The role of landscape planning in UNESCO site management plans in Sicily. The case of “Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica” and the resilience challenge

During the process of the updating of the UNESCO sites management plans of South-East Sicily, commissioned by the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Sicily Region in 2019, the support of landscape plans proved to be fundamental in order to estimate the protection level of the sites. Scopes of the present contribution are, on the one hand, to state the high protection level of the UNESCO sites granted from the landscape and spatial planning constraints and, on the other hand, to question the protection level in the long term perspective, in face of the effects of the climate crisis and hazardous events. “Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica” have been chosen as a case study because they represent an exceptional testimony to the history and cultural diversity of the Mediterranean basin over three millennia from the ancient Greek period to the late Baroque, thus proving to be an example of outstanding universal value and resilience. Considering the national Italian legislative framework and the regional context, a collection of territorial and local plans together with the previous UNESCO site management plan were analysed to systematise the planning framework for the protection and preservation of its significant features. This contribution offers itself as a piece within the context of the preservation of the richly layered Mediterranean landscapes, stressing the need for a structured long-term perspective in the conservation of cultural heritage and landscapes facing predictable and less foreseeable hazards.