Geoheritage Management in Areas with Multicultural Interest Contexts

Abstract

Sites of geo-cultural interest are often included in areas where multicultural contexts (geo and non geo) are present. Cultural heritage dissemination is sometimes mono-contextual, paying little attention to the possibility of inclusion in a wider multicultural context. When these different contexts are linkable to each other following a specific theme, multicultural heritage dissemination will be possible, and often the geo context can represent a fulcrum, a resilient tool in doing that. A portion of the Sinni river’s catchment area (Basilicata region, Southern Italy) has been chosen to test and verify the multi-level/disciplinary approach applicability. The area is located on the southeastern edge of the Pliocene to Pleistocene Sant’Arcangelo basin in the Southern Apennines chain of Italy. Here, both basic observations on the physical geography landscape evolution and specialized observations on river dynamics and on the hydrographic network have been carried out. Educational routes will be proposed with different educational levels along a path that will include the San Giorgio Lucano hypogea. This paper represents the results of a qualitative study providing an overview of the possibility, in a multicultural context, about whether, when, and how the geo context may act as a link between the different disciplines and what is the best way to make it. A relational database, organized in contexts, areas, and themes, is planned at different levels of detail, and is currently being developed in order to make final products easily available. Each level will be provided with basic concepts, territorial contextualization, and of activities/itineraries. The goal is to provide a versatile tool that enhances the territorial multi-cultural heritage to reach a greater number of end users interested in both geo and non geo contexts.

Geoheritage and Geoconservation, from Theory to Practice: The Ghost Town of Craco (Matera District, Basilicata Region, Southern Italy)

“…A database, on the one hand, will allow the insertion of data about the individual features composing geo-, bio-, and other kinds of heritage. On the other hand, it will enable final users to freely consult it, according to their needs and expectations, using keywords or specific topics or subjects, as proposed by [60,93,94]. As the ISPRA geosites form reported (https://sgi.isprambiente.it/ GeositiWeb/public/scheda_geositi.pdf, Accessed on 6 March 2023), descriptive forms have been prepared for each object under consideration, starting from a General Descriptive form for the site/area in which they are included (Figure A1).…”

“…Scientific knowledge is meant as a basic knowledge and the ability to apply the scientific method to an everyday approach (fundamental, for instance, to evaluate online information also, which is sometimes unfounded). Several topics linked to geo context can be developed, so that they may connect to other disciplinary and educational fields (see examples in [60,93,94]).…”

“…Geoconservation actions have been implemented by elaborating arguments that can be developed in the study area, as presented in Figure A5a. The arguments' textual contents are supposed to be differentiated according to age group, as already proposed by [60,93,94]. Arguments will be linked together using the geological context as a fil rouge along which to build an educational path.…”

Geoheritage and Geoconservation: Some Remarks and Considerations

“…Basic Geoconservation is the basic knowledge, characterization, and study of GSs and PLs, as well as of the territorial, natural, and sociocultural contexts in which they are located, highlighting geo-contexts [12,[34][35][36][37] and non-geo-contexts [38][39][40]. The study scale may vary from a micro-to a mega-scale, depending on the type of study, the object of the study, and the purpose of the study.…”