The Italian Platform for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Patrizia La Piscopia, Elena Croci
Stabilize and rebuild: the role of «cultural communication». An Italian pilot project aimed to promote and strengthen the Afghan national identity after decades of wars
Keywords: Afghanistan, cultural heritage, communication, post-conflict stabilisation, reconstruction
This paper describes the different phases of a pilot project, carried out within the context of the stabilisation, reconstruction and assessment, by the Italian Regional Command West Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) of Herat (Afghanistan). The project sought to use «cultural communication» as a catalyst in the restitution of cultural memory to the population of the province. This was achieved thanks to the unique expertise of Lieu tenant Elena Croci, reserve officer of the IT Army deployed as cultural communication specialist. Her expertise was complemented by the logistic support provided by the IT PRT in strict collaboration with the Herat authorities under the principle that always puts the «Afghans first».