Geospatial technologies in support of community enhancement and creating inclusive historical narratives: Investigating the affordances of collaborative mapping software, location-based applications and 3D reconstructions to facilitate place-based digital literacies for the Ecomuseo della Via Appia in Latiano, Italy.

This paper aims to provide insights on the added value of digital technology for representing a sense of place and belonging within local communities. In particular, we look at how collaborative mapping software, location-based applications, and 3D reconstructions can be successfully employed as workshop instruments to facilitate digital literacies that negotiate place-based narratives and identities in the Ecomuseum della Via Appia (EVA) in Latiano, Italy. We argue that these geospatial technologies are powerful facilitators for creating digital literacies that reflect the community’s awareness of history and identity and involving local communities in decision-making activities on local heritage management. Our findings are based on activities and stakeholder meetings that were organized by EVA in close collaboration with the Spatial Information Laboratory (SPINlab) of VU University Amsterdam in southern Italy in 2016 and 2017.