MEDITERRANEAN BIO-CULTURAL LANDSCAPE: NETWORK OF EXPERTISE

Jean Monnet said that if he should launch into building the Europe Union, he would do it through culture. The increased level of interest for bio-cultural landscape – an all-encompassing international concept - proves him right. Indeed, whereas in the past heritage has been linked to nations and their history, today the bio-cultural landscape, in all its meanings, is not limited to a collection of national properties, an album of remarkable and listed sites. It is a network of expertise with paradoxical characteristics (unity and plurality, memory and creative present, identity and cultural “melting-pot”…) that, while making it unique, also give structured reflexes and answers to their own heritage questioning. A thematic approach, with a view toward the future, involves heritage and cultural landscapes: growth levers, a management model involving the respect of nature and humanity, and interest and sustainable development that correspond to an exceptional openness to worldwide cultures and heritages, through cultural interdisciplinary exchanges. In this contribution, the theme is addressed in terms of transversal expertise acquired during a research work on applied methodologies and fieldwork on materials and construction techniques, energy and technological aspects for retrofitting the Mediterranean cultural landscape.