The National Day of the mines. Edition 2009-2015
In 2009, the Institute for Enviromental Protection and Research (ISPRA) during a technical panel that brings together the major parks and Italian mining museums, confirms the need to create a mining museum network and proposes the establishment of a "National Day of the mining memory". The initiative is being carried out in close collaboration with the Italian Association for Industrial and Archaeology Heritage (AIPAI), which deals for years with industrial mining heritage, in synergy with the National Association of Geology and Tourism, which, since 2008, organizes - in the last weekend of May - a Day dedicated to the geological heritage.
The first edition of the National Day of the Mines, receives the sponsorship of the National Association of Mining Engineers (ANIM) and the Italian Mining Association for Mining and Oil Industry (ASSOMINERARIA).
The initiative is voluntary at the national scale, with the participation of many Italian mining areas, with the aim of encouraging the enjoyment of geological and mining heritage in the context of the Italian landscape, and the creation of a museum network to spread the value recovery of these territories as an opportunity for sustainable development.
The first edition, in 2009, involved five Regions: Piedmont, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria, who welcomed the initiative from the outset as a good opportunity to start a circuit of museums and mining parks.
In 2010, despite the limited means available (including economic), some museums and mining parks have asked to repeat the experience because they felt the event an occasion for deepening knowledge on abandoned mining sites and their cultural development, as well as a time to devote to the memory of the thousands of workers who were employed in mining.
In subsequent years, the National Mining Day ("National Day of the mining memory") has become a regular event, participation is increasing year by year, with a variety of local events ranging from guided tours and geoturistic itineraries up to seminars, book presentations and conferences, exhibitions, concerts, educational workshops, theater, etc.
In 2015, in the Seventh Day of Mines, there are over 60 events throughout the country!
This paper brings together some of the experiences made in the past seven years by the managers of mining museums and parks, to highlight the importance of the Day and the response of the population to the initiatives organized.
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