UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites Special Award at the most important festivals centred on the mountains
The 23rd edition of the Leggimontagna literary prize once again featured the awarding of the Special Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site Prize. The recipients, honoured during the ceremony held in Malborghetto (Udine) on Saturday 8 November 2025, were Daniela Perco, Iolanda Da Deppo and Michele Trentini, for their work “Vaia. La tempesta nella memoria” (Cierre Edizioni, 2024).
“Beyond stereotypes”
The anthropological research conducted since 2021 by the Dolomites Ethnographic Museum of Cesiomaggiore (Belluno) collected the memories of those who personally experienced the effects of the environmental disaster that struck vast areas of the Dolomite territory, focusing mainly on the most affected area, that of Belluno. In explaining the reasons for its decision, the awarding jury highlighted how the point of view of the inhabitants of the affected areas had often been “neglected or relegated to the background by the very narrative that, even in good faith, sought to support the communities of the most affected regions.” On the other hand, the study and publication by Daniela Perco and Iolanda Da Deppo, together with video documentaries by Michele Trentini, allows to overcome stereotypes, discussing in detail “the relationship between forest resources and local populations during a period of deep changes in the social and economic, as well as climatic and landscape, frameworks of the Veneto region mountains.”
LIVING WITH FRAGILITY
Seven years have passed since that October 2018, which saw the fall of over 15 million trees in Veneto alone. An event that had an emotional, social, and economic impact, even in the medium term. The research conducted by the Dolomites Ethnographic Museum overlapped with the Covid-19 pandemic, which in turn led, from another perspective, to a reconsideration of the advantages of living in a low human-impact environment that allows direct and constant contact with nature. Therefore, during a period of a few years, two large-scale phenomena produced a combined effect which the work recipient of the award during Leggimontagna allows us to investigate: a comprehensive reconsideration of the future of mountain living.
This activity is part of the project “Capacity building. Strengthening the social and regional capital of the Dolomites World Heritage Site (WHS) for lasting and sustainable development of local communities”, established with the support of Fondo Comuni Confinanti.