Heritage for the future, Science for heritage

Project Information

CH4F

Grant agreement ID: 101069428

DOI

10.3030/101069428

Project closed

EC signature date 8 December 2021

Start date 1 November 2021

End date 30 June 2022

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 303 812,50

EU contribution

€ 298 813,00

Coordinated by

FONDATION DES SCIENCES DU PATRIMOINE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CH4F (Heritage for the future, Science for heritage)

Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2022-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Under the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Fondation des sciences du patrimoine (FSP) wished to organise a symposium dedicated to heritage science in France and Europe.

Heritage science is a wide and transdisciplinary scientific field bringing together the social sciences and humanities, experimental sciences and now, digital and engineering sciences. Together, they contribute to the identification, understanding, preservation, restoration, and transmission of cultural heritage in all its forms to enrich people’s lives, both today and in the future. Increasing the visibility and promoting the efficiency of the disciplines and rich R&I ecosystems involved in this field is critical to guarantee support by policymakers and funders and explore potential collaborations with existing and new stakeholders.

Moreover, the European Union wishes to undertake major societal transformations through digitalisation, the Green Deal, the New Bauhaus, and the achievement of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Meeting these ambitions requires all available forces to evidence and support their implementation, including the cultural heritage sector. It is, therefore, crucial to explore how heritage science can concretely support a more resilient, inclusive, innovative, and sustainable Europe.

Finally, debates and perspectives in the heritage science field also needed to be elevated at the European level to strengthen international cooperation and pave the way towards a future European partnership.

Through the symposium, the CH4F project aimed to provide a framework where these aspects could be discussed in the light of existing research works and initiatives. It will lead to the production of material supporting political advocacy, policy design and policymaking, and strategic guidance in favour of heritage science. The outcomes can also be reused for general information about heritage research, training, and educational purposes.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

All activities performed through CH4F were orientated towards the implementation and successful running of the symposium on 15 and 16 March 2022 in Paris and the preparation of its main outcomes.

It involved coordinating the project to schedule, implement, monitor, report and assess all tasks in cooperation with the various parties involved (governance bodies, services providers). The work also implied building, refining, and communicating an ambitious programme that covered multiple topics. The symposium logistics were also very much at the core of the project to ensure the smooth execution of the event itself. Finally, CH4F includes communication and dissemination activities to make the symposium an attractive 'Rendez-vous' and promote its main towards the target groups such as policymakers and funders, researchers and research performing organisations, cultural industries and artists, educational and training actors, heritage professionals, associations, and NGOs and finally, the media and the public.

In terms of achievements:
- The FSP successfully coordinated the project, which involved four governance bodies, six services providers and the staff of five hosting institutions.
- A programme divided into five plenary sessions, fifteen round tables and a social event was implemented as foreseen on the 15 and 16 March 2022.
- The symposium involved 112 speakers based in 20 countries who presented at the symposium personal or collective research works carried out at local, national, or international levels, sharing case studies, results, and perspectives on various topics.
- One thousand five hundred people from 62 countries registered to participate in the symposium, whether physically or online. Physical and online attendance peaked at 624 participants on the first day and 464 on the second.
- Five main outputs were produced to promote the symposium before and after March 2022. They were mainly publications and videos.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The CH4F project led to producing the following results:
- A programme folder presenting the content of the 22 sessions of the symposium, information about the speakers invited, practicalities and side events.
- Twenty-eight short articles prepared to explore the four themes discussed at the event. These were published on the symposium’s website.
- At least 622 on-site and online participants with a better understanding of the cultural heritage research landscape.
- Twenty-two video recordings of the sessions with translation into English and French.
- Proceedings compiling 67 contributions from speakers and other invited key personalities invited to the event as a written record of the symposium. These were augmented with the short articles and the Position Paper and provide a timely and comprehensive picture of today’s heritage research landscape.
- A two-page Position Paper summarising the key messages of the symposium for wide dissemination.

For most results, ensuring their findability and accessibility is crucial and will remain a concern beyond the framework of the CH4F project to facilitate their uptake by the target audience. They aim to contribute to the expected impacts described in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan (2021-2024) by:
- Fostering the recognition of heritage science to understand and deal with societal challenges, therefore entailing better engagement with cultural heritage and research and the production and uptake of knowledge and data that can enhance decision-making and support evidence-based policies.

- Supporting research policies and funding mechanisms in favour of heritage science, transdisciplinary research, and cooperation and synergies with relevant stakeholders (heritage professionals, CCIs, research areas with cross-fertilisation opportunities). This would therefore increase the capacity for protection, restoration, and promotion of cultural heritage as well as creativity, innovation, and job creation.

- Supporting better federation and consolidation of the cultural heritage research and innovation community and better international cooperation through a European Partnership will improve the assessment of challenges in their global, regional, and local contexts as well as research governance and impact.

- Encouraging the development of training offers dealing with inter and transdisciplinary research and guaranteeing the adequation of professional skills with the labour market to address multidimensional phenomena and support research and innovation for better preservation of cultural heritage assets.

- Improving our understanding of how cultural heritage can create a wide range of benefits for various end users and better engage people with science, therefore leading to enhance outreach and mediation activities, widening access to cultural heritage and associated knowledge.