A Cyano-Based Consolidation Technology for a Green Conservation of Stone Heritage

Descripción del proyecto

Un gran avance en la conservación sostenible de la piedra

Los monumentos de piedra de Europa y otros lugares se enfrentan a un reto crítico para su conservación. Los métodos convencionales para consolidar estructuras de piedra al aire libre suelen dar lugar a intervenciones perjudiciales y comprometen el medio ambiente y la salud del conservador. El proyecto CYA-TECH, que cuenta con el apoyo de las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, surge como una solución de vanguardia. Esta innovadora iniciativa pretende desarrollar una tecnología fácil de usar y respetuosa con el medio ambiente que restaure y conserve de forma sostenible las piedras calcáreas monumentales y ornamentales. También garantizará la gestión sostenible del patrimonio de piedra, preservando los sitios culturales e históricos que contribuyen a las actividades económicas, el desarrollo social, la sostenibilidad urbana, la educación y la protección del medio ambiente. Centrándose en los objetivos del Pacto Verde, el equipo de CYA-TECH contribuirá a la sostenibilidad urbana, la educación y la protección del medio ambiente.

Objetivo

Outdoor stone monuments in Europe and beyond can't be preserved with conventional consolidation methods without risking short-/long-term drawbacks from detrimental interventions or compromising the environment and the health of the curators. In response to this need and in line with the Green Deal objectives, I will develop a novel cutting-edge, user- and environmental-friendly CYAnobacteria-based consolidation TECHnology (CYA-TECH) to restore and preserve monumental and ornamental calcareous stones in a sustainable way.

Thus, I will: i) establish an effective formulation for the cyano-based consolidation technology; ii) set up on-demand and precision bioconsolidation through the use of different artificial light sources and the prediction of the gene-metabolite network in response to these physical switches; iii) prove the performance of the novel cyano-based technology in-situ, comparing it with the most advanced bioconsolidation strategy available so far. CYA-TECH will achieve sustainable management of stone heritage (SH), an essential component to culture-related economic activities, socio-political development, urban sustainability, education, and environmental protection.
The MSCA fellowship will jumpstart my career in the biotech sector applied to the conservation of SH. It will enrich my professional profile with i) critical knowledge in cultural heritage (CH) microbiology by combining an in-depth understanding of the ‘stone ecosystem’ with material analyses and diagnostic tools to identify green conservation strategies; ii) communication and management skills that transcend bench-top expertise and technical proficiency, iii) increased employability and visibility as a female scientist, fostering my self-empowerment as well as the empowerment of women in science, and vi) a shift to translational research, developing biotechnologies that would impact the environment and the society in agreement with the Green Deal and the New Eurupean Bauhaus initiative.