The Italian Association for Industrial Archaeological Heritage, the only one of its kind in Italy, was founded in 1997 by a group of industrial heritage experts and some of the most important Italian institutions in this field. It has over 300 members working in its regional sections spread all over the country and it cooperates with universities, research centres, institutions, museums, central and local State bodies (Ministries, Superintendencies, Regional and Provincial Authorities, Municipalities, Mountain Communities, Agencies for the promotion of tourism and local development, etc.). In 2008 AIPAI signed an agreement with TICCIH (The International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage), thus AIPAI became the official representative of TICCIH for Italy.