It is a well-established fact that Italy has an immense Cultural Heritage (henceforth: CH) between tangible and
intangible resources that, however, fails to fully express its economic potential, i.e., the possibility of
contributing directly or indirectly to the creation of wealth and, more generally, to a significant welfare
improvement of the national community. It is not by chance that Italy is the country that holds the highest
number of sites registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are 58 of them, recognized as “heritage
of humanity”. Therefore, “enhancing” the value of Italy’s cultural heritage is a national priority and an objective
that must not be ignored, if we wish to relaunch our economy and get forward on the road to development and
competitiveness.
The great opportunities of the National Resilience and Recovery Plan (NRRP) as a part of the Next Generation
EU (NGEU) Programme, together with a favorable situation of research funding for University and Research
systems in our country, lead to a rethinking of policies for the enhancement of CH and, more generally, to a
substantial revision of public intervention that favors integration and coordination as tools aimed at improving
the level of efficiency and effectiveness of the public apparatus as a whole. Beyond the necessity of an improved
quality level of institutional coordination for the CH sector, there is also an absolute priority for empowerment
requests stemming from civil society and the entrepreneurial world. Against the above described context, specific objectives of the project are:
1) Creation of CHANGES as a multi-technological transdisciplinary hub of international reference for
training, research, technology transfer in order to:
- enhance the attractiveness of the CH assets of our country, promoting new sustainable approaches to
touristic sites and monuments, with particular reference to the Historical Cities;
- implement an excellent public-private model for collaboration and stable partnerships between
Research and Enterprise and fostering new ways of professional occupation in the CH field;
- offer an additional pole of attraction for companies, public and private Institutions such as Museums,
Foundations, Cultural networks and Associations operating along the main drivers of particular relevance in
the CH context.
2) Implementation of a plan of action and structural interventions that over a decade leads to a
progressive increase, in the three areas of strategic interest mentioned above, of:
- researchers and excellence in University research and higher education;
- PhDs who have completed third-level training and transdisciplinary research in collaboration with
industries and businesses (industrial doctorates);
- graduates in the thematic areas of interest CH, in response to the demand of companies and industries
participating in the project;
- industrial research and technology transfer laboratories integrated between Universities and companies
for the development and strengthening of process and product innovation capabilities;
- expenditure in public and private research and development.
3) Relaunch of the economy and territorial development of the centre-south of Italy with reference to the
CH sector after the pandemic crisis, enhancing and strengthening the industrial and entrepreneurial system
through the reform of the collaborative system University - business - local administrations that is based on the
integration of skills, competences and needs and acts as an attractor and growth driver, a reference point at
national and international level.