The preservation of cultural heritage through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan: opportunities and criticalities

The 2020-2021 pandemic has had a major impact on health, but it has also been a catalyst for phenomena related to criticality and fragility in the economic and social spheres. To counter the effects and promote a recovery, the European Union launched the Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme, which Italy has adopted with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The many lines of action for the implementation of its objectives also include cultural heritage, which is a widespread asset and a crucial matter to be reconsidered because of its identity and its unexpressed potential. The Italian territory is very rich in “diffuse cultural presences”, which are cultural cornerstones and territorial symbols of the varied Italian cultural landscape. They could be better exploited to become further sources of economic prosperity as points of excellence in the context territories, by seizing the opportunities offered by the Plan. Sometimes, however, the architectural heritage has been forcibly adapted to these projects, subjecting it to theoretical over-exploitation or inappropriate destinations. This paper will deal with examples from an Italian territorial reality, in particular the Lombardy region, evaluating in a rapid critical analysis the opportunities and criticalities that have emerged from time to time.