The new opportunities offered by immersive and inclusive technologies to represent and rediscover the complex relationship between human communities and water resources. – In order to know, represent and interpret the complex relationship between water landscapes and human communities the new technologies (immersive cartography, three-dimensional web, augmented reality, 3D environments) represent extraordinary and functional tools both for research and for territorial information and promotion actions in terms of tourism. Evidence of this is the project “Tourist Itineraries to Discover the Waters of Italy”, conceived and promoted by the GECOAGRI LANDITALY Interuniversity Research Group Association and financed by ACEA, aimed at promoting a process of water resource enhancement in the dimension of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The authors through some exemplifications and using a methodology of operational analysis, characterized by new syntaxes, reconstruct with the help of augmented reality and immersive technologies, as well as the canonical geocartographic and documentary sources, the material and immaterial dimension of the water resource in the Conca reatina, Umbilicus Italiae, where the sociocultural dynamics underlying the relationship between water and population, narrate experiences of vulnerability and development, participation and conflict, protection and threat. Through 10 ten interactive and implementable totem-stations, it is possible to embark on an inclusive and participatory journey that allows people to explore even inaccessible places. Not only video and audio, historical and thematic cartographies, photos and three-dimensional images, but also drone shots from which to observe from above what nature and culture have achieved and, if necessary, to land in particular places reconstructed through augmented reality that allows one to observe them as they were and as they are today, making clear the processes of transformation of which signs and sedimentations remain in the landscape palimpsest.

Proximity tourism. The perception of locations as rediscovery and development of local destinations. – The Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally reshaped the concept of mobility across the globe. People had to rethink their own lives and above all their usual mobility spaces. After restrictions, people could move to nearby rediscovering a proximity tourism which is characterized by an increased emphasis on local and regional experiences. It reflects a desire for safer, more sustainable, and easily accessible travel options, as tourists prioritize health concerns, lower carbon footprints, and less crowded environments. In this article we are going to understand how some locations have been changed due to pandemic and which geographical transformation have experienced.

Urban green spaces as proximity tourism destinations: the potential of the Maredolce - La Favara complex between care practices and heritage enhancement. – Proximity tourism allows residents to experience familiar places in new ways and to perceive otherness in an elsewhere that does not imply distance. In urban settings, green spaces offer an evocative appeal that can be emphasized when combined with interest in the presence of heritage emergencies. Therefore, it is possible to reflect on the potential of green areas in urban settings and the implications for tourism and sustainability challenges. Green spaces in cities generate crucial connections that strengthen communities while contributing to local development. This article aims to analyze the role of heritage communities in the care and enhancement of urban green spaces as destinations with the aim of promoting critical tools useful for more equitable and sustainable planning of green space enhancement strategies for tourism. This research explores the case of the Maredolce - La Favara complex (Palermo) with a qualitative methodology that included participant observation and field survey. The green space is subject to processes of care put in place for decades by a group of inhabitants who work for the enhancement and involvement of the area in the representation and governance policies of the city. The processes and dynamics related to the context under study are analyzed to highlight how heritage walks, as effective practices of proximity tourism, can contribute to sustainable urban development that enhances local in-stances of signification and affective belonging to places.

The policy of museum free admission and the enhancement of cultural sites as a potential tool for the transition of territorial gathering spaces. – The choice to adopt museum policies that provide free admission to museums could impact the increase in visitors. It could generate social repercussions on the territory and act as a tool for transforming meeting spaces, with particular attention to some European realities. The study aims to analyze the correlation between free admission, frequency of visits to museums and propensity to return. The literature outlines an overview of the current situation of the economic, social and territorial impact of the museum sector and the use of the museum as a possible new aggregation space for the younger population. The methodology used is a qualitative em-pirical approach through interviews aimed at a sample of young people, aged between 18 and 26, identified among student groups. The sample survey will make it possible to establish, specifically, how much the income of the subjects interviewed and the difference in admission policies between the various European museums and territories considered can affect the degree of use of the museum facilities.

Culture e patrimoni dell’acqua nel Mediterraneo: una proposta sull’onda del “futuro liquido”. – Nuove prospettive di sviluppo economico e sostenibile possono nascere da una perfetta combinazione di turismo e digitalizzazione, conoscenza storica e valorizzazione del patrimonio nel Mediterraneo. La creazione di reti per condividere le migliori esperienze turistiche nazionali e internazionali nella tutela del patrimonio liquido è senza dubbio un aspetto fondamentale. In questo quadro, emergono esperienze e musei legati al mare volte a offrire al grande pubblico piattaforme rappresentative - sia fisiche che digitali - del patrimonio esemplare delle civiltà e delle culture nel Mediterraneo. Questo consente ai turisti di entrare in contatto con realtà istituzionali e imprenditoriali che implementano, in una logica sinergica, pratiche turistiche sostenibili; connettere turisti e comunità favorisce, inoltre, un dialogo che può motivare soprattutto i giovani a diventare narratori consapevoli e attori del proprio “futuro liquido”.

Contrastare la stagionalità delle Alpi italiane con la cultura. Il caso dei forti di Exilles e Bard. – La capitalizzazione in chiave turistica della cultura e del patrimonio culturale è fondamentale per la crescita economica e lo sviluppo dei luoghi. Allo stesso tempo, però, l’industria del turismo rimane ancorata a una definizione intrinsecamente urbana di patrimonio culturale, da cui sono esclusi i beni e i paesaggi di tipo naturale. Coerentemente con queste premesse, il documento indaga il potenziale di una definizione ampia di turismo culturale (che comprende, oltre agli edifici, alle infrastrutture storiche e agli asset immateriali, anche i beni naturali costitutivi dell’identità della destinazione) come mezzo per contrastare la stagionalità delle destinazioni montane. Nel fare ciò, sono quindi presentati i casi di studio del Piemonte e della Valle di Susa e della valorizzazione in chiave turistica e culturale del Forte di Exilles e del Forte di Bard (in Valle d’Aosta). Il contributo termina con la discussione di alcune principali indicazioni pratiche e teoriche sulle potenzialità e i limiti del turismo dei grandi contenitori culturali rispetto alle sfide della stagionalità e della sostenibilità.

