Conservation and Valorisation of Underground Built Heritage A European Action

Underground Built Heritage (UBH), such as quarries and caves, dismissed infrastructure, religious sites and human settlements, represents an outstanding cultural landscape to preserve, re-use and share, respectfully of the inherited values and traditions of different cultural contexts. This resource's valorisation finds relevant barriers in the lack of adequate scientific and technical knowledge, technological capabilities and financial resources. The COST Action "Underground4value"promotes a change of perspective, through the establishment of a wide network of academics, practitioners, decision-makers, and innovators. It introduces new practices and behaviours for developing community engagement, with more effective coalitions of 'actors' encouraged and facilitated in their collaborative relationships. Success-stories, such as Matera (IT), Göreme (TR), and Postojna (SI), emphasise the importance of the consensus on the values to protect and carry on to future generations and which attributes carry these values. Only with such consensus, UBH would become a strategic opportunity at neighbourhood, urban and regional level.