Mountains have largely been “measured” by means of thematic maps, based on spatialised quantitative indicators. Alps in particular have often been the object of specific map collections or Atlases, gathering and presenting economic, social and environmental data that can largely influence public perception and policy making. Agriculture is one of the traditional topics of these representations. What image of Alpine agriculture emerges from them? How did this image change over time? This paper attempts to answer these questions, relying on an archive of thematic maps of agriculture found in quantitative atlases and maps of the Italian Alps. These documents include both institutional maps made by national statistical institutes and maps made by scholars or groups of scholars. They are collected as part of the literature review of an ongoing research project on the Italian mountains called MIND (Mountains INsiDe the Mountain. Narratives, dynamics and development paths: new readings). _x000D_
After a brief presentation of the sample of maps being examined, we will show which data and what kind of indicators and trends are most frequently used and represented and how these representations evolved in time. Widening the focus, we will examine what narratives are vehiculated by these representations, trying to unravel the interplay between quantitative data and qualitative territorial images. Finally, the case of the Italian Eastern Alps will show how the newly available detailed data on land use/land cover can profoundly change certain conventional representations of mountain agriculture and landscape. _x000D_
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Viviana Ferrario, Hessam Khorasani Zadeh, Dana Salpina, Marianna Fabbrizioli
Università Iuav di Venezia

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ID Abstract: 866