The Dolomites are increasingly becoming both the subject of studies and a place in which to study. The opportunities to study topics related to geology, geography, anthropology, landscape studies, botany, development models, and the preservation of the linguistic heritage, to name but a few, are increasingly attracting conferences, conventions, and national and international courses to many locations in the Dolomites World Heritage Site. Two discussions of the Dolomites will take place in the Dolomites during September. One will be at the 30th Italian Geographical Congress, which will also include a long hike through the Dolomites in the province of Belluno. The other will take place at the 90th congress of the Italian Geological Society in Trieste.
Geographers study mountain mobility
The Italian Geographical Congress, to be held in Padua from 8 to 13 September, will focus on a highly relevant issue: “Geographies in movement”, during which there will also be room for a strictly Dolomitic theme, “The Veneto Dolomites: mobility towards, in and from the Veneto mountains”. Mobility is one of the many keys to understanding the current landscape of the Veneto Dolomites, not only human mobility, but also that of animals, plants and goods. The announcement for the excursion, which will take place from 11 to 13 September, reads as follows: “We are talking about mobility on different scales, from local to global (which is becoming increasingly important in terms of inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List and the major events that have affected and will affect the area in the near future). Movement into the area, within the area and from the area are all intensifying at the same time. Depopulation, commuting, tourism in its various forms, conventional production, hydroelectric development, renaturalisation, and the effects of extreme weather events are just some of the mobility-related phenomena that are evident in the landscape of the Cadore and Ampezzo valleys”. The UNESCO Dolomites Foundation will of course also be contributing during the event.
The UNESCO Dolomites network, a case study
The Dolomites will also be on the agenda at the 90th Congress of the Italian Geological Society (Trieste, 13-17 September), not only as a fossil record of the Triassic period, but also and above all, as a testing ground for new forms of cooperation and different ways of promoting tourism. Piero Gianolla, professor of geology at the University of Ferrara, will discuss the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation’s Geological Heritage Network, and Alfio Viganò, from the Geological Service of Trento, will talk about the Geotrail, introduced a month ago by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation, which is set to take off as a new and more conscious way of understanding tourism in the Dolomites.
Ph. Alessandro Caon