A new type of agrarian life: rural heritage safeguarding for social and cultural development

In latest decades, there has been a growing interest towards the preservation of rural landscapes. Characterised by tangible and intangible elements, they result from the interrelation between man and nature and for this reason, own important cultural value. However, this heritage is fragile as exposed to weathering and decay phenomena that can blur or erase its distinctive features; it is also unstable due to both human actions and threats related to the acceleration of economic and social processes. In a period characterised by a global financial crisis, rural landscapes urgently ask for solutions to the environmental vulnerabilities caused by the abandonment of land and traditional crops. In this framework, the villages erected following the Fascist assault on the latifundia in Sicily, today unused and in a bad state of repair, deserve special attention. Such goods could benefit from the specific and accurate knowledge, conservation and revitalization activities. Focusing on the case study of Borgo Lupo in Mineo, Catania, this paper aims to highlight how the recovery and adaptive reuse of such sites could represent an opportunity for the invigoration of an area now scarcely populated, but at a very high agricultural vocation, so improving environmental and social justice, cooperative behavior, solidarity, and the general welfare.