Messina, the Municipality puts new technologies at the service of cultural heritage

Messina, during a press conference today at Palazzo Zanca, in the presence of the Deputy Mayor and Councilor with responsibility for Strategic Planning for European Funds 2021-2027 Carlotta Previti and the Councilor for Tourism Enzo Caruso, the proposal was illustrated to the municipal administration " Safeguarding cultural heritage with new technologies" aimed at using the funds provided for technological innovation in the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan). The meeting with journalists was attended by the President of the 4ward360 Laboratory Sabrina Zuccalà, multiple award winner for Italian and International Excellence in the field of Nanotechnologies and technological innovations, and Antonio Sabbatella, President of the Alcide De Gasperi European Studies Institute and former coordinator of the Office European Policies Department of the Presidency of the Council. The event was organized by 4ward360, an international nanomaterials research laboratory committed to safeguarding the historical, artistic, cultural and social heritage through new technologies, using electrophysics to reduce rising damp in buildings and nanotechnology to preserve the surfaces. Deputy Mayor Carlotta Previti, in complimenting the initiative, highlighted that: “Messina is a city that, after the earthquake, lost its historical identity; today more than yesterday, it is essential to preserve memory, protecting our artistic heritage and investing in the most performing new technologies. Among other things, funding for technological innovation is foreseen in the PNRR and could be a driving force for development. Italy is the cradle of an important historical heritage that we must enhance by making Culture a company. We must do it for our young people and their future. The times for implementation are short as the chronology of the funds of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is rather limited, most of them within the first half of 2023. The projects must be credible, shared and forwarded to the competent Ministry. Today, together with the 4ward360 Laboratory, we presented a project on the valorization of our historical and cultural heritage, a renovation of the buildings housing public bodies that have a cultural value and that suffer from a lack of funds, also including the ecclesiastical heritage of great value. We have an excellence like Dr. Sabrina Zuccalà, who has already declared that she will align costs with the needs of the PNRR funds, we have contacts with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, we will quickly close a project shared by all". Councilor Caruso highlighted "the importance of preserving our cultural assets, which represent the gold of Messina, are fundamental for the promotion of the territory and for transmitting our 'cultural DNA' to subsequent generations. It might be interesting to start from our Renaissance fountains and Liberty buildings. Today the opportunities for the city of Messina to enhance its assets through new technologies were presented". President Zuccalà focused her speech on how nanotechnologies can be used to preserve the main cultural assets of the city of the Strait from deterioration, while Dr.