Ecomuseums and cultural landscapes

Ecomuseums, born in France in the 1970s, are nowadays experiencing a new season of development. A renewal expressed through the evolution of participatory models, the growth of the involved competences and professionalism, the expansion of the spatial, disciplinary, and strategic scopes. Moreover, a renewal that sees in the network model and in interdisciplinary and transnational cooperation, a prospect of enrichment, for the conveyance of good practices and the increase of effectiveness and efficiency in the management of transformations and in the enhancement of the built environment. In the globalisation era, characterised by dynamics of transformation often detached from local contexts, ecomuseums express a potential for innovation in urban and territorial regeneration processes, and can, therefore, take on a referential role for the landscape design. Through awareness-raising, information, educational, research, and experimentation campaigns, they educate local communities to recognise the value of their collective heritage, supporting the development of planning skills for its transformation. The book Ecomuseums and cultural landscapes. State of the art and future prospects, starting from the debate launched in 2016 in Milan, on the occasion of the 24th ICOM General Conference, with the Forum of Ecomuseums and CommunityMuseums, and the conference “Museums and cultural landscapes. The ecomuseums and community museums perspectives”, accounts for such renewal. It presents reflections, projects, and best practices of recognition, care, management, promotion, and enhancement of cultural landscapes, offering an opportunity for a debate at an international level on the social role of the project, and on the importance of participation and the enhancement of heritage as incentives for social, environmental and economic development, in harmony with the values and needs of local communities.