Professional profile
Conservation Scientist | Research Infrastructure Management | Policy Development and Strategic Planning for Cultural Heritage | Officer for Community and Institutional Affairs | Heritage Community Facilitator | Ancient Hydraulic Technologies Specialist
Heritage Scientist specialising in preventive conservation of cultural heritage, I integrate and analyse heterogeneous data to assess conservation risks and propose sustainable solutions, grounded in passive technologies, traditional practices, and local community engagement. My research path, recognised at national level since my undergraduate theses, took shape during my PhD through an interdisciplinary approach to heritage and cultural landscape, with a focus on fluvial dynamics and the role of historic watermills as landscape elements and traditional systems for hydraulic risk mitigation.
I currently collaborate with the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science E-RIHS ERIC, where I support the statutory bodies, contribute to the management of the Catalogue of Services and the quality system, and participate in drafting strategic documents to facilitate access to research services and international collaboration in the Heritage Science.
Alongside this, I pursue an independent line of research on hydraulic heritage, exploring the potential of historic watermills for renewable energy production, an approach that combines the preservation of cultural and landscape value with a concrete contribution to the energy transition.
I am involved in heritage regeneration and community engagement projects, including the exhibition and documentary film Water Communities, dedicated to traditional water management practices and hydraulic energy use in Basilicata. I have also contributed to European cross-innovation initiatives between cultural enterprises and research centres, focused on data interoperability and collaborative models for sustainable heritage management.
The thread running through all my work is the conviction that cultural heritage, to truly endure, must become a living resource, one capable of responding to present-day challenges by weaving together science, technology, and community.
CNR Disciplinary Fields and Research Management Sectors
- SH8_6 Architecture, Design, Craft, Heritage, Knowledge, Conservation, Creative Industries
- SH7_7 Cities, Urban, Regional, and Rural Studies
- SH8_3 Cultural Studies and Theory, Cultural Identities and Memories, Cultural Heritage, Architecture
- SH1_11 Innovation, R&D, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge Economics
- IR Management of research infrastructures, laboratories, facilities, digital technologies for research, or other structures with scientific purposes
Groups & Labs CNR ISPC
Landscape and Biodiversity Research Group →
Publications
Highlight
Grano, M.C. (2026). Watermills as Cultural-Natural Ecosystems: Bridging Landscapes, Tangible and Intangible Heritage for Sustainable Water and Energy Management in a Changing Climate. Blue Papers: Water & Heritage for Sustainable Development (Special Issue: Water Management in World Heritage Sites at a Time of Climate Change). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2025.2.11
Grano, M.C., Sileo, M., Innella, C., Vitulli, R., Masini, N. (2024). Conservazione preventiva, programmata e partecipata dei beni culturali in ottica circolare. Casi studio e sfide aperte nel progetto Basilicata Heritage Smart Lab. Il Capitale Culturale. Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, 29, 107-121. ISSN: 2039-2362. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/3400
Grano, M.C., Del Monte, M., Lazzari, M., Bishop, P. (2016). Fluvial dynamics and water mills location in Basilicata (Southern Italy). Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria, 39(2), 149-160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4461/GFDQ.2016.39.14
