OpenHeritage was divided into two phases: diagnosis and innovation. In the diagnostic phase it applied a multi-layered methodological framework to assess and analyse how adaptive heritage reuse is regulated and practiced currently in Europe. The first step was a macro-level overview focusing on policies and institutions, followed by an in-depth study of practices at sixteen different adaptive reuse sites all over Europe. The prior consisted of a policy analysis, aiming to map the general context and the most important trends, the main actors, the relevant act and codes, policy directions, thematic programmes, strategic documents, and tools in adaptive heritage reuse, ranging from the national to the local level. Additionally, a European typology of the governance context for adaptive heritage reuse was created to conceptualise the similarities and differences in institutional and policy-contexts that facilitate or restrict adaptive reuse.
The latter meant a micro-level research of sixteen Observatory Cases, which focused on a contextualised understanding of how adaptive reuse works in practice, how the specific local circumstances interact with the larger institutional and regulatory frameworks, and how this interaction influences the outcome of the specific reuse projects. The reports were complemented with short videos, making the experiences more tangible, helping partners identify models and mechanisms that could potentially be transferred to other contexts.
Knowledge on policies and practices as it emerged from the macro- and micro-level analysis was assessed in a complex evaluation which created the basis for a transferability matrix. Additionally, using the analysis a database was developed, revealing some of the key components of successful adaptive heritage reuse and uncovering connections between the cases based on shared characteristics.
The innovation element of the project was represented by six Cooperative Heritage Labs and the connected toolbox development. The Cooperative Heritage Labs represented different types of heritage sites and were located in different countries, and operated within diverse legal, political, and socio-economic contexts. Using the living lab methodology these Labs became the places of co-creation and experimentation, where not only project partners were involved in the research, but an extensive group of local stakeholders too. Results of the research process in the diagnosis part found their way into the Lab’s daily work. In turn, the Labs influenced the way research was carried out and provided materials to study. Work in the Lab has contributed substantially to the toolbox development of the project as well, which was created to empower local communities to become fully involved in and engaged with the long-term and sustainable management of their heritage sites. The toolbox focuses on the 3 pillars of inclusion/integration emphasized by OpenHeritage. It provides tools for community and stakeholder involvement in the reuse and maintenance process (through the web-based Heritage Points, a refined crowdsourcing framework and developed guidelines for public-private-people partnerships), for resource integration involving new financial and economic models (with inclusive business models) and for the improvement of regional/territorial integration, working with the local social, environmental, administrative, and economic context of the heritage sites (a roadmap to enhance regional cooperation).
