Using an Ontology-based Model for Knowledge Representation in Rural Landscape

In the field of the territorial planning the problems related to the management of information increase everyday. This process needs of more and more effective and efficient Knowledge Management techniques. Such techniques lead to a suitable organization (and therefore to a more detailed analysis) of the phenomena, which in turn suggests how to choose the actions to perform. At the same time, the interoperability between heterogeneous subjects at different levels of the planning process and belonging to multiple disciplinary fields becomes an unavoidable element. Information represents a strategic resource for the subjects in charge of territory planning: it is in fact raw material, job tool and final product. In a complex research scenario such as the territorial science, some fundamental elements, useful to analyze and resolve several problems, can be represented using a framework based on an ontological approach. Amongst the different territorial planning fields, we chose as case study the issue of landscaping, in particular the one related to rural landscapes. This choice is motivated by the cultural and scientific innovations, which led in recent years to a completely new interpretation of landscape, as a good to be preserved (being it an expression of the ecological and social transformations on the territory resulting from the community activity). The paper aim is to resolve conceptual misunderstanding and semantic ambiguity and, on the other hand, we need a precise and accurate description of our knowledge, i.e. of the terminologies representing our concepts, which influence goals and entail actions to be implemented. Due to those considerations we propose a suitable ontology-based model implemented in a system to manage ontologies.