A Creative Living Lab for the Adaptive Reuse of the Morticelli Church: The SSMOLL Project

Abstract

The international debate on the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage sites consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals has become increasingly important in the implementation of circular economy models for urban policies. The new values that characterize cultural assets, considered the result of a collaborative process, can enhance both manufactured and human capital, and provide the basis for a system of relationships that binds them. Furthermore, the values of historical artistic assets produced by community-based regeneration processes are particularly relevant when they characterize abandoned commons and cult buildings, to which communities attribute an identity and symbolic value. Starting from the definition of the concept of complex social value, we propose a methodological process that combines approaches and techniques typical of deliberative evaluations and collaborative decision-making processes. The aim is to identify the complex value chains generated by adaptive reuse, in which intrinsic values can play a driving role in the regeneration strategies of discarded cultural heritage. The experimentation, tested with the project “San Sebastiano del Monte dei Morti Living Lab” (SSMOLL), activates a creative and cultural Living Lab in the former Morticelli church, in the historic center of Salerno, in southern Italy. The reuse project is part of a more comprehensive process of social innovation and culture-led urban regeneration triggered in Salerno starting from SSMOLL. The partial results of the process show how a co-exploration phase has characterized the cultural characteristic of the living lab and how the co-evaluation of the individual activities orient the possible reuse scenarios. Finally, the results provide a first analysis of the relationship types activated.

Collaborative Decision-Making Processes for Local Innovation: The CoULL Methodology in Living Labs Approach

“…The CoULL methodology has been elaborated and tested in the CilentoLabscape project (Cerreta & Fusco Girard, 2016;Cerreta & Panaro, 2017), revised in the GardeNet project (Cerreta, Panaro, et al, 2018) and the SSMOLL project (Cerreta et al, 2020). Besides, it represents the conceptual reference of the methodological framework developed and implemented in the REPAiR project (Amenta et al, 2019;Cerreta, Inglese, et al, 2018) (Fig.…”

“…A crucial role is played by co-evaluation techniques (Garnsey & McGlade, 2006;Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Patton, 2011), experimenting with adaptive and synergistic evaluation models to support collaborative and incremental decision-making processes. Co-evaluation is open to the interaction among knowledge, new digital technologies and innovative methodologies, such as gamification processes, useful to support the creation and strengthening of existing bonds and solve real-life problems (Cerreta et al, 2020;Panaro, 2015).…”

What Advantages Do Adaptive Industrial Heritage Reuse Processes Provide? An Econometric Model for Estimating the Impact on the Surrounding Residential Housing Market

“…Urban regeneration, particularly in tough circumstances of historical pre-existence, can be seen as a multifunctional transformation that also tries to propose sustainable adjustments and improve local quality of life, with potential implications for the inhabitants' overall well-being [20]. Understanding a project entails analyzing its linkages with the setting and all existing or potential correlations that could be formed, because complex and dynamic systems and varied processes (e.g., physical, social, environmental, and economic) have significance in urban regeneration.…”

Enhancing the Cultural Heritage through Adaptive Reuse. A Multicriteria Approach to Evaluate the Castello Visconteo in Cusago (Italy)

“…The main problem that affects the heritage of cultural heritage today is represented by the phenomenon of buildings that have lost their original destination and are being abandoned in increasing numbers [1]. In the context of urban transformations, the reuse of existing heritage has attracted increasing interest in recent years, both in the face of the large availability of abandoned or underused properties and due to the need to identify new economic engines for urban areas that have lost their original function and their competitiveness [2][3][4].…”