Pilgrimage Routes, Augmented Reality and the Sustainability of Communication

The paper focuses on the relation between new generative and sustainable types of communication, new means of technology, and new possibilities for territorial marketing based on the landscape of cultural heritage. Starting from the concept of pilgrimage - enhancing the relationship between the characteristic usage of territories and their resources and stressing the idea that every journey through the territory can be regarded as a redefinition of landscape - this paper introduces a concrete case-study: the San Casciano Smart Place project. Created through a collaboration between the Communication Strategies Lab at the University of Florence and the administration of San Casciano Val di Pesa (within the district of Chianti Fiorentino), the program was developed to promote the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Machiavelli’s famous Prince and the region’s immense cultural value. The project has redefined the execution of strategies like Storytelling and Augmented Reality by applying the generative communication paradigm. By using such techniques to promote tourism and rural development, this program will change the way people view (and cross) regions such as Chianti.