Awareness as resource. The minor centres of the central Adriatic area. La conoscenza come risorsa. I centri minori dell’Adriatico centrale.

In most Italian regions the minor urban centers are characterized by the vulnerability of the territory and by a phenomenon of abandon and depopulation which is quite worrying in terms of the survival of these centres. The central areas are among the most alarming ones, as proven by the most recent earthquakes and the actual difficulties for their reconstruction. Many of the centers are normally not only small and poorly populated, but also consisting of a number of districts, hamlets, and villages, which resulted to be missing in the statistical surveys carried out. Therefore, the programs of protection and recovery for the ancient centers in view of their role as armors of the territory and economic and social support are nonexistent. The present contribution would like to bring the attention to these minor and marginal realities, exploring a cognitive path that can provide evidence of the material culture and make it the resource for a desirable and certainly possible restoration.