The Conservation of the Industrial Heritage: Theoretical Approaches and Territorial Experimentations in the Case of Anina (Romania)

In Anina (Romania), for more than 200 years, the mining industry shaped its territory leaving a rich legacy. Currently, forty-five objectives are officially acknowledged for their heritage value and listed on the Historic Monuments’ List and, therefore, safeguarded. Conversely, an overall strategy for their maintenance, preservation, and enhancement is lacking. Moreover, shortly after the closure of the colliery in 2006, Anina became but a faded memory with the traces of its industries slowly disappearing, and, with them, also the community. Starting from 2014, the local administration initiated the cultural project “Anina, Mine of Ideas” (2014 – 2018) in collaboration with various actors of the civil society, focused on the post-industrial territorial revitalization through the enhancement of the cultural heritage. This occurs in a national setting where the bottom-up initiatives of the civil society are the ones that manage to generate local and regional strategies and projects in the preservation field, especially in those fragile realities threatened by disappearance. The article intends to bring new insights in reference to the Romanian preservation practice of recent years through the particular case study of Anina, a former coal mine. It will look at the process of its official acknowledgment as heritage and the recent initiatives that tackled this issue with a direct impact on its overall perception, preservation, and enhancement in a post-industrial setting.