This study aims to present a strategy for the revitalization of the Sicilian “internal areas”, recognizing a directional tool, together with the integration of self-centered actions of slow tourism. The design was specifically located in the Taormina–Etna tourist district (an area of north-eastern Sicily that includes 60 municipalities) which, in rethinking the post-pandemic restart, aims at the development of a mobile system of cycling tourism able to interconnect cultural peculiarities, environmental characteristics, and landscape values. This paper also examines key features and interpretations, and develops a strategy based on a slow travel framework as an alternative means of achieving success in the Sicilian hinterland. Starting from the current financial and environmental crisis, therefore, the paper finds explanations and solutions, in which we try to conceive of the economy and ecology as systems that not only open to one another, but mutually determine one another in defining new, self-sustaining local development processes. In order to build a competitive alternative to help less favorable regions, it is necessary to move within the scope of investments by a public system capable of planning resilient strategies based on sustainable principles.

This article offers an initial exploratory analysis of some promising agents and innovative practices for a long-term strategy of sustainable, inclusive and smart territorial development for peripheral areas in the Etna macro-region. It aims to scrutinize the potential role of tourism and local entrepreneurship with a view to implementing a territorial approach to a smart specialization strategy. Mostly based on statistical analysis and a critical review of literature, the paper gives an overview on strengths and weaknesses of some existing rural cluster initiatives of innovation, which are of interest to implementing a tourism-centred smart specialization that aims to combine tourism diversification and sustainable development. Both the promising and problematic side of the concept of smart specialization are discussed and some policy implications for realizing tourism innovation in accordance with the need to draw up an alternative policy agenda for the development of peripheral areas are suggested.

The Green Pistachio of Bronte is an Italian protected designation of origin (PDO) product that was officially recognized by the European Union in 2010. These pistachios are grown on Mt Etna's western slope in a specific area of thin volcanic soils and rugged terrain that inhibits the use of mechanized agriculture. Bronte pistachios are known for their distinct flavor, bright green color, and unique organoleptic properties that are intimately linked to their place of origin. They are highly prized in the food industry and can sell for more than double the price of other pistachios on the global market. Mapping landscapes that give rise to specialty food products like the Green Pistachio of Bronte facilitate understanding of the connections between food, culture, and environment within a specific geographic context. Mt Etna's powerful presence in the landscape adds to the unique characteristics of this product and its place of origin.

The interaction between humans and nature dramatically reveals the role of sudden and destructive events in the progressive and never-ending trend of depletion of the territorial dimension of the Belìce Valley (Valle del Belìce, Sicily, Italy). If on the one hand a tragic event, such as the earthquake of 1968, that destroyed towns and villages in the Belìce Valley, represented a moment of pain and suffering for local communities and their territories, on the other, more than 50 years after the event, we are able to shed light on the reaction to the earthquake effects through an in-depth analysis of the heritage of the physical and immaterial rubble. Our research is aimed at framing, through special geovisual tools, the paths of this rebuilding process and to verify whether the “new” interaction of humans and nature has reached an acceptable balance. After introducing the concept of landscape and investigating some local manifestations within the Belìce Valley, we tackle the technical question of re-photography as a powerful and quick method for observing the territorial changes that occurred after the earthquake. This approach is based on the collection of historical photographs and, subsequently, onsite activities for the creation of a contemporary archive of images. The method used for comparing the images was that of re-photographic overlapping, a useful technique to compare different moments of the history of a landscape and to analyze the effectiveness of the process of rebuilding. Finally, this analysis introduces us to a new perspective where in our opinion, it is possible to frame some features of the Belìce Valley and some more general aspects that are useful for other territories hit by destructive events and having to face choices related to the future of their communities.

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