Tutela del patrimonio artistico: prevenzione del rischio e gestione delle emergenze

The essay reflects on the legal framework for safeguarding cultural heritage in the light of catastrophic events, taking the L'Aquila earthquake as a paradigmatic case where heritage and cultural identity proved to be the driving force of the community's resilience. The author argues that Italian administrative law on emergencies — built progressively since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake around Civil Protection, ordinance powers and derogatory regimes — has consolidated the "law/risk" relationship in the post-event remedial phase, while the equally essential preventive dimension remains underdeveloped and fragmented across competences. Drawing on the principles of prevention, precaution, sustainability and a Weberian notion of rationality, Giani advocates a shift from a remedial, atomistic approach to a systemic vision capable of anticipating risk and protecting communities and their territories. The proposed model relies on flexible, procedural mechanisms that keep an ongoing dialogue between science and law, on a "reflective administration" attentive to the long-term effects of its choices, and on a body of rules functioning as a programmed toolkit for systemic resilience, in which cultural heritage is recognised as a constitutive element of identity, social cohesion and recovery.