TERRAVIVA tackles the widespread problem of fragmentation of land properties. It focuses on terraced slopes in the Antrona Valley, once cultivated by the local population and then neglected since the early 60s of the past century. Today many of the landowners have emigrated from the valley, terraced slopes remain abandoned and, in many cases, people are not even aware of the consistence and localization of their belongings. Abandonment leads to losses of biodiversity, hydrogeological stability, cultural and social identity, opportunities of integrated development at a local scale (e.g. tourism, local products, short supply chains). TERRAVIVA proposes an innovative form of association which engages landowners as well as local public authorities (Borgomezzavalle Municipality, Ossola Protected Area Management Body), in order to: gather small, abandoned and fragmented properties together and make them available for farmers and other stakeholders; directly engage the civil society in taking good care of the territory, fostering a collective approach which relies on recogntion of mutual rights and duties; promote a sharing economy initiative, in order to give new life to abandoned terraces. The TERRAVIVA association makes the land available at no cost. The TERRAVIVA experiment is putting a focus back on an "evergreen" - but never solved - issue: that of the abandonment of lands in mountainous areas. The project proposes a participative approach via public-private partnerships. Citizens and landowners feel that the local public administrations are deeply engaged in the initiative rather than being just external observers or promoters. This leads to a widely perceived legitimacy of the process. Some participants also look at the landowners association as a "way of return" to their valley: the association brings back an ancient spirit of community which is part of the local heritage. Nonetheless, the TERRAVIVA project is investigating the environmental benefits deriving from the restoration of terraced landscapes and promotes a monitoring programme based on ex-ante (abandonment) and ex-post (cultivation phase) evaluation.

The landowners association was set up in July 2017. So far, various inhabitants and emigrants have become conscious of being part of the challenge, and nearly 30 landowners have joined the association (it has to be pointed out that Boromezzavalle municipality counts 317 inhabitants). Since its constitution, the TERRAVIVA association has been gathering together about 1 hectare of fragmented terraced properties, but there are other expressions of interest and the manageable surface is likely to increase in the near future. The next steps are: enlargement of the association, in terms of both participants and surfaces; a forthcoming launch of a public call for pilot projects related to sustainable agriculture, innovation in terms of short supply chains (linking local productions with tourism and receptivity), involvement of young farmers as well as social cooperatives and firms.