Intangible cultural heritage, territorial valorisation and local communities. Focus on dry stone walling and Mediterranean diet

The "Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques", inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and concerning eight European countries, exemplifies a harmonious and symbiotic relationship between human beings and nature. Considered as one of the oldest ecological techniques and used both for housing and agriculture, dry stone walling plays a crucial role in the hydrogeological protection of steep slopes. The low-impact technique of dry stone walling, shaping Mediterranean landscapes across millennia, goes well with the Mediterranean diet, another transnational asset within the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Mediterranean diet involves a set of traditions, know-how, skills and practices, from the landscape to the table, concerning cultivation, harvesting, fishing, conservation, processing, cooking and consumption of food. Diet involves economic, social and cultural implications, related to local food products, seasonal rhythms, identity and diversity, sharing of food and values. Dietary behaviours and landscapes are strictly interrelated, in terms of consumption of resources, choice of agricultural cultivations and breeding animals. The recovery of the relations and balances between human beings and the environment, built-up areas and the territory, genius loci and identity, is one of the main objectives to be pursued. The paper highlights the sustainable building of the terraced landscape as an ecological approach related to the protection and valorisation of the territory and the Mediterranean diet (a good practice for local development).