Quale destino per il patrimonio diffuso nelle Aree Interne lombarde? Alcune riflessioni a partire da un percorso partecipato

The paper presents a reflection concerning the conservation and management of widespread heritage in the so-called ‘Inner Areas’ (Aree Interne) in Lombardy, focussing the discussion over the possibilities and destiny of such an heterogenous capital. These considerations move from a direct confrontation with local stakeholders through on-field surveys, interviews, workshops and data collection gathered in the fourteen ‘Inner Areas’ as identified by Lombardy Region. The discussion presented in the paper pivots over the diversification of acknowledgment and conservation practices concerning heritage in the Inner Areas of Lombardy, which is often unbalanced between over-turistification processes, on the one hand, and a progressive abandonement, on the other. These conditions are presented through the analysis of selected cases among the territories part of the fourteen Inner Areas of the region, discussing the different and multiple conditions of widespread heritage as expressed by local stakeholders. In these areas, in fact, built and landscape heritage are often perceived in the dual meaning of problem and resource. Starting from these premises, the paper sets some considerations over practices and interventions of conservation and management in the Inner Areas of Lombardy: how is the perception of the actors who live, inhabit and work in these territories reflected in the choices and interventions on the built heritage and landscape, in terms of quality and priorities given? Which are the interventions linked to consolidated or emerging dynamics of tourism and abandonment in progress? How do interventions and practices counteract – or not – such processes?