AIPAI



The awarding of the XIII TICCIH International Congress to Italy is an important recognition of the role the Associazione Italiana per il Patrimonio Archeologico Industriale (AIPAI) [Italian Association for Industrial Archaeological Heritage] has acquired. It is the only association operating in this sector at a national level, and was founded in 1997 by a group of specialists in industrial heritage and by some of the most important institutions in this sector in the country. The Association now has about 300 members and has fruitful relationships with universities, research centres, foundations, museums, central and local government bodies (Ministries, Superintendence offices, Regions, Provinces, Local authorities, Mountain Communities, Agencies for Tourist Promotion and local development, etc.). The Italian Section of TICCIH has been formed within the Association, and this has developed its activities in synergy and integration with the AIPAI, extending mainly into the areas of training, research and communication, inventory-making and cataloguing as well as promotion, spreading awareness and enhancement of the heritage of the industrial civilisation.
Since it was founded, the AIPAI has, promoted, coordinated and carried out research activities in collaboration with a number of other bodies and institutions, making use of expertise from different disciplines to analyse the industrial archaeological heritage in its many relationships with the cultural and environmental heritage system and the working culture, under a long-term perspective. Based on these studies, criteria and procedures have been defined with the aim of preserving and enhancing industrial history, including in terms of reproducing and restoring territorial identity.
Among the objectives of the AIPAI is the promotion of a higher level of practical and scientific collaboration between public and private bodies (museums, ministries, universities, offices, local authorities and private institutions) for the cataloguing, preservation and enhancement of the industrial heritage, for protecting archives, machinery and other evidence from the industrial civilisation, for training of workers in the field and for the promotion of industrial tourism. With this aim, and thanks also to the  organisation of the AIPAI into regional groups, agreements have been set up with local, regional and provincial  authorities, for taking a census of the industrial-archaeological heritage. Research and initiatives have involved the architectural structures, the environment, the landscape and the infrastructure, documentary and archive sources, machinery and equipment, production knowledge and important aspects of the technical, social and economic history that are most directly linked to industrial heritage matters.
Over the years, the AIPAI has developed an intense conference activity at regional, national and international levels. Among the most important events have been the conference on “The cultural heritage of the industrial civilisation: destruction, protection and enhancement”, devoted to regulations, policies and instruments for industrial heritage, held in Terni from 28 to 30 September 2000, and the conference on “Industrial archaeology: preserving memory. A comparison of experiences and areas”, organised in Rome from 8 to 9 May 2003. Material from some of these initiatives has been published in the first issue of “Patrimonio Industriale. Industrial Heritage”, which came out in 2005 with the title “Industrial archaeology in Italy. Themes, projects, and experiences”. The first issue of the new half-yearly magazine “Patrimonio Industriale/ Industrial Heritage”, the Association’s journal and the only magazine in this sector in Italy, will be published during the course of 2006. In the meantime, the Association and its members have made financial and scientific contributions to the publication of the TICCIH magazine “Patrimoine de l’industrie/Industrial Patrimony”. In order to strengthen internal and external means of communication, the Association has established a newsletter, which will now have a new graphic format and will be available online at www.patrimonioindustriale.it. 
Additional work undertaken by the AIPAI includes: organising study trips, giving wide circulation to popular and scientific publications; contributing to the production of numerous publications by its members and other bodies; taking on the function of “permanent observer”, able to evaluate, certify and publicise institutions and projects which have the aim of protecting and enhancing the Italian industrial archaeological heritage, with particular attention to methodological criteria, methods of work, services provided, and the level of, and ability for, communication and popularisation of historical and technical-scientific knowledge.
Finally, the AIPAI has played a fundamental role, and is a partner, in setting up the Master’s course in Conservation, Management and Enhancement of Industrial Heritage, instituted jointly by the University of Padua (Department of History), the Venice University Institute of Architecture (Department of Town Planning), and the Turin Polytechnic First Faculty of Architecture (Department of Architectural Planning), in agreement with the Universities of Ferrara, Perugia and Lecce, and with an understanding with the “F. Momigliano” Institute for Culture and Business History (Icsim) in Terni, and the Town Councils of Schio and Terni. It is the only Master’s course in Industrial Archaeology in Italy, and is structured in three parts: (Knowledge, preservation and management of industrial heritage; Knowledge, preservation, and enhancement of machinery and historical production cycles; Planning and renovation of industrial heritage). The course is structured around educational activities and seminars conducted in places of industrial heritage that from time to time are considered to be of particular importance as regards their potential for renovation and enhancement. During the four years that the Masters course has been offered, workshops and summer schools have been organised in many regions of Italy and in various European countries. From next year, the Master’s course will become international, under agreements with various European universities.