The Val di Sole Blueprint: Mapping Dynamics Assets for Sustainable Development of Marginal Territories in Alpine Context

In Italy, the fragile territories addressed by the National Strategy on Inner Areas (SNAI), despite their geographical marginalization and demographic decline, are lately experiencing a growing momentum. Currently lacking successful policies for effective transformations, the adoption of a sustainable design-driven approach is necessary in order not to compromise the territorial resources of these areas with a spread “urbanized” strategy. The PRIN project “ B4R. Branding4Resilience” addresses such issue investigating marginal territories around the Italian peninsula and proposing territorial brands that promote resilience. This paper presents the first results of the University of Trento research unit after the preliminary phase of context exploration: according to a multi disciplinary and multi-level approach, a data collecting process allowed to map the ecological, social, and spatial elements of the Val di Sole pilot area. As a portrait map of the valley, the presented “blueprint” highlights the hydrological network, where springs and thermal waters are at the center of the blue infrastructure that has to be developed. Indeed, this digital cyanotype is an operative tool to support further co-design and co visioning processes towards a territorial strategy based on the value of the water resources and focused on the implementation of thermal landscapes through spatial transformation.