On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, a meeting dedicated to the cultural and social future of inland areas, with a focus on the Appian Way (Via Appia) as a driver for sustainable development, was held in the Council Hall of the Municipality of Venticano (BN).
Promoted by the Order of Journalists of Campania and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the Regional Museums Directorate of Campania, the ABAP Superintendency, and the Municipalities of Venticano and Mirabella Eclano, the event brought together institutions, scholars, and cultural operators to discuss governance, public use, and territorial regeneration.
Following institutional greetings from Arturo Caprio, Raffaella Rita D’Ambrosio, and Ottavio Lucarelli, a round table was held, moderated by Valerio Pisaniello, with presentations by Giusy Iachetta, Valeria Del Grosso, Prof. Alfonso Santoriello (University of Salerno), and Lorenzo Mancini (ABAP Superintendency).
Prof. Santoriello presented the CROMO (CROwdsourced MOnitoring of distributed Cultural Resources) project, which involves citizens in the monitoring and preservation of cultural heritage through the use of photographs and participatory technologies.
The meeting highlighted the importance of creating networks and synergies among museums, superintendencies, local authorities, and communities to leverage cultural heritage as a tool for social cohesion, economic growth, and territorial attractiveness, with a particular focus on:
- participatory governance models,
- sustainable use of sites,
- new training and employment opportunities in the cultural sector.
An in-depth session dedicated to the project will be held on Thursday, October 23, at the Vergineo Hall of the Sannio Museum (BN), from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
The initiative, funded by the Ministry of University and Research within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), is coordinated by the Regional Centre for Information Communication Technology – CeRICT scrl with the involvement of the Departments of Computer Science (DI), Cultural Heritage Sciences (DiSPaC), and Industrial Engineering (DIIN) of the University of Salerno.
The CROMO project sees the participation of QuantumNet, a technological partner committed to developing innovative tools for the enhancement and protection of distributed cultural heritage.
The event program includes presentations dedicated to:
- The Appian Way as Community Heritage (Alfonso Santoriello)
- The CROMO app and crowdsourcing for participatory monitoring (Carmine Spagnuolo, Ilaria Vitellio, Gaetano Caivano)
- Artificial Intelligence for damage recognition in cultural heritage (Alfredo Troiano – QuantumNet)
- Automatic validation of cultural views through AI (Carmine Spagnuolo, Andrea Amorosini, Dario De Maio)
- Gamification and community involvement in heritage protection (Francesco Colace, Domenico Santaniello).
