Vision

MWA was born from the deep belief in the potential of medieval wooden architecture as an extraordinary resource for research and development (R&D), beyond its cultural value, for regenerating lost cultural identities and failing economic systems of communities rich in medieval history but lacking in systemic vision and planning, specialized know-how, and capital attractors.

Mission

MWA was launched in March 2024 as an independent project by White Oak Arkitecture to produce scientific research on medieval wooden architecture within UNESCO contexts, and to create museums as strategic resources and partners for the regeneration and self-sustainable development of historical villages affected by depopulation and high risk of marginality.

Strategic Aims

MWA is focused on 4 strategic aims:

1  Network  _  to create institutional partnerships on a local, national, and international scale, to serve as a platform for developing and promoting MWA projects, connecting communities, and exchanging knowledge.

2  Research  _  to produce historical, archaeological, and technological research (R&D), creating the conditions for establishing research museums and producing specialized know-how and economy.

3  Museums  _  to establish research museums as strategic resources for preserving and promoting cultural heritage, and as partners in the regeneration and development of the villages which, by signing the MWA Compact, become experimental sites of the MWA Systemic Model.

4  Model  _  to develop the MWA Systemic Model as a scalable strategic framework for national and international applications in territories featuring medieval history, prioritizing the villages affected by depopulation and high risk of marginality.

Territorial Impact

The MWA Systemic Model is conceived to contribute to:

1  Identity  _  regenerating and enhancing the sense of belonging to the territories.

2  Heritage  _  safeguarding local cultural heritage, increasing its potential as a territorial resource to generate direct and indirect economic value.

3  Specialization  _  producing specialized know-how and creating jobs.

4  Quality of Life  _  increasing average local income and opportunities for a better quality of life.

5  Urban Renovation  _  stimulating and driving private capital investments in urban regeneration.

6  Real Estate  _  increasing real estate market value.

7  Capital Attraction  _  positioning museums also as attractors of private capital.

8  Repopulation  _  shielding territories from loss of identity, overflows of mass tourism, underutilization of cultural heritage, and real estate speculation, while creating the conditions to halt and reverse depopulation.

MWA Compact

Municipalities join the MWA project by signing the MWA Compact, which makes them institutional partners in the research and museum projects, and experimental sites for the application of the MWA Systemic Model. Municipalities recognize the MWA Systemic Model as an innovative strategy for the regeneration and self-sustainable development of their territories, halting and reversing the process of depopulation.

MWA Systemic Model

The MWA Systemic Model is structured into 4 levels of systemic targets, from awakening the genius loci to reversing the depopulation process.

Systemic Level 1  _  from building institutional partnerships to developing research and museum projects.

Systemic Level 2  _  from enhancing cultural heritage as a territorial resource to creating specialized know-how and jobs.

Systemic Level 3  _  from creating an academic-based economy to generating real estate market added value through driven systemic investments.

Systemic Level 4  _  from urban regeneration to reversing depopulation.

MWA Research Museums

Museums cannot be mere containers of memory, just boxes that sooner or later become a cost. They must serve as strategic resources for development. MWA museums are conceived as guardians of the genius loci and sense of belonging, centers of knowledge and innovation, partners in systemic vision and planning.

MWA museums are research and exhibition centers for historical and archaeological research, open-air laboratories with full-scale reconstructions, and R&D hubs for experimenting with the reinterpretation of medieval archetypes, focusing on innovative anti-seismic and low-energy solutions for sustainable and resilient architecture and cultural heritage preservation, in alignment with the United Nations (UNESCO, SDGs, IPCC, Global Compact).

UNESCO Pilot Area

The MWA Project started in March 2024 from the villages of the Monti Alburni within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Italy, which includes 80 villages with an extraordinary medieval history and cultural heritage while no less than 90% of the villages are affected by depopulation and a high risk of marginality.

27 Medieval Villages

By August 2026, 27 municipalities joined MWA, of which 25 villages are within the UNESCO Pilot Area, and one of them, Padula, home to the extraordinary Certosa di San Lorenzo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the biggest monastic cloister in the world, covering 12,000 m².

Italy, Avellino  (1 village)  _  Conza della Campania (51.65 km² - 1265 p)

Italy, Salerno  (25 villages)  _  Aquara (32.75 km² - 1225 p) _ Altavilla Silentina (52.50 km² - 7070 p) _ Bellosguardo (16.75 km² - 630 p) _ Campora (29.15 km² - 290 p) _ Castelcivita (57.65 km² - 1360 p) _ Castel San Lorenzo (14.30 km² - 2180 p) _ Controne (7.75 km² - 755 p) _ Corleto Monforte (59.00 km² - 460 p) _ Felitto (41.55 km² - 1150 p) _ Laurino (70.45 km² - 1200 p) _ Magliano Vetere (23.30 km² - 580 p) _ Ottati (53.60 km² - 555 p) _ Padula (67.15 km² - 4745 p) _ Piaggine (62.80 km² - 1030 p) _ Postiglione (48.25 km² - 2040 p) _ Roccagloriosa (40.55 km² - 1535 p) _ Rofrano (63.60 km² - 1205 p) _ Roscigno (15.20 km² - 575 p) _ Sacco (23.65 km² - 395 p) _ San Rufo (31.95 km² - 1575 p) _ Sant'Angelo a Fasanella (32.60 km² - 495 p) _ Serre (67.05 km² - 3655 p) _ Sicignano degli Alburni (81.10 km² - 3060 p) _ Stio (24.30 km² - 755 p) _ Valle dell'Angelo (36.75 km² - 215 p)

Italy, Vercelli  (1 village)  _  Rive (9.40 km² - 420_____________ISTAT 2026 May

Area of Impact

1,115  km²    total administrative area of the municipalities joining MWA

Population of Impact

40,420  residents    total residents within the Area of Impact

Projects

From March 2024 to March 2026, research projects evolved from a local (2024) to a national (2025) and international scale (2026), producing specialized articles, books, with some of them indexed by the Getty Conservation Institute. By March 2026, the research projects have created the scientific conditions for two potential museum projects, the Krunatun Museum and the Helfara Museum.

United Nations

MWA is committed to aligning with UNESCO, the United Nations SDGs, the United Nations IPCC, and joining the United Nations Global Compact.

Logo

The logo was inspired by the three royal burial mounds (Kungshögarna) at the Norse site of Gamla Uppsala, in Sweden, which are represented in the logo by the three cusps of the letters MW. Geometrically, the acronym MWA was designed from the partial overlapping of three identical M, representing the first letter of the acronym MWA and the Norse rune "Manðr", the rune of Man, also used for house, village, architecture.

Krunatun

Norður

Helfara

Stavkirker

Dragon Skin