Ecomuseums as the Future of Museums: A Post-Pandemic Model

The article argues that ecomuseums, a concept born in the 1970s, are the ideal museum model for a post-pandemic world. Coined by Hugues de Varine and refined by Georges Henri Rivière, an ecomuseum is defined as a museum of time and space within a given territory, integrating past, present, and future while focusing on the community's living culture, environment, and heritage. Unlike traditional museums, ecomuseums are civic, participatory, and often without walls, prioritizing study, conservation, and valorization of collective memory. The pandemic has highlighted the need for care, attention, and strategic thinking over managerial visions, and has driven people to explore peripheries and rural areas, where ecomuseums thrive. In Italy, the nine Trentino ecomuseums (Vanoi, Valle di Peio, Judicaria, Argentario, Lagorai, Tesino, Valsugana, Valle dei Laghi, Val Meledrio) exemplify this model. Supported by a provincial law, they initially aimed to counter valley abandonment, later integrating cultural and civic proposals with tourism to offer an alternative to snow monoculture and promote deseasonalization. Ecomuseums represent a dynamic, hybrid model that goes beyond exhibition and contemplation, becoming agoras and new architectures through landscape. They foster human experience and learning of culture and care, essential for designing the future.