Proceedings of the Italo-Maltese Workshop on Integration of the geomorphological environment and cultural heritage for tourism promotion and hazard prevention - Malta, 24-27 April 2007

This volume collects the papers given at the Italo-Maltese Workshop on the “Integration of the geomorphological environment and cultural heritage for tourism promotion and hazard prevention” held in Malta between 24 and 27 April 2007. The Workshop emphasized the strong relationship which exists between the environment and the cultural heritage in several regions of the world, including Malta. The event was promoted and organised by Italian and Maltese institutions: the University of Malta (Mediterranean Institute, Geography Division), the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Department of Earth Sciences), the National Research Council of Italy (Institute for Geological and Hydrogeological Hazard Prevention) and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Malta. The aim of the Workshop was to raise awareness in Malta on the integration of environment and cultural heritage, which is already a key issue in environmental planning and management in various countries of the world, but not yet in this Mediterranean archipelago which is characterised by a highly scenic landscape and a very rich cultural heritage. Actually, although awareness on the environment in Malta has increased over the past years, still more efforts could be done in terms of research and applications. A good example is the man-environment relationship which dates back since the Maltese Islands were first colonised, 7000 years ago. The diverse peoples and cultures with which the Maltese Islands came in contact, also left an impact on the natural landscape. Thus the archipelago can be considered as an open-air laboratory to undertake multidisciplinary studies integrating geology, geomorphology and engineering, as well as archaeology and history, and to develop and test methodologies for the assessment of the relationships between the physical environment and cultural heritage. Due to the morphological characteristics and location of the Islands, these aspects should be especially explored and promoted within the sphere of tourism, where a different niche can be created, thus upgrading and diversifying the tourism sector. The relevance of the Workshop themes was witnessed by the auspices given to the initiative by the International Association of Geomorphologists, the Italian Embassy in Malta, Heritage Malta, Malta Tourism Authority, the Italian Association “Geografia Fisica e Geomorfologia” and the Italian Association “Geologia e Turismo”.