The Shift in Paradigm of the (Post)Mining Landscapes, Between Risks and Recognitions

The 1972 Convention Text mentioned the need to pursue collective assistance for the safeguard of cultural and natural heritage considered of Outstanding Universal Value. As of 2021, 52 properties are inscribed as World Heritage in Danger. The most recent such nomination in Europe is the cultural site of Rosia Montana Mining Landscape (Romania), listed as a World Heritage in July 2021. The paper will pose a reflection on the simultaneous status of Rosia Montana as a World Heritage mining cultural landscape and as a productive system still in use, tackling the social and environmental issues that derive from the analyzed context. Furthermore, it will be investigated the conceptual transformation of the cultural landscape in relation to the mining legacies and their methodological approach within the patrimonial acknowledgement, stressing the role that the UNESCO label can play while negotiating at the local and regional levels such aspects of the multi-scale territorial legacies