Is there a future for marginal communities?

In relatively marginal and isolated settings, changes in socio-cultural contexts and population reduction have contributed to the decay, abandonment and gradual disappearance of traditional ways of living and vernacular heritage. Associations and foundations often play a key mediating and facilitating role in countering these phenomena, supporting the survival of local communities and tangible and intangible expressions of heritage. In the context of the seminar cycle “Rehabilitation of traditional heritage and local development”, ten international case studies of unconventional practices of community-rooted rehabilitation from North and West Africa, South-East Asia, Latin America, and Southern Europe were selected. The cases were analysed through a multi-criteria approach to interpret common features and links in three dimensions: 1) organization and structure of associations and foundations; 2) technical methodology of recovery interventions, emphasizing the mobilization and transmission of traditional knowledge and skills; 3) generative potential for self-sustaining initiatives and community empowerment. Qualitative and quantitative data have been gathered based on a literature review of publications and reports, international seminars, meetings, and semi-structured interviews. The results highlighted the strong relationship between the external actors' success in rooty themselves in the local context and the empowerment of communities as well as the settling of their practices over time. The greatest opportunities for economic and cultural development are those in which a holistic vision in the care of the community and its cultural landscape was adopted. The reinforcement of the role of local craftspeople and inhabitants also proved to be crucial. The study showed that caring for a living heritage and its community implies a sensitivity for the past but also an updating and a creative reinterpretation of heritage in response to present and future demands.