The memory of the First World War is indissolubly linked to symbolic sites or places as Pasubio, Grappa, Montello, Caporetto, all names evoking positive and negative events for the Royal Army. In trying to make an in-depth analysis, however, it is clear that the knowledge on the sites involved in the Great War is limited, exception made for experts and residents.
This adds to the objective difficulty to identify the precise position of sites, sometimes also disappeared from the more recent official cartography (some places had their names changed, others were modified, mainly in the mountainous areas; as to the past buildings, nowadays only their ruins remain – and in some cases only their names; there are places in which the Italian names were replaced after the change of national borders, etc.).
The close connection between the configuration of the territory and war events is the object of a specific branch (geology and military geography); the need is therefore clear to have an overall geographical framework and at the same time to be able to have levels of detail highlighting the information related to particularly significant small areas.
In agreement with the Ministry of Defence, with the National Association of the Members of the Alpine Troops, and the National Research Council, an integrated system will be developed for the mapping, identification, recording, management and dissemination of geographical information on the sites in which the battles of the First World War were fought.
The project objectives include:

• Research and identification of sites;
• Development of a geodatabase for the registration of sites by providing univocal coordinates for every element identified;
• Development of a Geographical Information System (GIS);
• Vector representation of the shifting line of the front, from the initial situation until the end of the conflict;
• Development of an online version of the GIS (webGIS) to allow the web access to the information available;
• Production of raster and vector levels to be used for the relevant cartographic production.

The information will be equipped with texts, historical diaries, memories, historical cartography, recent cartography, including a digital version, and photographic materials, therefore allowing an integrated and emotionally intriguing story of specific places and related war events.
A competition for ideas is linked to the project, aimed to the development of univocal signs (both multimedia and non-multimedia) identifying all the sites censed. A more traditional complete guide of the Memory of the Great War, equipped with detailed maps highlighting paths, trenches and emplacements, will help visitors, tourists or excursionists to discover precious and often forgotten vestiges.
The Italian project might represent the core of an international project seeing the involvement of neighbouring and then belligerent nations.