International tourism is increasingly looking for experiential and authentic forms of travel, in contact with the territory, its traditions and its people. The Val d’Orcia and its municipalities are rich in resources and proposals that go in this direction. Resources and proposals that need to be increasingly shared and enhanced to grow the supply chain in this field and bring out the added value of the Artistic, Natural and Cultural Park of the Val d’Orcia.

The challenge is to increasingly enhance the UNESCO site as a unique and unitary territory, starting from the participatory account of traditions, stories, culture to experiment with new narratives and new languages.

This is the objective of the project financed by the MIBAC under Law 77/2006, promoted by the Municipalities of the Val d’Orcia, and managed by Terre di Siena LAB: the central theme of popular traditions and festivals, celebrations, recipes and stories connected to them. The protagonists of the story are obviously the citizens who, through Associations, public bodies and volunteering, are committed to safeguarding and protecting the tangible and intangible heritage to be enhanced and preserved.

The collective story launched in the #valdorciaonmymind campaign continues with other documents and video and photographic materials collected in the analysis, interviews and focus groups phase. The collected material enriches the official archive of the Unesco site with new old images and video content of repertoire.

With a view to protection through the dissemination and participation of citizens and tourists, specific sections of the website are also created dedicated to events and traditions and tourist information tools in line with the destination promotion strategies at regional level. A video on traditions and events will be the result of the project and will be presented during a dissemination event organised in the area.

Terre di Siena LAB’s commitment continues in the management of the Val d’Orcia Park on local development in the name of the protection of the UNESCO site through the design and implementation of actions financed by the MIBAC under Law 77/2006 “Special measures for the protection and use of Italian sites and elements of cultural, landscape and environmental interest, included in the world heritage list, placed under the protection of UNESCO” .

These activities are developed within the framework of the “Unesco Festival of the Terre di Siena” project, which involves the 4 UNESCO sites of the Province of Siena, action ECOMUSEO OF THE TRADITIONS OF THE VAL D’ORCIA financed by the MIBAC under Law 77/2006 “Special measures for the protection and use of Italian sites and elements of cultural, landscape and environmental interest, included in the world heritage list, placed under the protection of UNESCO