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The town and its territory

It is not sufficient to involve the various cultural groups (associations, local bodies, organizations, institutions), in a general stimulating discussion on public action. The awareness of regional and local needs and of historic and cultural elements must prevail in order to procede along scientific and cognoscitive lines: a common cultural policy must guide a common conservation policy.
The starting point must be the local area as a linking factor for every choice while full consideration is given to individual elements. Politics and culture must answer to the needs of present times making equal use of education and society, culture and technology. The natural and historic relation between man and environment must supply the perspective for a multidisciplinary vision that allows an open and free exchange of ideas.
Nature and culture cannot be separated and on that basis a town can work with its territory towards a common goal for deeper awareness and respect, to promote a variety of measures aimed at preserving and making available its historic, artistic and natural heritage. This process would begin with a proper assessment of the needs of the outer territory and then would work its way towards the town centre.
History has left us with clear signs and we must endevour to find a new approach to read them. Most of us are aware today that everything, be it a monument, a landscape, an object of an event, is linked to everything else as in a network and everything becomes a token of remembrance from the past. We cannot ignore these signs, on the contrary we must learn to understand them. Understanding like heritage is man's new challenge today. Individuals and institutions alike must find answers to their own questions. That is why museums must play the organiser's and promoter's roles explaining the reasons behind a specific display of works of art or of other items. The history of a museum is the essential element that allows us to understand its development, its difficulties, its collections, its bequests, its growth, its acquisitions and its restoration work.
Learning techniques must guide us from a museum to an archeological dig, to a craftsman's workshop, to a landscape, to a monument, to another museum - in this way we can reach a stimulating dialogue with a territory and its elements. Museums are archives of past memories, of the historic image of a town and of its territorial area, they are places or buildings where objects of historical, artistic and scientific interest are displayed, preserved or researched.
We must remember that visiting a museum has a double purpose: a) it is a living, personal experience that builds up our consciousness of the past; b) it allows us to experience past times.

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