In response to the requests of our scientific community, Scienze del Territorio is glad to make articles available online soon after acceptance.
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Finally, the Just Accepted Papers will be removed from the website, the articles will be assigned to a forthcoming issue and formally published. DOIs will always remain the same, to make sure that all citations will correctly link to the final paper.
(N.B. Due to temporary technical issues, now fixed, several of the articles listed below - all belonging to Vol. 13 No. 1 - could not be published online immediately after their acceptance: we apologise for the inconvenience.)


Evoluzione e autopoiesi: strategie narrative e dispositivi euristici nella descrizione del territorio
Giampiero Lombardini, University of Genoa, Department of Architecture and Design
Andrea Vergano, University of Genoa, Department of Architecture and Design
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Science in action
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-23
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6893
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. This paper aims to develop a reflection on some biological metaphors that, over time and with varying degrees of effectiveness, have become part of urban and territorial sciences. Along this path, which developed in parallel with the birth of biology, some concepts emerged that, at different moments in history, took on a strong normative and prefigurative value in shaping urban and territorial projects. These are the concepts of evolution and autopoiesis. While the concept of evolution has long been central to modern thinking, often with simplifications and exploitations that have distorted its scientific perspective, the concept of autopoiesis only emerged in the last decades of the last century, redefining some seemingly consolidated paradigms in the study of living organisms. This paper focuses on two moments in which the language of biology was used not only to build novel connections between natural sciences and territorial sciences, but also to overcome some dichotomies that constitute modern thought. The first moment considers the influences of  evolutionary theory (understood as a narrative strategy) in the study of urban and regional phenomena at the beginning of the 20th century. The second moment proposes a reflection on the concept of autopoiesis (understood as a heuristic device) and its implications in the study of social and urban organisations.
Keywords: biological metaphors; coevolution; territory of the living; autopoiesis; urban bioregion.

Relazionalità, coevoluzione e nuove ecosofie nel progetto territoriale socio-ecologico
Giovanni Ottaviano, University of Molise, Department of ABiosciences and Territory
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Science in action
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-23
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6894
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. In the relationship between human societies and the environment, dualistic frameworks often persist, reinforcing the subordination of the latter to the former. Within the ongoing transition toward so-called “ecologically oriented” economic and social models - at least in their stated intentions - demiurgic approaches to the human–nonhuman relationship emerge. These are manifested in nostalgic tensions and aestheticizations of nature, ecological neocolonialisms, elitist appropriations of environmental values, the subjugation of environmental elements and processes to dominant economic models, and their incorporation into financial markets. Such approaches tend to reproduce - even if in different forms - the same value-extractive logics that have historically depleted territories through modernization processes, ultimately proving ineffective in addressing the pressing environmental issues of our time. Reasserting the role of the human-nonhuman relational continuum as a fundamental dimension of the reproduction of the living environment implies, in the field of territorial planning, the development of tools that enable the reconstruction of virtuous co-evolutionary processes among territorial agents, also through negentropic practices and the care of renewed social-ecological systems.
Keywords: coevolution; practices; social-ecological systems; ecological colonialism; ecosophy.

Oltre il tecno-riduzionismo della natura: potenzialità dei concetti di metabolismo e biomimesi
Nicola Valentino Canessa, University of Genoa, Department of Architecture and Design
Giorgia Tucci, University of Genoa, Department of Architecture and Design
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Science in action
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-23
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6878
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. From a territorialist perspective, the territory is understood to be a highly complex living organism resulting from long-term co-evolutionary processes between humans and nature. It is also considered to be a subject that reacts to external disturbances through internal adaptation processes. As an evolving organism, the territory is characterised by its specific adaptive metabolism, the symbiotic result of natural and anthropogenic metabolic cycles. While nature is often viewed as a mere resource reserve within an anthropocentric and neoliberal framework, it is precisely in the delicate yet pivotal relationship between natural and anthropogenic cycles of extraction, production and consumption that we can envisage transcending a technocratic perspective on nature, which frequently results in eco-catastrophic consequences. This allows us to strive for a virtuous and generative equilibrium between humans and nature. The concept of urban-territorial metabolism has long been used as a metaphor, producing technocratic approaches that reduce nature to an economic factor, as well as eco-sustainable visions based on resource sharing and conviviality. This contribution explores the metabolic-biomimetic paradigm as a theoretical and operational device for ecological transition. It promotes a reformulation of urban planning knowledge in ecological terms that can orient design towards models of regenerative and resilient territorial development.
Keywords: urban metabolism; biomimicry; hybrid ecosystems; environmental justice; territorial project.

