Archaeology for local communities in Northern Italy: experiences of participatory research in an adverse legal framework

In this paper we propose a particular way of developing archaeological research for and with local communities using methods that overcome the legislative (unfortunately growing) Italian restrictions to democratic research. We will describe the theoretical and methodological grounds of what we call archaeology of sustainability and its meaning for reconstructing the history of local communities, which is the final focus of our projects. Then we will present the methods used in the participatory activities that we have been developing during the last 10 years in different projects in northern Italy, focusing also on in the benefits and difficulties approached.