Sustainable valorisation of the network of hydropower plants of italian alpine valleys

Hydroelectric power plants were built in the 19th and 20th century, designed by famous architects, and most of them are still functional. Their importance as industrial heritage derives from their technological and architectural features, and from their landscape location. In each Italian Alpine valley many plants have been built within a few kilometres, forming a repertoire of industrial archaeology and eclectic and modern architecture. The proximity between the various complexes stimulates their valorisation as emerging elements of a tourist route constituted by the ways and waterways that innervate each valley. The interventions of conservation and valorisation must follow a sustainable approach that should not destroy the memory of industrial heritage, and must create accessible and safe itineraries between and inside the plants.