Villa Pamphilj, located in the middle of Monteverde, Rome, is the city’s largest landscaped public park, a spacious sanctuary that provides rest from the urban hustle. This historic villa, built in the 17th century by the Pamphilj family, has since become a valued public area with a rich cultural and natural history and heritage, offering a numerous opportunities for community mapping and engagement.

In November 2023, after a period of closure, the Casale dei Cedrati, one of the villa’s main historic buildings, reopened to the public. Managed by CoopCulture, the Casale now serves as a hub for community gathering and engagement. It is a beautiful historic farmhouse that houses a café, bookstore, and reading room, as well as offering the opportunity to rest in the greenery and breathe in the history proper to a heritage site. This reopening marks a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance the Villa Pamphilj experience for both residents and tourists.

The reopening of Casale dei Cedrati paved the way for an innovative Heritage Community Mapping project, an initiative of CoopCulture developed under the project “SPOKE 8 – sustainability and resilience of tangible cultural heritage” and co-designed with the support of gisAction.

With this process CoopCulture intends to develop a model that explores new possibilities for the enhancement, management and governance of tangible cultural heritage so that it becomes a lever for participatory territorial regeneration. The initiative aims to explore the multifaceted relationship between the community and Villa Pamphilj through a structured survey that allows users, citizens, and anyone gravitating around the Villa to contribute to the public narrative of the common good.

gisAction intervenes with its expertise in promoting web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and putting them at the service of multi-actor collaboration, public participation in geolocated data collection of public interest, or citizen science. This engagement enables community members to contribute their own observations, knowledge, and insights, fostering a sense of belonging and connection to the land. It ensures that the voices of all stakeholders are heard and considered in the decision-making process.

The integration of web GIS technology facilitates efficient data organization, analysis, and visualization. The resulting detailed maps and interactive platforms provide an easy way to explore survey results, facilitating stakeholder understanding and action. This approach not only improves the quality of the data collected, but also strengthens community involvement and multi-stakeholder collaboration, ensuring that the development of Villa Pamphilj is driven by the needs and experiences of its visitors.

The survey is designed with three distinct streams, each focusing on different temporal aspects of the villa’s impact on its visitors:

It is possible to contribute on three macro-themes:

1. Past: To explore the community’s and the area’s memories and historical ties to Villa Pamphilj’s historical and cultural heritage sites. Users can choose from predefined points of interest or map new ones, sharing personal stories, documents and photos. This trail aims to create a participatory documentary archive that preserves the legacy of the villa through the eyes of its users.
2. Present: “What brings you to Casale today?” visitors provide valuable insights into their preferences and motivations. This data helps understand contemporary user behavior and shape immediate offerings to better meet their needs.
3. Future: This future-oriented track allows the community to take an active role in shaping the future of the Casale and Villa Pamphilj. Participants can suggest new activities, services and improvements, ensuring that the Casale and villa remain a dynamic and relevant space for future generations.

The reopening of the Casale dei Cedrati at Villa Pamphilj is not just a return to the past, but a step forward in community engagement and cultural preservation. Through the Heritage Community Mapping project, CoopCulture with the support of gisAction, are harnessing the power of collective memory and public participation to ensure that Villa Pamphilj remains a vibrant and valuable part of Rome’s cultural landscape. Visitors are not only witnesses to history, but actively participate in the narrative of this magnificent villa.

To participate in the Community Mapping project and share your experiences, visit the Casale dei Cedrati and scan the QR codes available on-site.

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