Underground4Value promotes the protection of underground cultural heritage (UBH) as a driver for territorial development. During the project’s closing conference held at the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels on 21 September 2023, the project coordinator, Giuseppe Pace, stressed the importance of adopting a participatory approach in urban and rural regeneration interventions as it can lead to the creation of more livable and economically vibrant communities, guardians of their past but at the same time open to co-creating new cultural spaces, combining a sense of identity and pride linked to local history and traditions with social, environmental, cultural and technological innovation (we had already talked about it here).
The project has mapped a series of underground areas of historical, archaeological and natural interest throughout Europe and placed them within a platform that allows both consultation and the creation of customised itineraries. It also looked at a number of case studies, i.e. sites where the methodologies, initiatives and solutions proposed by U4V are being applied or could potentially benefit.
These include, for example, the underground mills in Malta and BUNK’ART1 in Tirana.
The former are a testament to the industrial heritage of the 1950s and British colonialism; created in the aftermath of World War II to provide the Maltese people with a food supply in the event of a new conflict, they were dug into the rocky cliffs, far from population centres. They are recognised as monuments of national interest and the local government is considering involving private stakeholders to revive them and make them accessible and usable to the public.
A vestige of the communist regime of dictator Enver Hoxha and originally conceived as a bomb shelter, the BUNK’ART1 bunker underwent a virtuous transformation in 2014 into an art gallery, museum and multifunctional space, allowing the Albanian people to re-appropriate a tragic emblem of their past and convert it into a place of exchange and enrichment.
These sites – tunnels, mines, caves and underground settlements – offer valuable insights into past civilisations and constitute an educational resource that contributes to the understanding of our collective and shared history. By preserving and enhancing them, we not only ensure that future generations have access to these assets, but also stimulate economic development by attracting tourists and creating jobs.
Discover all the case studies at this link.
