Luoghi irrisolti. Valorizzazione dei piccoli e medi bacini minerari in Italia= Unresolved Places: Enhancement of Small and Middle-sized Mining Districts in Italy

The question of the post – mining regions has always had a political, economic and cultural relevance among the European debate where, landscape regeneration experiences and project proposals already advanced by decision-makers - for large mining regions represent the main topics of discussion. In the context of large mining areas such as the coal mines of Wales in the UK, of Ruhr and Saar in Germany, of Wallonie in Belgium and of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in France, the metallic ores in Cornwall and West Davon in the UK, the development of restoration policies represented a challenge, which involved the brainstorming of national governments, local administrations, scientific community, citizens and private companies. The purpose of this paper is to present the research carried out on the actions performed on the medium and small size mining sites in Italy, whose story often goes unheard. Until recently, these areas used to be strategic centres of industrial production, while currently they represent marginal territories, affected by environmental degradation (pollution, hydrogeological instabilities), economic and social crisis. Moreover, these mining sites are usually located in suburban and marginal regions, which for several reasons are already burdened by processes of decay. In this framework, the analysis of actions taken for six small and medium sized Italian former mining sites constitutes a relevant piece of the mosaic of the complex context of inland areas. For this reason, the projects developed under this topic, should take into account not only the cultural potential of these regions, but also investments in terms of safety and environmental protection.