Pathways to imparting
Report from the Excursion to the Nature Park Paneveggio, Italy within the
EU-Project Pathways to Cultural Landscapes, December 8th to
12th, 2002
Nature Park Paneveggio
The park, which is situated in the East of the Italian province Trentino /
Alto Adige was founded in 1967. The reserve protects over 20 000 hectares of
Alpine mountains with few valleys and a single lake. In the valleys, there are
several communities, which belong to the park. These are Tonadico, San Martino
di Castrozza, Primiero, Predazzo, Moena, and Valle del Vanoi.
Four visitor centres provide information on the park
- The Villa Welsperg is home to the park administration since 1996. The villa
houses a model of the park, a video presentation room, an "historical
room", a number of aquariums, a library and reading room as well as a
lecture room with adjoining laboratory.
- In San Martino di Castrozza visitors are informed about the natural characteristics
of the region. The main focus lies on the regions` climate, geology and palaeontological
aspects. In the park we can find a rock garden and a pond with a bunker, which
allows visitors to get an underwater view.
- The former sawmill of Paneveggio tells the story of an old forest domain,
bearing the same name. The managed forest is also known as the "forest
of violins", because of the good resonance of the wood grown here. Nearby
are an educational nature walking path and a small game park.
- The restored hay barn of Pra de Madego lies on a long cultural education
path and hosts the exhibition "Cercare l'erba" which tells of the
yearly rhythm of traditional mountain life.
The parks expenditure runs to about 2 Mio. Euro per annum. The largest part
of this budget is funded by the provincial government. With this money about
20 full-time and a larger number of seasonal employees are paid, as are the
fixed expenses which come to ~600 000 Euro per annum. The park upholds a vast
and varied program to inform and entertain the visitor. The highlight of these
events are undoubtedly the open-air concerts on mountain pastures - solely to
be reached on foot.
Methods of mediation - Ideas for the Spessart
Visitor Centres
- Mill museum Caoria
Through models the wood industry and its transformation since the Middle
Ages is vividly presented. Some models can be set into motion by pushing buttons
- a means which can be very interesting for children.
- Visitor Centre Pr de Madego
Especially interesting is the part of exhibition, which tries to suitably
present peasant mountain life for children.
- As a visitor centre, library and guest house, Villa Welsperg serves
numerous purposes. The Xylothek and Lithothek are especially interesting.
Here models and example specimens teach about the woods and rocks of the region
and visitors can learn to appreciate their aesthetic value. The exhibition
room beside the Villa hosts a yearly changing exhibit. The room is designed
an equipped to meet all needs of modern presentation techniques. In 2002 a
children-suited exhibit on the bee and its habitat is presented. Self-made
models show the build, function and development of the bee body. An oversize
beehive and the game "Life-cycle of the bee" are also supposed to
animate children to playfully explore the world of the bee. Outside the exhibition
is complemented by a real beehive, which is "harvested" by a beekeeper
and where children can taste the freshly won honey. The view is focused on
specific points of interest within the cultural landscape. To the right a
spot marked with footprints gives visitors a chance to look at and follow
one of the hiking trails. The paths lead away from gravel roads wherever possible
and communicate a stronger sense for the surrounding cultural landscape.
Cultural landscapes
Many characteristics of the cultural landscape can be found in both the Nature
Park Paneveggio and the Spessart. If one disregards the alpine altitude, land
use followed a similar development as it did in our region.
Low stone walls delineate the low alpine pastures, similar to those stone walls
around field terraces which show the historical land use, over which forests
have spread in the Spessart.
Probably because the region belonged to Tyrolia for over 500 Years and does
not lie close to any borders, boundary stones are far less common in Paneveggio
than in the Spessart. Alpine meadows are characteristic for the region, but
watering trenches pass through them, similar to those watering trenches dug
into floodplains in the Spessart.
The "inheritance partitioning law" not only separated house halves
in Gelnhausen-Höchst in the Spessart; in Tonadice, the outer appearance
of many buildings was also altered through this tradition.
Problems of landscape conservation
The alpine meadows and forests are managed in an exemplary manner. What remains
is the problem of what to do with the hay and straw. Today there are no longer
sufficient numbers of livestock to use all of the management "rubbish".
Thus in the Nature Park Paneveggio, "leftovers" are also stocked without
being used, a picture unseen in earlier times.
Resume
The Nature Park Paneveggio is financially much better supported by the Italian
provincial government than the Nature Park Bavarian Spessart. As a consequence
we see an under the circumstances nearly perfect organisational and programmatic
structure, which draw visitors from many parts of Europe.
There are many points of contact between the cultural landscapes Spessart
and Paneveggio. Single elements of mediating cultural landscapes could also
be used for the Spessart. Some of these are mentioned here:
- Visitor centres: besides Lohr, where the present information centre and
exhibition are, Rohrbrunn, Wiesen, Kartause Grünau and the "Wegscheide"
(ie. path crossing) in Bad Orb would make sites for possible information centres.
- Concerts: Due to its proximity to the Rhein-Main area, the Spessart holds
a good potential for outdoor classical concerts. After the successful ASP-Initiative
KUNSTRASEN, a similar pilot-project should de conceived to test the viability
of establishing outdoor concerts as a permanent attraction.
- Exhibitions: In co-operation with local museums, exhibitions could be used
to present the cultural landscape in a compact and well-co-ordinated manner.
Networking between partners and cultural pathways in the Spessart, this region
will gain much potential in the future, which will drive research and development
of this cultural landscape. The European cultural landscape Spessart will then
be able to position itself strongly between the Biosphere Reserve Rhön
and the GEO-Park Odenwald.
Impressions
Program
This document has been printed from http://www.pcl-eu.de/
© 2003 Pathways to Cultural Landscapes
With the support of the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union