Restoring the Tuscan Watershed

Course description

Over the course of four days, participants will be lead through the foundational principles of watershed restoration at both small and region-wide scales with both classroom presentations and practical demonstration of the concepts. This is an occasion to dive deep into the fundamental principles of water in our landscape and to help guide a new vision for land use across the region. Participants will learn the basics of designing and implementing water-retaining landscapes. Using the example of Tenuta di Paganico, we will work with Zach and Lorenzo through a consult for the farm, revealing the current watershed status, performing test slices and other explorative actions. This will be followed by group classroom work exploring together the methodologies and planning towards a water-retention design for the farm and region. The aim is to demonstrate the practical activities applied to a landscape, and then expand that to how they can be applied to a whole region-wide scale.

• Introduce the principles of watershed restoration and how to design water retention landscape
• Creation of a strategic plan for the restoration of the tuscan watershed, at a region- wide level
• Expand participant understanding of the water cycle and confidence to take positive action

• AGENDA
  Day One – A Short History of the Water Cycle- The Full Water Cycle
  – The Watershed Death Spiral
  – The Revived Water Cycle
  – Examples from Around the World – Initial Land WalkDay Two – Tenuta di Paganico

  – Reading the Landscape – Test Slices
  – Restoration Options

  Day Three – Concept Plan

  – Land Walk Discussing Recommendations – Design Considerations
  – Review of Details for Implementation

  Day Four – Regional Restoration Plan

  – Reviving Rivers and Desert or Rainforest\
  – Regional Level Thinking
  – Working Groups to Develop Regional Action Plan