The goal of the conference is to foster a collective and widely shared reflection as possible by researchers and professionals who work in the field of architectural, urban, and landscape heritage conservation, on the protection of those unsaved built elements and assets that are kept on the margins of preservation and are here defined as “grey”. This definition, which characterizes the conference’s title and frames its theme, refers to the fact that these built, and landscape inheritances are in a shadowed position, meaning they are little visible and, therefore, not given enough consideration in relation to the values they hold. These values are sometimes difficult to recognize but, more importantly, are connected to the inadequacy of the preservation and planning tools that should support their care processes.

These are heritage assets—including, for example, the buffer areas at the outskirts of so-called historical centres, the legacy of the second half of the Twentieth century, the so-called “dying villages”, rural or scattered architectures in a state of abandonment, agriculture and production landscapes, etc.—which are confined to the margins of protection, sometimes even when there is a shared recognition of their values and significance.