Small farms’ contribution to food and nutrition security (FNS) is widely acknowledged; however, the diversity of context-specific characteristics of small farms is still barely documented in terms of farm strategies and household dynamics. The paper analyses this contribution in connection with the strategies related to the destination of the produce, with specific attention to the balance between food self-provisioning and economic integration. The analysis of self-provisioning relies on the assumptions that (i) production and consumption decisions cannot be analysed separately when they are attributed to the same entity and that (ii) family farm strategic choices are influenced by both business outcomes and household'’s welfare. The analysis of economic integration hinges on Polanyi'’s categories of market, reciprocity and redistribution as the three main modes of economic integration of a farm within its environment. We have collected information from a range of farmers in the Lucca province (northern Tuscany, Italy) and key stakeholders, through interviews, focus groups and field visits. The results of our analysis highlight the different ways small farms’ contribution to FNS in relation to each mode of economic integration adopted by the small farms. The different forms of this contribution can be identified at two levels: (i) internal to the farming household and (ii) external (i.e. referred to the community and broader society). A concept of food quality encompassing local sustainability, cultural heritage and social cohesion, is crucial to valorise, through appropriate policies, the specificities of small farms’ contribution to FNS.

The debate on the relevance of the global sustainability (including energy, environmental, social, economic, and political aspects) of building stock is becoming increasingly important in Europe. In this context, special attention is placed on the refurbishment of existing buildings, in particular those characterized by significant volumes and poor energy performance. Directive 2012/27/EU introduced stringent constraints (often disregarded) for public administrations to ensure a minimum yearly renovation quota of its building stock. This study describes how Life Cycle Cost analysis (LCC) can be used as a tool to identify the “cost-optimal level” among different design solutions to improve the energy performance of existing buildings. With this aim, a social housing building located in the town of Pisa (Italy) was chosen as the case study, for which two alternative renovation designs were compared using the LCC methodology to identify the optimal solution. The two alternatives were characterized by the same energy performance—one was based on the demolition of the existing building and the construction of a new building (with a wooden frame structure, as proposed by the public company owner of the building), while the other was based on the renovation of the existing building. This study can provide useful information, especially for designers and public authorities, about the relevance of the economic issues related to the renovation of social housing in a Mediterranean climate.

The lack of financial resources and the constraints about interventions are threatening the survival of built heritage and the multiple benefits it can provide. In time, the role of building conservation has changed from preservation to being part of a sustainable strategy where adaptive reuse may allow to protect built heritage, while promoting it as a resource. This paper presents the results of a multicriteria analysis applied to the case study of Certosa di Pisa in Calci (Tuscany), a former Carthusian Monastery currently run as a publicly owned museum center. Based on information gathered from literature and the involvement of the two main stakeholders, a SWOT analysis was performed to identify three scenarios in which new functions were introduced with the aim to cover restoration and maintenance costs. Scenarios were compared by using a participatory MCA, taking into account not only economic performances but also cultural, territorial integration and restoration co-impacts. Results show that it is possible to reach economic sustainability while conserving heritage values, but several criticalities may hinder the process. Conclusions discuss the suitability of the method in identifying sustainable reuse solutions and highlight the role of governance bodies and the problems related to their public and/or private composition.

There is a growing interest on landscape and landscape policy and planning, especially since the adoption of the European Landscape Convention in 2000. This latter defines landscape as "an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors". In the case of rural landscape, this means that an appropriate governance model should not only involve local stakeholders in a participative approach, but also take into account natural characteristics, cultural aspects of the past and present, and socio-economic aspects, since agriculture is the main driver of change for rural landscapes. Farm strategies are influenced by internal and by external factors, these latter being related to market conditions and to constraints and opportunities given by policies. Market globalization and Agricultural policies are consequently having a strong impact on landscape, that public institutions try to neutralise setting rules about landscape conservation. Thus, due to its specific features, landscape is impacted both by several sectorial and territorial policies which have none or very low coordination among them. Indeed, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has often shown a negative influence on landscape, also in the case of Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES) intended to promote landscape. In this framework, the aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive model for the governance of rural landscape and a first simplified application to a cultural landscape. This model is based on the integration of a geographical multi-criteria analysis, an advanced GIS-based geo-processing tools, and participatory techniques aiming to understand and foresee local stakeholders' behaviours through focus-groups and dedicated interviews. The identification of future landscape scenarios is based on the integration of past evolution (historical analysis), landscape sensitivity (territorial analysis) and farmers' adaptation to market and policy changes (farm analysis). A simplified version of the model was tailored and tested in the municipality of Castiglione d'Orcia of the Siena province in Tuscany, Italy, one of the UNESCO cultural landscapes, but is the Authors' opinion that its approach

Decision-makers, planners and administrators involved in different policy domains at different governance levels face the important challenge of fostering more balanced, sustainable and territorially integrated development. Well-designed, multi-level, multi-sector and multi-actor governance arrangements can play a key role in this process through orchestrating the interplay between different spheres, activities, actors and interests. In this paper, we examine the role of spatial planning in improving the relations between rural, peri-urban and urban areas. We analyse the strengths and limitations of spatial planning and explore the connections with territorial development. The methodology used for this analysis combines regional case studies in seven European locations—Ede, Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, Styria/Graz, Helsinki, Lisbon, Lucca and Mid Wales, with rapid appraisals, the analysis of published data, expert judgement and triangulation. We ask under which conditions spatial planning can induce more balanced, sustainable territorial relations, and look at the contribution planning can make to achieving sustainable development goals. The problem of ineffective (or toothless) plan implementation provides the entry point into the analysis and discussion. We illustrate why mutually beneficial relations between urban, peri-urban and rural communities (and territories) cannot simply be planned. Instead, these relationships need to be supported by strategies, policy instruments and governance arrangements that foster synergies between different actors and activities. The planning process itself needs to become more transparent and participatory. We conclude that the questions addressed in this article in an exploratory fashion merit further research especially as a more sustainable and territorially integrated development is becoming increasingly important in European policy making.