New, regenerative approaches to sustainability : Redefining ecosystem functions, environmental management, and heritage conservation

Abstract

The international conference “Sustainable Management of Cultural Landscapes in the context of the European Green Deal”, held in Santo Stefano di Camastra (Sicily, Italy) on November 9-14, 2021. aimed to shed light on those environmental, social, economic, and cultural problems of interactions between humankind and its natural environment, which cannot be answered through one single discipline but only by applying a multidisciplinary system approach, built on applied Earth System Science intimately interwoven with social sciences, economics and heritage science. The structure of the Congress mirrored this concept since the overlapping areas of sessions encouraged interdisciplinary thinking and practical approach to the key issues of regional development such as ecosystem protection, green infrastructures, sustainable and multifunctional agriculture, circular economy, renewable energy, regeneration, and conservation of natural environments and conservation of cultural heritage.