Documentation and preservation of widespread rural heritage are today possible only if you can activate processes of conservation headed by local communities, thereby recognizing the link between the communities and their culture. The cultural heritage places (villages, sites and landscapes) can take different values; action is needed respecting the right of communities to identify the values contained in them. ‘Collaborative networks should be set up at different levels among multiple stakeholders in order to address issues related to heritage and create new value chains through innovative synergies. Dynamic, flexible, inclusive and integrated processes of engagement need to be employed for assessing long-term social impacts of heritage conservation programmes’ (Icomos, 2014).
In 2011 the 3DSurvey Group of the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with the Canova Association initiated an annual summer school program entitled ‘Laboratory of Places 2017, Ghesc and surroundings, History, survey, evolution Laboratory of Places'. The definition of “Laboratory of Places 2017, Ghesc and surroundings” links the idea of an inhabited space to an open space suitable for study, research, and an interactive absorption and confrontation of differing ideas. Founding elements of the project involve educational collaborations with university, but equally important will be the development of programs with local schools, associations, and public administration (Quaderni di Ghesc, 2010)
