World Heritage and Africa: Less is More World Heritage and Future as an Eternal Present. Atti

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ARCHITECTURE HERITAGE and DESIGN | 19 Series founded and directed by Carmine Gambardella

XXIV International Forum Le Vie dei Mercanti

The XXIV International Forum “Le Vie dei Mercanti” continues the path of previous editions by presenting World Heritage as a living organism able to connect memory, identity, and future. After the reflections on “World Heritage and Food to Feed,” the 2026 edition broadens its focus to Africa and to the idea of the future as a dynamic continuity of the present.

The theme World Heritage and Africa: Less is More recognizes Africa as the cradle of
humanity and a laboratory of sustainability. Its cultural landscapes and vernacular architectures demonstrate how the integration of environment, traditional techniques, and community life can generate resilient, low-impact solutions. “Less is More” becomes an ethical and design paradigm: enhancement of local resources, natural materials, essential construction processes, circular economy, and community participation. Heritage protection is thus understood as an active process of social and economic regeneration, based on light settlement models attentive to biodiversity and the memory of places.

The theme World Heritage and Future as an Eternal Present interprets heritage as a
dynamic system, not only a legacy of the past but a living structure shaping the future.
Architecture and planning act as mediators between memory and innovation, integrating
digital technologies, advanced education, and knowledge dissemination. Sustainability
embraces public health, quality of life, and environmental responsibility within an inclusive global vision.

The logo of the XXIV International Forum synthesizes these values: Africa as a universal
reference, the golden ratio as harmony between nature and culture, and the cell as a symbol of life and continuity. Heritage thus emerges as a balance between history and design, tradition and innovation.

CARMINE GAMBARDELLA

UNESCO Chair on Landscape, Cultural Heritage, and Territorial Governance; President and CEO of the Benecon University Consortium – Research Centre on Cultural Heritage, Ecology, Economy. Seal of Merit awarded by the Ministry of University and Research, as a mark of distinction demonstrating its commitment to preparing programs aimed at responding promptly and with greater autonomy to the renewed demands for new learning and research in a rapidly changing economic, social and technological world. Full Professor of Drawing at the Pegaso University and at the University of Campania. President of the International Forum ‘Le Vie dei Mercanti’ since its first edition in 2003 to the XXIII edition in 2025. Editor and Founder of the series “Surveying is/or Project”, “Knowledge Factory” and “Architecture, Heritage and Design”. Component of the Scientific Committee of International A Class Magazine ‘Abitare la Terra’/‘Dwelling on Earth’ (Gangemi Editor International Publishing). He covered various roles for the University of Campania, including the Pro Rector of Institutions, Academic Senator, Director of the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design Luigi Vanvitelli, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture Luigi Vanvitelli, Director of the Department of Culture of Design, Director of Doctoral School in the Discipline of Architecture, Coordinator of the PhD in Protection, Safety and Representation of the Environment and Structures and Territorial Governance, Coordinator of the PhD Program in Surveying and Representation of Architecture and the Environment. He is author of numerous scientific international papers, publications and proceedings on surveying and representation of the built and natural heritage.

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