VIRTUAL London Heritages Conference
Abstract
We present a critical approach to cultural heritage studies, with a particular focus on Unesco heritage tangible and intangible heritage, by adopting a transdisciplinary theoretical and methodological framework based on social sciences of space (Latour, 1998; Lévy, Lussault, 2003). Unesco cultural heritage is often victim of different kinds of socio-territorial pathologies: buildings and architectures, when not well managed, can face pressures related to economic development which lead to strains of overtourism (Milano, Novelli, Cheer, 2021), while immaterial cultural heritage can face a lack of recognition, leading to the adoption of external knowledge and competences, creating an unbalanced process of local development especially when considering tourism in the Anthropocene (Holden, Jamal, Burini, 2022). We explain how a co-planning approach is needed, in order to create a new model of governance of tangible and intangible heritage, based on a networked and reticular vision and focused on a community-based process. Our vision is to develop a framework for a good governance process, by applying an enlarged Triple Helix Model (Etzkowitz, Leydesdorff, 2000; Carayannis, Barth, Campbell, 2012; Lazzeroni, Piccaluga, 2015), which shows the role of Universities, together with public and private stakeholders, to be drivers of spatial justice (Soja, 2013). By promoting a co-planning approach to sustainable heritage management, Universities can help developing good forms of governance and real and virtual accessibility of cultural heritage, while guaranteeing spatial justice in respect of local community’s needs. The case study of Bergamo Unesco tangible and intangible heritage will be considered, in order to show how the University of Bergamo, through the three missions – education, research and public engagement – is promoting, together with private and public stakeholders, a co-planning process based on a reticular vision and a community based approach.
Marta Pantalone is a tenure-track researcher in Sociology at the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Bergamo. Her main research interests include: – Comparative analysis of local and national welfare systems; – Governance processes in complex systems, with a focus on integrated policy planning and service design and evaluation; – Research methodologies that promote participatory processes and the involvement of different stakeholders with different research techniques.
Federica Burini is Associate Professor of Geography at Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Bergamo. Her main research topics are related to: • environmental and territorial governance in Subsaharan Africa, with a particular focus on collaborative systems and participatory approaches • theoretical and methodological analysis of participatory and collaborative mappings for urban governance • territorial regeneration of mountain areas through the analysis of landscapes and local knowledge for the promotion of territorial enhancement • post-pandemic recovery for a new inhabiting through new forms of responsible tourism • rural and urban design through co-creative approaches and methods with applied research at various scales • Challenge-Based- Learning for territorial regeneration, through sport management and creative industries. The analysis connects in depth analysis of theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches and multi-scale analysis, in order to work in multi- disciplinary research teams.
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Thursday 26th June, 2025