The workshop was introduced by Samuele Cavadini, Mayor of Medrisio, Silvio Bindella, President of the Ethnographic Museum of Muggio Valley, and Francesco Cerea of the Association “The most Beautiful villages in Switzerland”. All of them pointed out on the importance of community involvement for the local underground heritage preservation and valorisation. Mark Bertogliati, curator of the Ethnographic Museum of Muggio Valley, introduced the local context, and in particular to the snow cellars, the so-called Nevére.
The presentation of Francesco Bianchi-Demicheli, Swiss Society of Speleology, introduced the scientific importance and the conservation challenges of karst landscapes and caves in the Mount Generoso area. Luca Zullinger, Museum of Mount Saint George Fossils, provided a description of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mount Saint George. Meryem Bngul Bulut, Kirikkale University (TR), exposed the results of her Short-term Scientific Mission granted by the COST Action underground4value dedicated to studying and identifying the social values of the snow cellars in the Muggio Valley for its conservation, reuse and valorisation. Community values were the focal point also of Annalisa Rollandi’s presentation on the Park of the Breggia Canyon. The talks were completed by the lecture of Francesca Piqué, SUPSI-IMC, on the challenges related to the conservation of wall paintings in underground environments, which provided examples and described adopted solutions. Finally, a round table, moderated by Giuseppe Pace, chair of the COST action underground4value, and Mark Bertogliati, concluded the workshop and provided many new elements of interdisciplinary reflection.
