Project facts

Duration: 2015-05-01 - 2017-04-30
Project coordinator: Politecnico di Milano (Polimi)
Project consortium: University of Leuven (Belgium); Technische Universiteit Delft (Netherlands); Uppsala University (Sweden); Foppoli Moretta e Associati Consulting (Italy)
Funding bodies: JPI CH; European Commission
Subject areas: Built Heritage, Changing environments, Climate Change, Conservation, Cultural Landscapes, Heritage Management, History, Intangible Heritage, Mediation - Education, Methods - Procedures, Monitoring, Preventive conservation, Restoration, Sustainability, Tangible Heritage, Technologies - Scientific processes, Threats
Budget: 852.284.00€

Presentation

The research aimed at producing new local models capable of including the diversity of European Cultural Heritage and skills required in built heritage activities to support Planned Preventive Conservation, Maintenance and Monitoring (PPCCMM), by increasing the understanding of:

  • Conservation and valorization as preventive measures.
  • Effectiveness of maintenance, involving relevant craftsmanship and expertise.
  • Economic mechanisms underlying built heritage conservation in the context of the regional economy and the (wider) construction sector.
  • Impact of the knowledge gain and its dissemination on the smart economy for built heritage conservation, heritage management and for the construction sector.

The research has developed methods, technologies and procedures for sustainable long-term care as a strategy to manage changes, in the framework of a learning environment where heritage was understood in connection with people as a tool for the production of social and human capital.

Its specific mark was the investigation on changes that were ongoing in this context as the role itself of preservation in the societal context has been noted to be changing.

It became mandatory, on the one hand, to investigate which strategies could make feasible the protection and management of an increasing cultural heritage and, on the other hand, to investigate how cultural heritage could become a factor for sustainable development.

Impacts & Results

The project outcome has included the proposal for a funding scheme providing the conditions to support the transition toward a sustainable conservation process.

The interdisciplinary research has led to advances in the understanding of cultural heritage as a driver of regional local inclusive and sustainable development. Other researchers have been involved in other disciplines not previously associated with research on cultural heritage.

The project has focused on the improvement of the practices implemented for safeguarding tangible cultural heritage, taking into account spillovers and benefits, as capacity building, training, preserving traditional skills.

The project has developed a twofold approach to Heritage activities:

Preventive conservation has been investigated as a system able to avoid the costs of major repair, to make heritage properties a more functional infrastructure for timely cultural activities, to make heritage buildings and historic landscapes better protected and resilient against natural disasters.

The interdisciplinary analysis has allowed the way to make cultural heritage preservation a production factor for sustainable and inclusive cultural policies for pluralistic and open societies.

The project has provided an analysis at the European level of advanced strategies of planned and preventive conservation based on diverse concepts.

It has investigated this new understanding of heritage thoroughly as a tool for society at large.