Minerals seem something radically contrary to the landscape, appearing to stand in opposition to life. Yet, we are largely composed of minerals; soil, water, and organic tissues are made up primarily of mineral matter. At the same time, mineral matter tells the story of how landscapes - the very sites of its extraction - were formed, transformed, and degraded, and how they might be regenerated.
This Special Issue invites a collective reflection on memory, forms, and their formative processes, and the perspectives for reactivating mining landscapes in the contemporary. This reflection stems from the scientific exchange and debate held within the IASLA Scientific Society in the spring of 2025 at the Monteponi mine - near Iglesias - located in the historic Sulcis-Iglesiente region of Sardinia. This area was Italy’s most important metal-mining district between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, and one of the most significant in Europe.