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The deadlines of the various levels of project in Italy are really short. This attitude of underestimating the quality aspects and overestimating the quantity ones is attested by the law: a project of restoration of a monument is treated in the same way as a cleaning service. A big change in this field is required.

The development of new standards for orienting restoration and refurbishment processes towards sustainable paths must necessarily adopt tools for requirements evaluation aimed at the building certification. A rural building settled in the Piemonte countryside becomes the first registered case study of the new GBC Historic Building^TM rating system.

The restoring project of Astley Castle made by Withford Watson Mann Architects, bring to life a medieval ruin transforming it into an accomodation, in Warwickshire.

After securing its walls, on the verge of static collapse, the architects add a new brick-work woved into the ancient one.

Most of the original exterior walls made by different materials (sandstone, limestone, medieval bricks) are covered by a shallow roof in order to prevent futher degradation. The developers of this project put four bedrooms at groundfloor and the living room on the first floor to have the best view over the landscape, the courtyard became a double-high space where you are both inside and outside at the same time.

World Monuments Fund is the leading independent organization devoted to saving the world’s treasured places. For nearly 50 years, working in 100 countries, its skilled experts have applied proven and effective techniques to the preservation of important architectural and cultural heritage sites around the globe. Through partnerships with local communities, funders, and governments, WMF seeks to inspire an enduring commitment to stewardship for future generations. Headquartered in New York City, the organization has offices and affiliates worldwide (www.wmf.org, www.twitter.com/worldmonuments, and www.facebook.com/worldmonuments). In October 2013, the historic center of L'Aquila has been included in the "2014 Watch List" along with 67 other sites in the world.

The cultural heritage theme takes on large values not related only humanistic sector.

This aspect is even more important in a political, economic and social panorama that is affected by the on-going European financial crisis.

In fact, the policy of integration and union, that has become a central challenge for the European countries, is now in a state of crisis due to the reassertion of nationalist ideas most often related to issues of economic stability.

For this reason, the forthcoming political strategies will put at the center of their attention the cultural heritage intended as social integration through the establishment of a heritage of European characters.

In this context, the construction of a cultural, historical and shared heritage that can be transmitted to future generations is an essential objective from the reflective, inclusive and innovative community point of view.

Following this topic, it is interesting to see how a group of researchers has promoted studies, research and analysis in order to construct an identity cultural heritage card shared and unified among the country members. The studies have been conducted within the project called Eu-CHIC (European Cultural Heritage Identity Card).

The main objective of the EU-CHIC was to develop and test the guidelines required for the efficient compilation and storage of data, pertinent to each monument and structure under observation. The result that EU-CHIC proposes is a system that supports sustainable maintenance, preventive conservation and the rehabilitation of historic sites and monuments. This typology of systems may assist in the application of newly developed strategies that will be designed to evaluate efficiency, and may be employed to screen, and monitor over time, progressive changes to the physical heritage as a result of recurring human interventions and environmental impacts.

The Eu-CHIC research has suggested a pyramidal approach in reading and sharing documentation of the cultural heritage. The pyramid format should be developed into the concept of the CHIC-Iceberg, contract in CHICBERG.

The proposed CHICEBERG divides the information, concerning the cultural heritage property under consideration, according to three levels of reading:

1. Iceberg Level 1 – basic data The first level of information is represented by the upper, visible, part of an iceberg. This offers basic data on the heritage asset, and is available for a wide range of public uses, without restriction.

2. Iceberg Level 2 – pool of knowledge The second level of data, regarding the pool of knowledge is represented by the invisible part of the iceberg and will remain under the control of the heritage owner or site manager. These data categories can only be published, or made publicly available, with permission of their owner. In some cases the nature of the data may be security sensitive, and be totally restricted.

3. Iceberg Level 3 – decision making The third level of decision-making information and data is also represented by the invisible part of the iceberg, as level 2. These data categories can only be published, or made publicly available, with permission of their heritage owner or site manager and, in some cases, they may be totally restricted.

You can read more on the project at: www.eu-chic.eu.