How sectoral policy can benefit the protection of multi-functional cultural heritage? The case of agricultural landscape and the EU rural development policy

In order to shed light on the interactions between the sectoral policies and heritage protection objectives, this article focuses on the preservation of agricultural landscapes within the EU rural development policy, the second pillar of the CAP, which is often put forward as being powerful instrument in transforming the European agricultural landscapes. Based on the analysis of the EU 1305/2013 Regulation, rural development plan of Liguria and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the article highlights the points of weakness and strength of the communitarian rural development policy in regards to the preservation of heritage agricultural landscape.