Herculaneum launches a survey to engage the area in rediscovering its cultural heritage

The Herculaneum Archaeological Park is launching #EnjoyErcolano, turning to its territory to involve it in reappropriating the identity of the place and rediscovering its cultural heritage. The goal is precisely to make cultural heritage accessible to the community and to become promoters of its growth.

This is a survey designed by theHerculaneum Conservation Project (HCP) and aimed at the community of Herculaneum: those who live there or have lived there, those who were born there, those who work there or have worked there for a long time, and all those who feel part of this community.

All are invited to tell about their Herculaneum, reflecting on the resources for a new model of development linked to the well-being of both their own community and those who frequent this area or are passionate about it, even though they live far away.

Through this initiative it is intended to bring out the cultural values of the territory that arise from the close relationships, interconnections and ties between people and places, ties also influenced by the changes that have taken place in the territory. All the data collected will flow into a GIS environment to obtain an organic and adherent vision of the current reality of the territorial context and its potential.

“There are two objectives to which the Park is addressing in this new phase,” said Francesco Sirano, director of the Herculaneum Archaeological Park. “Something more than proximity tourism, a path to arrive at greater interaction between the local community and its cultural heritage; and restorations. Regarding the first point, the first members of the extended Park community who will also be able to join us physically will be the residents of Herculaneum, those of the Vesuvian province, Naples, Campania, and hopefully soon Italy and Europe. To the Park community and the people of Herculaneum we turn with this study, we ask their opinion, to intervene to tell us about Herculaneum, to help us have an expanded and integrated vision of the Park. In the past we have promoted numerous initiatives with the local community, but with #EnjoyErcolano we are responding to the felt need to further strengthen our connection with the area by going outside the Park walls more and more. By enriching our experience as insiders, gathering solicitations and points of view that will allow us to broaden our views, we work to better structure the integration of the archaeological site in the territory by giving space and voice to the local community. We also continue to reach out to all Herculaneum enthusiasts with our social network, which has expanded so much in recent months and will continue to be the vehicle for the dissemination of content and insights. The second objective,” he continues, “will consist of accelerating conservation and maintenance activities, the performance of which will be facilitated by the physical visitor quota phase. In fact, I think it is appropriate to turn the circumstance that in the coming months the Park will be visited in a slower manner and by a small number of guests. We will focus on solving as many conservation and safety problems as possible in all areas of the site that are off the visiting circuit and have been closed to the public for years. Thus, the forced hiatus, which is coming to an end, and the slowdown in the pace of visitation will be translated in a reasonably short time into further expansion of the cultural offerings and improvement of the reception according to the strategy we have been deploying for the past three years.”

“The #EnjoyErcolano initiative positions the citizen at the center of a fundamental process,” added Jane Thompson, HCP manager for the Packard Foundations. “It is just one chapter in a beautiful series of initiatives aimed at rethinking cultural heritage management starting with social/human capital. It is a first step in moving away from the model of managing cultural heritage as a series of separate nodes identified by experts and choked by tourists, but instead experiencing it as a widespread network with the capacity to be a positive catalyst in so many other areas. I have worked in different parts of the world but nowhere have I devoted the time that I have devoted to Herculaneum. I consider this area at the foot of Mount Vesuvius to be very special. Pioneering at every stage of history, and sometimes paying the price (the railroad by the sea, etc., the uncontrolled boom after the war, etc.), the time you devote to it repays you by always making new discoveries, and I’m not just talking about archaeology but all kinds of other beauty, even the unseen! I hope that the #EnjoyErcolano initiative can have the widest possible reach, perhaps not only reaching out to those who live and frequent this city today but also Herculaneans who have emigrated, far away but happy to re-establish connections with their home territory.”

To participate in #EnjoyErcolano: http://www.herculaneum.org/enjoyercolano

Herculaneum launches a survey to engage the area in rediscovering its cultural heritage

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