Page 12 - Underground_Built_Heritage_Valorisation

vi Preface

It was a collective learning process, where there was no distinction between
professors and students, but rather all students, learning together about those in-
tangible assets for seeding local community engagement in the UBH valorisation
process. People from multiple European countries, both eastern and western,
showed a vast range of cultural differences, not just on a personal basis but also in
their knowledge, opinions, and ways of thinking. Trainers and trainees enthusias-
tically studied together, through interactive lectures on theories, methodologies
and experiences, and research teamwork. For the action members, those lectures
became an opportunity to better clarify the overall approach, and to question theo-
retical and methodological weaknesses. For the trainees, it was a valuable oppor-
tunity to behold and appreciate the fascinating and rich heritage of the under-
ground, and learn how empowering local communities can be beneficial to the
heritage valorisation process.
The enthusiasm and dedication of our trainees resulted in a number of detailed
proposals of real-life case studies collected here, also thanks to the support of the
tutors who successively became full members of the research teams and lead them
in the very intensive and interactive effort of creating a research idea and explicat-
ing it through a poster.
This Handbook attempts to provide a first insight of this collective learning ex-
perience. It includes the lectures held during the training school, in relation to the
COST Action Underground4value, and its main topic, the UBH, the technologic
needs, and the approaches for UBH conservation, valorisation, and decision-
making. The second part of the Handbook explores the four case studies investi-
gated during the first year of the Action, from the perspective of local partners and
of the researchers who embarked on a short-term scientific mission to each area
They provide an account of the challenges they faced to organise living labs, in-
volve local stakeholders, manage meetings, and achieve results.
The final part of the Handbook presents the posters produced as a result of the
school and the ideas behind them.
Thus, this book is a research, project and management tool based on scientific
comparison and experiences in real situations.
This Handbook will be implemented every year with the scope of developing
new training modules for planners, local community facilitators, promoters, and
decision-makers to integrate knowledge on underground space, cultural heritage
studies and community-based planning.
In line with COST objectives, it responds to the need for involvement and en-
hancement of young researchers, organised in research and project groups, who
co-authored the results and texts.
It develops shared operational lines in different areas of Europe, taking into ac-
count territorial specificities and the different degree of exploitation achieved,
thanks to the participation of researchers and professionals from diverse milieux.
We can achieve such objectives if we follow a path that begins by clarifying
the sense and the cultural and social perspective of valorisation activities.