Italy's inland areas are experiencing depopulation and a progressive reduction in essential services, compromising citizenship rights and leading to administrative decline. Although often perceived as territories lacking generative vitality, these areas offer a privileged field for investigating alternative forms of resilience emerging through place-based approaches. In response to these challenges, local communities have taken an active role by promoting the establishment and development of Community Cooperatives (CoCs). In recent years, initial efforts have been made to quantify this phenomenon: in 2023, Aiccon recorded 189 CoCs, while in 2024, Euricse identified 243 CoCs. This study examines the territorial and legislative contexts in which CoCs operate, assessing their potential as instruments of urban regeneration. The analysis focuses on the conditions necessary for these cooperatives to generate tangible impacts on territorial processes. CoCs often represent the first community-driven response to territorial enhancement in emergencies and vulnerable contexts, attempting to activate local development processes even under temporary conditions. This article explores how these place-based tools, rooted in social innovation, can help reverse territorial decline and enhance tangible and intangible cultural heritage. CoCs emerge as strategic tools for socioeconomic regeneration, transforming residents from passive beneficiaries to active agents in territorial narratives. Using a mixed approach combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, the study examines three case studies, highlighting different dimensions of spatial peripherality, the temporality of actions, and the role of supporting policies. The findings question the potential for transforming local fragilities into spatial opportunities and identify the real needs for these tools. This article contributes to the debate on the role of cultural heritage and proactive community participation in addressing the multidimensional vulnerabilities that characterize inland areas.