Gli ecomusei strumenti di democrazia per il progetto dello sviluppo sostenibile

Sustainability of development is the precondition for any intervention of transformation of local systems. It implies that the management of territory is the result of paths of participation and active citizenship, in which the key to success lies in the ability to initiate forms of cooperation between public and private subjects. In Italy, however, such participation is often only ostensible because of the difficulty of moving from forms of government to forms of governance. The fundamental question is not the lack of adequate operational tools, but rather a cultural lack of willingness to take responsibility and the burden of choices. In this context, the ecomuseums represent an intermediate institution between the Public Administration and the citizens, who works to bridge the cultural gap that exists today, with actions aimed at increasing the sense of belonging and responsibility of the community towards the common heritage. The ecomuseums in this sense represent a workshop of participation and capacity, a local stronghold of good government of the territory. Throughout the world many experiences of ecomuseums can be taken as a reference on the issues of participation and governance, with very different approaches ranging from the spontaneity of the South American institutions, to the rigour and formalism of Canadian and French organizations, also in Italy, though with various criticalities, the ecomuseums today offer a wealth of good practices tested in the field from which to start a rethinking of territorial policies, towards an effective democracy of the places. At the same time, they offer a fertile ground for experimenting with innovative participatory processes. Starting from these reflections, the text illustrates the results of studies and researches conducted at the Politecnico di Milano and with the Italian coordination of ecomuseums.