This research project aims to study the “community of practice” of fishermen in Brindisi (in the south of Italy), so as to revalue their centrality in the history and culture of the city. Now that  Brindisi is experiencing an economic and political crisis, the city aspires to pursue the touristic wave, like the rest of the Salento area. This attempt may be achieved only by providing a genuine  tourist offer based on authentic features, such as the heritage of this local community that has always been living in the port area, where the practice of fishing has been handed on from fathers to sons.  
Those fishermen used to live in Le Sciabiche, a medieval origin quarter situated in the heart of the port of Brindisi, that takes its name from the fishing nets used by its inhabitants. During the Fascist period, the entire neighbourhood was considered a shame to the whole city due to the  poor hygienic conditions. Additionally, this area of the port did not satisfy the aesthetic vision of  the Fascist regime and its ambitions of political representation. Therefore, Le Sciabiche have   been progressively demolished between the 1930s and 1950s to make way for a huge Fascist monument along with a housing  complex. Subsequently, the Sciabicoti were relocated to  the peripheral side of the port, in a purposely built area named Il Villaggio dei Pescatori.  
The first step of this research has been to retrace the historical events that affected the area from its constitution to destruction. Afterwards, the issue has been approached from an anthropological perspective thanks to a long and continuing fieldwork in Il Villaggio dei Pescatori. The purpose of this second step was to get acquainted with the fishermen, both oldest and the youngest ones so as to analyze what have been the effects of the delocalization for the Sciabicoti, and how the neighbourly relations evolved in the community nowadays that fishing has become a marginal economic activity in Brindisi.    
The last part of this project intends to outline a touristic path that could link Le Sciabiche area with Il Villaggio dei Pescatori, also with the support of new technologies, with the aim to narrate visitors the historical memory of the fishermen community.    
The real challenge would be to involve tourists in the community of practice of the fishermen and to observe how they interact together. The tourists would have the opportunity to share several moments of the daily life of the community, living the journey as an experience: negotiating the meaning of the fishing and mending the nets with the fishermen, eating what they   eat and joining their religious events. At the same time, the fishermen would strengthen the relationships within their social group having further interests in common that go beyond the mere fishing. The whole city of Brindisi would benefit both from the touristic incomes and mainly from re-appropriating of a long-forgotten heritage.