GEOTHERMAL ENERGY USAGE AS REGIONAL HERITAGE TO MITIGATE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT FROM FAST-GROWING HUMAN DEVELOPMENTS IN ANDEAN REGIONS

LUISA MATTIOLI; ERNESTO KUCHEN

Bologna

Congreso; PLEA, Passive and Low Energy Architecture; 2015

Building Green Futures + PLEA

Sustainable development of a region is ultimately and properly conceived when the entire heritage of the involved communities is taken into account. This is specifically true for remote and vulnerable regions, such as the Andean Cordillera, its piedmont areas and valleys, which hold a rich heritage and vast potential throughout their expanses. In the past decade a concern grew out about complexity and dynamics of the territorial transformation suffered with the location of foreign capital and the creation of infrastructure in search of maximum rents. These processes of different scales will irreparably affect the long-term sustainability of the Andean environment and its communities. This research work is aimed at proposing rational guidelines for resource and land usage in the Valley of Iglesia of northern San Juan, Argentina, through the evaluation of heritage patrimony and natural resources, specifically the optimized usage of geothermal energy sources of this region. Therefore, a territorial strategy has been devised that assesses the local heritage and patrimony, the characteristics and level of social involvement of the communities and the incoming entrepreneurships, towards the conservation of their patrimony and natural ecosystems. Furthermore in this study, a critical area prone to irreversible deterioration has been detected, for which case a comprehensive tourist project has been proposed while considering the rational resource and land usage through the consensus and motivation for action of all parties involved. It is concluded that the patrimonial identity constitutes the genetic value of culture as the power of evolution finding better solutions for sustainable development.