Ambiente, risorse, territorio e spopolamento in aree di montagna: l’Unione dei Comuni Barbagia e la Serra de Sicó

This study, whose main goal is to describe those ongoing processes of depopulation taking place in inland areas – both rural and mountainous ones – made it possible to observe how human activities characterizes a territory and how variable are those peculiarities (both material and immaterial ones) that lends originality to it. We decided to conduct this study focusing on two geographic realities that, although they could be considered – from a certain point of view – heterogeneous, share some common features: one of our study target areas is located in Sardinia (i.e. the Unione dei Comuni Barbagia), the other one is located in the Portuguese Região Centro (i.e. the Serra de Sicó). The main goal of this study is to examine the effects of depopulation on the territory while furthering our understanding of cultural identities and – especially – of the processes of their construction and reconstruction that take place as a consequence of territorial abandonment. At the same time, we will focus our attention on the fact that local development must arise out of territorial needs and inhabitants’ identities.