The Learning-Based Cultural District and the Monza and Brianza Case. Learning from Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage has currently a key role in many local development policies and strategies. Even though there are quite a few cases of real culture-driven development where the integrated conservation of heritage has fully aware applications and the enhancement processes really involves local communities. From the viewpoint of conservation studies the systemic links between built heritage and society are at the cutting edge of theoretical perspectives. CH is an open system that does not correspond just to monuments and it is comprehensible only within a vision integrating economic, cultural and ethic values, as it is for typical non renewable resources. The Cultural District models are nowadays at a crossroad between being an attempt to exploit heritage for sheer territorial marketing and the possibility to become an instrument for an aware and sustainable valorization. Models like learning-based Cultural District allow to re–think the role of built CH within the local development and the post-industrial knowledge society. Within this model the interventions are exploited to increase capability of professionals in building sector, disseminating the idea of preventive conservation and improving competences. Conservation projects should then become a growing factor for human and intellectual capital. Furthermore, the learning-based Cultural District model can pursue strategic objectives related to the involvement of private sector for support and enhancement of culture and local economy