Pathways to imparting

Report from the Excursion to the Nature Park Paneveggio, Italy within the EU-Project Pathways to Cultural Landscapes, December 8^th to 12^th, 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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

1. 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.
   
   
2. Visitor Centre Pr de Madego
   Especially interesting is the part of exhibition, which tries to suitably present peasant mountain life for children.
   
   
3. 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