sustainability Article Terraced Landscapes Regeneration in the Perspective of the Circular Economy Antonia Gravagnuolo 1, * and Mauro Varotto 2   Citation: Gravagnuolo, A.; Varotto, M. Terraced Landscapes Regeneration in the Perspective of the Circular Economy. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4347. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084347 Academic Editor: Antonio Boggia Received: 9 February 2021 Accepted: 30 March 2021 Published: 14 April 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 CNR IRISS Institute for Research on Innovation and Services for Development, National Research Council, 80134 Napoli, Italy 2 Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World-DiSSGeA, University of Padova, 35123 Padova, Italy; mauro.varotto@unipd.it * Correspondence: a.gravagnuolo@iriss.cnr.it Abstract: Terraced landscapes were for centuries forms of sustainable and multifunctional land management, results of a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their environment. They demonstrated a rich cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity through sustainable land-use systems. These productive cultural landscapes in many cases were expressions of a pre-industrial circular model of rural development, where no resource was wasted. However, not all terraced landscapes have to be considered sustainable in themselves: in recent times, the terraces have undergone changes that have threatened their sustainability with abandonment and degradation as well as exclusively productive exploitation. This paper explores whether and how terraced landscape can recover an active role in modern society, analyzing emerging terraces recovery practices from the perspective of the circular economy. Innovative circular and productive uses of abandoned terraced landscapes aim at reducing the waste of natural and cultural resources, enlarging the lifetime (use value) of landscapes and preserving cultural and natural values for present and future generations. Results show that new functional uses of terraced landscapes are able to enhance in different ways their role as “middle landscapes” or places of mediation among economic, ecologic, ethical and aesthetic needs through circular adaptive reuse practices, becoming key drivers of new “circular” economies and a new pact between rural and urban regions. Keywords: terraced landscapes; circular economy; middle landscapes; cultural heritage; cultural landscape; adaptive reuse 1. Introduction Terraces are among the most evident human signatures on the landscape, and they cover large areas of the Earth. For centuries, agricultural terraces provided soil for culti- vation on mountain areas and a protection structure against landslides. Sustainable land management practices contributed to maintaining multiple natural and rural areas func- tions, especially for water management and protection from hydro-erosive processes and events [1,2]. Terraced landscapes were in the past forms of sustainable and multifunctional land management, results of a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their environment. They demonstrate a rich cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity through sustainable land-use systems, as expressions of a pre-industrial circular model of rural development, where no resource was wasted. Terraced landscapes are living systems that are present in many forms in the UNESCO World Heritage List and in the FAO list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) “combining agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems, traditional farming practices and cultural identity” [3]. They are considered “the most important landscape organization system in the Mediterranean area” [4], demonstrating a rich cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity through sustainable land-use systems [5]. However, not all terraced landscapes have to be considered sustainable in themselves. These historic Sustainability 2021, 13, 4347. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084347 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability