Park Steering Plan

The Park Steering Plan is an instrument, envisaged by the Articles of Incorporation, that serves to identify and coordinate the actions necessary for the conservation, safeguard and enhancement of the geo-mineral, environmental, landscape and cultural heritage in order to programme, in coordination with the communities, the activities linked to the strategic objectives of the Plan itself. The Plan also promotes sustainable economic development and in particular the diffusion of “green tourism”; coordinates all the public interventions provided for by the state and regional laws in force and regulates the timing and methods of implementation in order to optimise the use of the financial resources allocated; promotes economic and social initiatives involving private resources, using any private financing technique that is admissible for the pursuit of its institutional aims, regulates the forms and methods of acquisition and disposal of properties that cannot be used for the intended purposes; identifies the objectives, time frames, methods, procedures, financing, controls and monitoring of the interventions provided for by the laws in force for the reorganisation, recovery, environmental redevelopment as well as the recovery of real estate; identifies the most appropriate forms of public or private use of the recovered areas, territories and buildings, identifying forms and methods of concession, assignment and alienation.

The Park Steering Plan is a three-year plan and is updated annually. The Plan is currently being drafted.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PARK CONSTITUTING THE STEERING PLAN

  1. CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE MINING, CULTURAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, LANDSCAPE AND GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE;
  2. CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE OF HISTORICAL, ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY;
  3. GOVERNANCE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT;
  4. IMPROVEMENT OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT;
  5. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, TRAINING AND RESEARCH SUPPORT;
  6. IMPROVING THE ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY OF THE INSTITUTION

Ongoing objectives

MEMBERSHIP OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL UNESCO NETWORKS

Global Geopaks – IGGP Programme UNESCO

CETS European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas by Europarc Federation

MEET Network – Destimed Project

REMI National Network of Mining Museums and Parks coordinated by ISPRA

Museum system of the Maremma Museums

Drafting of the TIS

The Park has set up its Territorial Information System (TIS), which is the working basis for the drafting of the Park’s Steering Plan. The following assets have been geo-referenced:

mining heritage

geological heritage

biotopes

protected areas

infrastructure related to the Park’s footpaths and mobility

the Gates of the Park

cultural evidence

constraints

EXTENSION OF THE GEOPARK AREA
a request to extend the Geopark by < 10% of the total area has been submitted to the UNESCO IGGP Council. This procedure does not imply the drafting of a new dossier and a new procedure with a validation mission by commissioners, but only of a small file indicating the proposed extension and the terms of management of the area. The extension includes part of the municipalities of Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, Pomarance and Radicondoli and in particular the area of Sasso Pisano with its geothermal and archaeological sites, Larderello and Montecastelli. The response is expected at the end of 2021.

THE USE OF THE PARK’S TERRITORIAL HERITAGE: FOOTPATHS AND WEBMAPPING

After implementing the Park Gates, the Park Authority undertook the task of identifying its own network of paths, connected to the Cultural Itinerary of the Via delle Città Etrusche, which is part of the Sistema dei Cammini (Path System) of the Tuscany Region. Thanks to funding from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze it was possible to appoint a professional to support the Park in identifying, among the paths already created in its territory, those itineraries and routes which, connected with the Via delle Città Etrusche, will form part of the Park’s path system. Paths were selected in 2020 in cooperation with the municipalities. In the course of 2021, the system will be implemented and the necessary tools for the usability of the routes will be put in place, in order to distinguish them from the paths of the municipal networks (maintenance, signage, maps and web information systems). 

THE RELATIONSHIP WITH RESEARCH BODIES:

  1. Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment – University of Siena TIS Development, Geological Map of the Park, research activities
  2. Museum of Natural History Grosseto Park Biodiversity and Citizen Science
  3. Department of Earth Sciences – University of Bari Research activities

THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (CETS) is a methodological tool and a certification aimed at improving the management of protected areas for the development of sustainable tourism. The central element of the Charter is the collaboration between all public and private actors called to develop a common strategy and an action plan for sustainable tourism development, starting from an in-depth analysis of the local situation. Thanks to CETS, an Action Plan has been drawn up that is still the basis for the development of the future Park Steering Plan, which, thanks to the activities and research carried out by the Park Authority, will have a part dedicated to a Plan for the Green Economy in the Metalliferous Hills.

THE DESTIMED PROJECT AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE PARK’S TOUR OPERATOR

In 2018, the Park was selected together with 12 other Mediterranean protected areas located in Italy, France, Spain and Albania to carry out the Destimed Project (Destinazione Ecoturismo mediterraneo – Mediterranean Ecotourism Destination): joint planning, monitoring, management and promotion of tourism in Mediterranean protected areas. This was an important experience on sustainable tourism, which is a fundamental tool for Euro-Mediterranean park policies. Participation in the project enabled the Park to create the first environmentally sustainable tourist packages and to identify an Incoming Tour Operator through a public tender to implement the Park’s DMO tourism offer. The Tour Operator’s Portal is Visitmaremma.net

THE GREEN ECONOMY PLAN

The Green Economy Plan, managed through an agreement with the Foundation for Sustainable Development, envisages the drafting of a report containing the “transition scenarios”, i.e. identifying some scenarios and concrete actions, functional to strengthen the assets already present in the territory of the Parco delle Colline Metallifere and to facilitate a green qualification of the production sectors in order to put together a report containing the final identification of the scenarios and priority actions with the possibility to identify green enterprises interested in investing in the territory.

DRAGO PROJECT AND GEOFOOD

The Park has obtained funding for EUR 27,000.00 against 10% co-financing (EUR 3,000.00) for the Tecnoqualisalus project in the sub-measure 16.2 of the RDP, part of the DRAGO Integrated Chain Project. This is an innovation project concerning the research of technologies to increase the health and organoleptic quality of finished products (bread, pasta, biscuits, cakes) made from ancient grains. In addition to the producers and the Park, the Cooperation Agreement also involves CNR INVALSA and the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Siena. The Park’s role in the project is planning and organising the dissemination of the obtained results through meetings, focus groups, seminars and the website, as well as a concluding conference. Actions will be rescheduled due to the provisions related to COVID 19. The Park has officially joined GEOFOOD and with the support of DRAGO will prepare the specifications for the inclusion of producers and products in GEOFOOD. It will not be necessary to join DRAGO in order to join GEOFOOD. The specification will be based on the GEOFOOD criteria and manifesto approved by the UNESCO Geoparks Network and will regulate the checks for compliance with the criteria.