Chapter 62 Cultural Heritage Management at the Local Level : A Geo - Spatial e - Participation Approach

In a virtual space conveniently chosen, citizens of the Web can interact and develop social capital and empowerment, intended as the consciousness of possibilities to influence the social context and to improve it, by increasing capacity of taking reasoned decisions on problems and of adopting adequate behaviour to face them. The Web can be seen in this sense as an innovative decisional system where it is possible to activate processes of electronic governance (e-governance) to make notions and expectations appear for a self-promoted and self-sustained local development. From this basis, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei has taken part to the research project ISAAC (Integrated e-Services for Advanced Access to Heritage in Cultural Tourist Destinations)1, with the objective of designing, experiencing, and testing innovative forms of participation by taking advantage of the potential of the New Technologies for Information and Communication (NTIC) to support and promote e-governance processes.