From Vulnerability to Resilience: Coastal Heritage as Environmental Infrastructure

This contribution is conceived within the framework of the PRIN 2022 - COSTA | Med - Catching Opportunities for Strategic Transformation and Adaptation of Mediterranean Coasts*. The overall objective of the research project is to formulate strategies for the transformation and adaptation of Mediterranean coastal territories. Specifically, the Pescara Research Unit investigates the potential of coastal cultural heritage (Khakzad et al., 2015; Rykwert, 2010) as a strategic tool to address current environmental and climatic vulnerabilities. The mid-Adriatic coastal stretch of Abruzzo is chosen as a case in point. Coastal areas, which are subject to a range of environmental challenges including erosion, rising sea levels, extreme heat, flooding, and saline ingression, are characterised by a high density of heritage values. These areas therefore represent a laboratory for experimentation with the issues introduced.The coastal contexts identified as case studies in the mid-Adriatic stretch (C1 - Pineto-Silvi; C2 - Fossacesia-Vasto) are distinguished by the specificity of their urbanisation processes and socio-economic and cultural dynamics. However, they also exhibit recurring Adriatic settlement patterns, characterised by the juxtaposition of coastal landscapes of varying thickness, marked by distinctive orographic conditions, infrastructural developments, and different extents of ecological relevance. In the context of the ongoing debate on the integration of heritage and the pressing issue of climate risk, this PRIN research frames cultural heritage as ‘environmental infrastructure’. It acknowledges the contextual forms of cultural heritage as an interconnected array of identity elements, capable of serving as a regulatory infrastructure for the environment (Pavia, 2019; di Venosa, 2022). These forms contribute to the restoration, maintenance, and activation of ecosystem services that enhance the quality of the spaces they inhabit.