Preserving our past through future initiatives
The 'Safeguarded cultural heritage-understanding and viability for the enlarged Europe' (Sauveur) project was established as a Specific Support to Policy (SSP) project, supported under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), for the organisation of the seventh EC Conference on Cultural Heritage Research. The conference was held in Prague in 2006 and aimed to bring together and assess the impact of results of EU research projects related to movable and immovable cultural heritage. Project partners intended for the Prague conference to help further define the role of Europe's cultural heritage research within an international context, and to explore opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to contribute to competitiveness and job creation. They also aimed to contribute to the FP7 via the event, by supporting development of the European Construction Technology Platform concept and research infrastructure. Over 280 participants from 37 countries attended: they made oral presentations and showcased posters covering 'The impact of EU policies on European cultural heritage', 'Coordination of national research and education' and 'Challenges of European cultural heritage'. Parallel sessions were also held on 'Movable heritage', 'Immovable heritage', 'Cities, landscapes and villages' and 'Research infrastructure' as applicable to cultural heritage. Issues and problems affecting Europe's movable and immovable heritage are related to economic developments, environmental changes, social impacts, growing tourism, threats from natural hazards and inadequate cultural heritage management. These matters call for continuing cultural heritage research as well as the development of advanced environmental technologies. This should be realised through knowledge generated from related research as well as by adapting scientific developments from other sectors. Almost 100 posters related to the themes of the parallel sessions were on display, and a demonstration salon featured innovative products and processes. Public access to a wide range of conference activities marked the innovative nature of the conference's organisation and boosted its impact. The Prague concluding message was adopted at the final plenary session, and the document presented the joint standpoint of representatives of European and international bodies supporting cultural heritage research. Stakeholders expressed the desire for cultural heritage to be mainstreamed into EU and national policies and research programmes. Also, national and regional governments and relevant European authorities and organisations should include cultural heritage research and support for related research infrastructure in the scope of their research programmes. The need to enable ways of overcoming the fragmentation of research for the cultural heritage research community was also stated, as was that for promoting increased public participation in cultural heritage research. The latter is an especially important element given the favourable impacts on environment, energy, sustainability and quality of life. Two volumes of conference proceedings were produced, and plans were made to maintain the Sauveur website for five years following the project's culmination as a dissemination tool. Conference conclusions were distributed among the delegates as well as to representatives of national cultural heritage.