Il territorio come dimensione di reciprocità: spazi di co-appartenenza oltre il dualismo umano-non umano
Filippo Schilleci, University of Palermo, Department of Architecture
Alessio Floris, University of Cagliari, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Science in action
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-23
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6877
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. With the advent of modernity, human control over nature has progressively transformed the concept of territory from a ‘living being’ into a market asset, converting its generative qualities into tradable attributes. This transition exemplifies an extractive logic in which nature’s value is reduced to profitability metrics and converted into financial rent through technocratic processes. The deconstruction of the anthropocentric paradigm, founded on the dichotomy between the human and the non‑human, therefore emerges as an essential prerequisite for rethinking governance models capable of transcending purely technical-procedural approaches. The study aims to identify conceptual frameworks that can guide the formulation of eco‑territorial governance models founded on principles of reciprocity and driven by co‑evolutionary dynamics. These models aim to guide a reconfiguration of socio‑ecological relations beyond traditional extractive logics. Adopting a critical lens, the study redefines the concept of territory as a space of mutual belonging. It undertakes a comparative analysis of the pathways of Sa Tramuda in Sardinia and the network of Trazzere in Sicily, proposing an interpretive framework that transcends the human/non‑human dualism. The study presents models that highlight the interdependence between communities and territory, emphasising its role as a dynamic entity shaped by historical layers, cultural practices and ecosystem connections, rather than merely its tangible dimension.
Keywords: common land-use rights; local communities; territorial knowledge; cultural practices; relational ecologies.

Oltre le dicotomie della modernità. Forme di intersoggettività come attitudine critica verso il futuro dei territori
Anna Maria Colavitti, University of Cagliari, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
Stefania Crobe, University of Palermo, Department of Architecture
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Science in action
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-23
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6877
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. In an effort to transcend the modern dichotomy between nature and culture, this contribution advances an ecosophical and relational perspective as a critical posture within territorial sciences. Tracing the genealogy of the concept of nature and the Promethean myth, it demonstrates how capitalist development and the ideology of progress have produced rifts among human settlements, environments, and productive activities, undermining both natural and cultural biodiversity. Internaturalism is presented as a principle of intersubjectivity between humans and non-humans, oriented toward practices of care, coexistence, and ecological stewardship. Through tangible cases, such as Lake Gusana, the text explores collaborative and co-management efforts, emphasizing the potential redefinition of instruments and the inherent ambivalences these alliances may involve.
Keywords: internaturalism; ecosophy; care; human-nature alliances; human-nature conflicts.

La custodia del territorio: esperienze spagnole per il recupero del patrimonio culturale
Giorgia Dato, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, Pasap-Med PhD Course
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Territorialist reflections
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-24
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6896
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. Land stewardship is a public-social strategy born in the late 19th century in the United States for the conservation of natural resources and, over time, has spread to various countries around the world. Particularly in Spain, land stewardship is establishing as a strategy to conserve and manage different spaces not exclusively linked to natural resources but also closely connected to cultural and landscape values. The analysis of some Spanish experiences shows how land stewardship is a particularly useful social initiative also for the recovery of cultural heritage by promoting a territorial vision centered on the concept of heritage-common good and an approach to biocultural landscapes that offer a multidimensional understanding.
Keywords: land stewardship; cultural heritage; land trust; commons; Spain.

Il minimo comune multiplo
Luciano De Bonis, University of Molise, Department of Biosciences and Territory
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Territorialist reflections
First submitted: 2025-12-20 | Accepted: 2025-12-23 | Published Online: 2025-12-24
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6897
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. In order not only to highlight the profound significance of Magnaghi’s established contribution to urban planning, but also to uncover the promising potential of his work for future developments in transdisciplinary, ‘territorial’ research, this contribution integrates a markedly self-governmental interpretation of Magnaghi's ‘minimal bioregional units’ with the possible identification of his pact-based planning tools as Ostromian institutions of collective action. In this way, the paper also highlights the opportunity to move beyond the Darwinian view of fundamental evolutionary units as conspecific wholes in territorial planning practices, in favor of their ‘cybernetic’ (Batesonian) reconceptualization as interspecific coevolutionary complexes.
Keywords: urban bioregion; minimum unit of planning; minimum unit of survival; pact-based planning tools; institutions for collective action.

Ripensare la natura a partire dal paradigma della cura del territorio
Daniela Poli, University of Florence, Department of Architecture
Giulia Luciani, University of Florence, Department of Architecture
Volume 13 no. 1, 2025 | Language: Italian | Section: Visions
First submitted: 2025-6-30 | Accepted: 2025-7-31 | Published Online: 2025-12-24
DOI: 10.13125/sciter/6898
PDF (accepted version, to be edited)
Abstract. Amid the intensifying ecological crisis and global warming, numerous theories have emerged that propose moving beyond the modern paradigm centred on the dichotomy between nature and humanity. The neoliberal approach has permeated many theoretical and operative frameworks within territorial sciences. It has produced rhetorical visions of nature grounded in themes of interconnection, while nevertheless promoting various forms of extractivist approaches. In response to the proliferation of “natural resource management” tools rooted in this vision – such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) – a debate has developed within the scientific community critical of neoliberalism, questioning whether or not to engage with mainstream instruments. This article addresses these issues from a territorialist perspective. It draws on concepts from the fund-flow model of bioeconomics and from studies on valuation and value attribution. The aim is to highlight both the need for, and the already existing practical relevance of, approaching nature as a “dialogic otherness,” grounded in a paradigm of territorial care.
Keywords: bioregional planning; bioeconomics; water resource management; reciprocity pacts; Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES).