Project facts
Duration:
2015-07-01 -
2018-02-29
Project coordinator: Durham University (UK)
Project consortium: Bibracte EPCC (France); Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain); Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (UK); Cotswold Archaeology (UK); Réseau des Grands Sites de France (France); Parc naturel du Morvan (France); Diputacion Provincial Avila (Spain)
Funding bodies:
JPI CH; European Commission
Subject areas:
Archaeology, Cultural Landscapes, Ecology, Heritage Management, History, Methods - Procedures, Natural Heritage, Sustainability, Tangible Heritage
Budget: 508.578.56€
Presentation
- Through research focusing on some of the most significant monuments in European history (Late Iron Age oppida: c.200BC-AD60), this project has explored how communities (including farmers, SMEs, wildlife organizations and residents) understand and experience cultural landscapes.
- The REFIT project has maximized existing expertise on oppida through cooperation between three project partners.
- The project has acknowledged that the ecology, heritage and wildlife of these landscapes cannot be divorced from each other or their economic value.
- The project aimed at developing a broader understanding of the perceptions and needs of stakeholders whilst integrating them into archaeological research.
- Building on best-practice, the project has allowed the implementation of a range of engagement strategies and resources for 4 case study sites: Bibracte (France), Ulaca (Spain) and Bagendon & Salmonsbury in the UK.
- Through this, the REFIT project aimed at enhancing knowledge transfer and at developing the sustainable management of these cultural landscapes.
Impacts & Results
- Sustainability: This project directly addressed the call for sustainable strategies for managing cultural heritage and the use of this heritage.
- Addressing societal challenges: the project directly addressed the aim of meeting social challenges by developing methodologies to integrate frequently neglected stakeholders (rural SMEs, ecologists, NGOs) in the presentation and management of cultural landscapes.
- The project has narrowed the gap between heritage research (in this case, archaeological) and the values/interests of other stakeholders to solve the problems faced in managing, protecting and engaging people with cultural heritage.
- Interdisciplinary and collaborative: the project has fit the aim to maximize the value of research by integrating organizations outside the academic community.
- Interactions and partnerships: the project has engaged and has communicated with cultural heritage researchers and a variety of user groups and stakeholders.
- The project has enabled the creation of innovative tools such as digital field guides that integrate value information (wildlife, ecology, farming strategies).
Banner: Sogndalstrand, Norway, a village famous for its many wooden buildings and warehouses, and listed as an important cultural environment site. ©Trond Isaksen, Riksantikvaren (The Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Norway) All Rights Reserved