Proximity tourism and enhancement of the returning artistic-cultural heritage. – In marginal contexts, it is conceivable to think of a reflection on proximity tourism through artistic-cultural initiatives that dialogue with the landscape, highlighting the disparities in development between territories. Within the framework of this approach, the activity of relocating artworks emerges as an innovative strategy to transform the artistic heritage into an engine of revitalization and alternative fruition, while promoting local tourism. This approach is evident in various projects, including that of the MIC called “100 artworks come home”. This initiative aims to return artworks preserved in the deposits of 14 Italian museums, moving them to their places of creation to reconnect them to the historical and cultural context that inspired them. This study aims to explore the potential of this practice, analyzing some experiences to try to understand whether relocation (from the museum to the place of creation or first location) has generated ways of use capable of stimulating tourist dynamics and contributing to the attractiveness of villages and small towns. The lines of reflection that we intend to propose are therefore to seek a possible reading of proximity tourism with a view to enhancing the widespread artistic-cultural heritage and to reason precisely on the link between territory and heritage in terms of reconfiguring the dynamics of concentration (flows, cultural heritage...)

Transhumance and landscape: relationship between settlements and tractural roads in central southern Italy – The study analyzes the historical and spatial evolution of the settlement system in central-southern Italy, with reference to Abruzzo aquilano, affected by the phenomenon of transhumant farming. The main element examined is the historical evolution of the settlement
structure with respect to the tractural ways, understood as a fundamental morphogenetic element of the urban systems and the landscape. The objective of the analysis is the identification of a series of elements useful for the protection and enhancement of the paths and of the historical and landscape pre-existences attributable to the phenomenon. The methodol-ogy is based on the analysis of the bibliography, especially recent innovative elements about the degradation of the “Tratturi” system, and, with cartographic analyzes and in situ surveys, it defines the critical issues and the territorial resources to lay the basis for a valorization project.

Enhancement policies of sheep tracks network and local development: a renewed challenge for Abruzzo. − Abruzzo cultural landscape has been shaped by the practice of transhumance, which supported the process of urban transformation and economically sustained the social fabric. The inclusion, in 2019, of transhumance in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage gave a chance to rethink regional initiatives aimed at defining projects for the enhancement of sheep tracks which testify the will to create new tourist opportunities and to activate broader local development projects. The “Parcovie 2030 - The Transhumance that unites” project fits into this context. The aim of this paper is to verify the progress of this project (with a critical assessment of the role played by governance), considering the potentialities of the territory, also with regard to the demographic and socio-economic capital endowment shown by the areas crossed by these paths.

Le “Geografie per l’ambiente” uniscono, nella teoria e nella prassi, i temi propri dell’attuale dibattito scientifico in materia ambientale a scala globale e locale; temi trattati in questo numero di Documenti Geografici con i principi e gli approcci metodologici di quelle scienze che si occupano di ambiente.

The valorization of the natural and cultural heritage of the territory of Grassano and Grottole in Basilicata for sustainable tourism: geomorphological and GIS analysis for planning sustainable tourism itineraries. – The recognition of Matera as European Capital of Culture 2019 will certainly serve in the near future to channel more effectively part of the tourist flow towards the inner areas. Therefore, a study of a significant portion of the inner area of Matera was undertaken, aimed at collecting elements of the physical landscape that would act as a landscape “frame” for the formulation of hypotheses of routes with “multiple” values. In fact, the study area includes the villages of Grassano and Grottole, which have elements of cultural interest that are useful for valorising the itinerary to be proposed. The knowledge of the geographical elements of the study area, the accurate analysis of the forms of the physical landscape and the geomorphological processes that have generated them, the inventory of the main cultural attractions of the two villages located in the study area, as well as the use of a geographical information system, have made it possible to design the route proposed in this article.

Interactive apps for the tourist enhancement of Oman. – Many tourist destinations are embracing ICT in order to become an STD (Smart Tourist Destination), a place that uses the available tools and techniques to allow demand and supply to co-create value, pleasure, and experiences for the tourist in addition to wealth, profits, and benefits for organizations and the destination. The main aim of this paper is to present the prototype of an application for smartphones to explore the territory of Oman in relation to its resources (natural and cultural), infrastructure and accommodation for tourism purposes sector. The methodology provided for: the collection of data from the main statistical sources, the acquisition of geographical maps, the georeferencing of a substantial number of natural, cultural and recreational resources, the use of the Arc-GIS and Google Earth tools for data processing, the compilation and addition of text information to feature locations in tables, and the use of specific software for programming the app. The main goal of the app is to meet the needs of experiential tourism through interactivity that allows the users to obtain itineraries that reflect their tastes, needs and preferences.

La riscoperta del patrimonio culturale, sia materiale che immateriale, di un contesto di montagna può essere la chiave per una crescita economica e sociale, soprattutto delle aree depresse, che stanno vivendo un'emorragia demografica a causa della marginalizzazione degli ultimi decenni, con conseguente de-territorializzazione.In questo articolo si cerca di dare qualche esempio di valorizzazione e di riscoperta di luoghi e pratiche del passato, ritenute molto interessanti anche ai fini di un rilancio turistico.