mu.ri - the diffused regional engineering museum is a project of territorial eco-museums that proposes to develop thematic cultural-tourist itineraries along the basin of the river Piave: the only system that from the Dolomites to the Venetian lagoon lends itself to becoming an extraordinary source of knowledge and of historical reconstruction of the collective memory.
A new exploration of the territory is proposed in which rivers, canals, streams together with roads, pathways and railways are the foundations of the museum. Bridges, power plants, dams, lakes and artificial basins are the structures and destinations of the itineraries.
The engineering works are considered custodians of thoughts and works of man but also an historical trace and an important key to reading the social and economic transformations of the territory. A set of circumstances, the knowledge of which, is indispensable to comprehending the historical and archaeological evolution of locations and landscapes.
The geographical identification and scientific cataloguing of these major works reconstruct the historical memory and represent the axis on which the museum project rotates: retracing history and its roots to involve and promote interest on a large scale.
The project envisions the active involvement of different parties: scientific research centres, territorial agencies, cultural associations and local communities and economies.
The experiences, knowledge, direct involvement and the collection of unpublished documents will become study matter in a collective “reconquering” process of the territory, re-evaluating its resources where the past has a fundamental role in the present, establishing the bases to invest in the future.
“Invest in the future, knowing the present through the past”.
culture - safeguard and promotion
Being able to guide oneself around the territory and knowing what one is seeing can change one's perception of what a landscape is, giving new meanings to locations and objects that our distracted eyes might not perceive.
The mu.ri project has set as its objective the geographic and historical awareness of the territory and to the safeguarding of its memory through the in-depth analysis ans scientific study of the engineering works that are present: to retrace history and its roots to involve and promote interest on a large scale.
The contextualisation of the works and their influence on the local communities lead to an active involvement of knowledge and cultures in reclaiming the territory, an essential premise for the protection and promotion of the resources, material and immaterial.
Lakes and artificial canals, dams and power plants that over the years became “everlasting landscape” acquire an identity, a history defined by functions and processes often obscure to the public and connected to personal and collective stories.
research
The project, utilising scientific and academic assistance sets its foundations on identifying and cataloguing the structures in the chosen geographical area, giving extra importance to the research on the relations between the buildings and the territory, as understood as an ecosystem.
The analysis does not limit its self to being a list of technical and geographic data of the single locations but it tends to rebuild the historical-cultural story connected with its construction.
The research of also unedited documents and the collection of direct testimonies becomes in-depth knowledge and an opportunity to share this concept with the local communities, involving public and private institutions and individuals. This becomes information beneficial for use in guided itineraries.
The material produced makes it possible to find and visit single locations, understand their value, scientific-historical importance and the connection with the collective memory.
The collaboration with research institutes and universities could be an opportunity to stimulate the academic environment to develop interest in the examined territories.
cooperation
Creating a network of scientific research, territorial and cultural associations, communities and local economies is a powerful tool that facilitates the exchange of knowledge in a broader cooperation in which every element is asked to give its own contribution.
It is also the instrument that mu.ri wants to use in a propaedeutic research in a secondary phase following the divulgation of the project.
didactic
Considering the potential interest in the itineraries and in the locations proposed by mu.ri the promotion of the museum must reach different levels of recipients using diverse and appropriate communication tools with an exchange of information among the different bodies that are present in the territory.
To the different levels and types of schools guided itineraries can be offered, taking the traces left from history as an occasion to enhance awareness and a way to strengthen the didactic programs, a big “book” spread through the territory, a translation of our historical memory in our contemporary reality and educational stimulus for the schools.
professional update
The engineering work intended as realization of a project brings a modification not only to the territory but it influences also economic and social transformations of it.
Renewing the idea of landscape and the perception of these traces intended as evolution of the thought and work of man can become a moment of continuous professional update for professional orders and associations in line with the current directives of the ministry in material for professional updating.
mu.ri stands up as promoter of formative events - trips, conventions and courses.
tourism
mu.ri offers itineraries of grandeur that allow one to find, visit and see major works, unexplored landscapes, architectures, pathways and trails often excluded from tourist flows, but not of less interest due to intrinsic cultural or natural features, to the intense historical connection or the courses of physical, social and economic change of the environmental system. A new prospective of the landscape that associates the idea of cultural tourism to sustainable development.
sport
The traditional paths lead one to a passive role, depriving one of the possibility to capture circumstances and experiences that are otherwise unique.
The mu.ri itineraries instead converge with paths that are alternative, mixing with the “slow” exploration of the territory, offering an in-depth and informed vision of the landscape. Minor roads or abandoned walking and biking paths, naturalistic trails, sometimes part of a web or circuit already structured, contexts that mix well with outdoor sporting activities and trekking.
economic development
Opening to new itineraries give the local communities, not only a possibility to grow culturally but also economically for the tourist income promoted by the eco-museum.
mu.ri presents itself as an active structure that operates in coordination with the involved entities, for the safeguard and development of the territories and the resources that they have, each represented by landscape or cultural aspects rather than the capability of the local entrepreneurs.