding, as well as an in-depth overview of strategies, agroecological practices, policy tools and instruments available to local government, NGOs, users and other stakeholders, to manage sustainably Nature’s return, will be explored. The visits to different rural communities, protected areas and seminatural and agricultural ecosystems, including vineyards and olive groves, arable lands, natural pastures, oak, beech, chestnut and pine forests, salt marshes and wetlands, in the Apennine Mountain range, Chianti hilly landscape and Maremma flat coastal areas, will enable a clear understanding of the complexities to be taken into consideration to achieve a sustainable rewilding of Tuscany.