The bitumen mine of Monte Camicia (Gran Sasso - Abruzzi): a geosite to develop. – The presence of geological and historical landmarks on the southern slopes of Monte Camicia (Gran Sasso Massif, Abruzzo, Italy) makes this area a candidate for site development and preservation. This paper aims to illustrate the links between geology and the history of the area, to highlight its societal value. Key features are three Aragonese coat-of-arms engraved in limestone boulders or on limestone cliffs and the “Miniera di Lignite”, a bitumen extraction plant that was built but never in operation. The story of the geological studies in the area – dating back at least to the first half of the 1800s is summarized, including the tragic events that led to the death of three geologists who were researching in the area in 1958. In conclusion, it is suggested that the area become a geosite in connection with the development of the Fonte Vetica and Campo Imperatore areas.

Remote, inner, left behind? The actors, social infrastructures and multivelevel governance of remote habitability. – This paper focuses on the assemblage of material and immaterial infrastructures, actors and multilevel policies that enhance (or impair) what we define as “remote habitability” in left-behind, remote areas. Applying the ethnographic sensitivity urged by Tomaney et al. (2024) for understanding in-depth the “making, unmaking and remaking” of contested social infrastructures in left-behind places, we present theoretical reflections and empirical evidence that draw upon a multisite fieldwork in the municipalities that compose the “Gran Sasso-Valle Subequana” subgroup within the Italian “National Strategy for Inner Areas” national policy framework (SNAI). The archival research, semi-structured inter-views and empirical observations that engaged institutional and non-institutional actors let emerge patterns of action, discourse and perception of social infrastructures and resources that are necessary for grappling with the identification and conceptualization of “remote habitability”.

Territorialization practices in the L’Aquila Apennines: transhumance, emigration and tourism. – The paper discusses the interconnected human and animal flows that have characterized the mobility in the high lands of L’Aquila province since the unification of Italy, when flocks and shepherds crossed their paths with emigrants, while tourists began to populate the mountains with different purposes, up to the present day, when the Abruzzo mountains are experiencing new opportunities to enroot the population and promote the territorial revitalization. Subsequently, the socio-spatial dynamics of some food productions of the southern slope of the Gran Sasso d’Italia connected to the practice of Transhumance are presented: secondary products of the pastoral economy of the past, mainly connected to the wool trade, which currently play a central role in creating employment opportunities of small local communities, with important repercussions also in the redefinition of tourist trajectories.

Fast mapping of the avalanche tracks on the Southern side of Malacoste (Gran Sasso Range, Abruzzi) for a better knowledge of environmental risk. – This note shows the results of a research, conducted in the Gran Sasso area, on the risk of avalanches and related territorial consequences. The study is based on a geological and geographic approach and uses techniques of fast mapping and field research. It was possible to identify the traces of 85 events that occurred between 2007 and 2017, which are many more than those officially registered. This made it possible to specify, at least for the type of wet-snow avalanches, the areas most subject to the phenomenon and highlighted the environmental risks and possible dangers for the visitors in the area. Therefore, it provided useful indications for a more prudent management of risk and better territorial planning.

“The Land of my Dreams”: Ideas of Sustainable Tourism between Research and Participation in the Territory of the Gran Sasso-Laga National Park – The Project “The land of my dreams” is part of the activities of the Cartolab laboratory’s research activities (Department of Human Sciences, University of L’Aquila) and of the initiatives planned by the National Park for the elaboration of the Economic and Social multi-year Plan. In the framework of a participatory research-action, the aim of the Project is to study the social and territorial potential of the National Park, in terms of social capital, expectations, hopes and “dreams” of its inhabitants. In the current post-disaster situation in which a large part of the Park’s territory is involved, through the research and participation actions planned by the Project, it is possible to give shape to the hope of rebuilding one’s own life, one’s own community, one’s own land starting from those traces of future that obstinately and stubbornly persist. To this purpose, one of the topics on which the second phase of the Project, concerning the formulation of choices and decisions, focuses its attention is tourism as it represents one of the most recurring themes in the narratives about the future of the 428 people interviewed.