CULTALB is the managing unit of the GIAHS Project

Memorandum of Understanding between CULTLAB and the FAO  GIAHS Program

Article 1. Scope of cooperation:

The parties agree to work together to promote dynamic conservation of GIAHS through appropriately coordinated support to related activities; and to cooperate by consultation, coordination of efforts, mutual assistance and joint action in thematic areas of common interest and in accordance with the objectives and principles of GIAHS.

Article 2. Areas of Cooperation:

CULTLAB and FAO agree to cooperate inter aliain the following areas:

1. Identify areas as potential GIAHS, initiallyselected among the sites proposed for the National Register of Traditional Landscapes  managed by the CULTLAB, but extending the research to other areas of the world.
2. Develop a methodology to assess and monitor GIAHS based on the HICEA (Historical and Cultural Evaluation Approach) already applied for the Tuscan Regional Government and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry, which will be adapted to other regions of the world.
3. Support the improvement of the existing set of criteria and indicators for the sustainable management and the dynamic conservation of GIAHS.
4. Develop and implement methodologies to relate traditional food production to the landscape of GIAHS, developing a certification standard to label food products in traditional landscapes.
5. Develop research activities, such as: the role of traditional landscapes and traditional practice for the adaptation and mitigation to climate change; identifying technological solutions aimed at supporting good practices in GIAHS with special reference to conservation of traditional rural practices  connected to forests, pasture and cultivated areas.
6. Enhance understanding of GIAHS: Graduate Courses and Academic training: DEISTAF will undertake training courses at several levels Doctoral and Post-Doctoral levels. A University certificate will eventually ratify the training with due recognition by GIAHS Secretariat for themes specifically devoted to dynamic conservation of agriculture heritage systems and related issues of agro ecology, climate change, energy, environment and sustainable agriculture and rural development.
7. Developed planning and management strategies to improve the economic and environmental value of GIAHS, relating them to rural and environmental policies.
8. Plan and organize conferences, workshops and seminars at the national, regional or global level; promoting policy and strategic dialogue and interchange;

Article 3. Technical Co-operation and Joint Action:

Whenever desirable, FAO and CULTLAB may undertake and seek each other’s technical co-operation with a view to promoting the development of collaborative activities in fields of common interest.

In respect of each collaborative activity indicated in paragraph 2 above, the present Memorandum of Understanding shall be supplemented by a specific Exchange of Letters which will set forth the aspects of the joint actions, each party’s contribution, if any, and the allotment of responsibilities in connection to its implementation.