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Development of a Decision Support System for Improved Resilience & Sustainable Reconstruction of historic areas to cope with Climate Change & Extreme Events based on Novel Sensors and Modelling Tools

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - HYPERION (Development of a Decision Support System for Improved Resilience & Sustainable Reconstruction of historic areas to cope with Climate Change & Extreme Events based on Novel Sensors and Modelling Tools)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-06-01 al 2023-05-31

HYPERION aims to introduce a research framework for downscaling the created climate and atmospheric composition as well as associated risk maps down to the 1x1 km (historic area) scale, and specific damage functions for Cultural Heritage (CH) materials. Applying atmospheric modelling for specific Climate Change (CC) scenarios at such refined spatial and time scales allows for an accurate quantitative and qualitative impact assessment of the estimated micro-climatic and atmospheric stressors. HYPERION performs combined hygrothermal and structural/ geotechnical analysis of the CH sites and damage assessment under normal and changed conditions, based on the climatic zone, the micro-climate conditions, the petrographic and textural features of building materials, historic data for the structures, the effect of previous restoration processes and the environmental/physical characteristics of the surrounding environment. The data coming from the integrated monitoring system are coupled with simulated data (under our holistic resilience assessment platform-HRAP) and are further analysed through our data management system, while supporting communities’ participation and public awareness. The data from the monitoring system feed the DSS so as to provide proper adaptation and mitigation strategies, and support sustainable reconstruction plans for the CH damages. The produced vulnerability map issued by the local authorities to assess the threats of CC (and other natural hazards), visualize the built heritage and cultural landscape under future climate scenarios, model the effects of different adaptation strategies, and ultimately prioritize any rehabilitation actions to best allocate funds in both pre- and post-event environments. The project outcomes were demonstrated to four European historic areas in Norway, Spain, Italy and Greece (representing different climatic zones).
HYPERION has accomplished a reliable quantification of climatic, hydrological and atmospheric stressors. Multiple data were used to estimate quantitative indicators for the potential impacts of CC on historic areas from the individual building to a regional level. Changes of both the average climate and the increase of the intensity and the frequency of extreme climatic/weather events were taken into account.
A platform for detailed and simplified modelling for the analysis of CH assets has been developed using sensors and numerical modelling. A Structural and Geotechnical (SG) simulator has been provided by incorporating open-access software packages for structural vulnerability assessment of CH assets subjected to different types of risks. A methodology for the conservation of heritage timber buildings has been proposed.
In addition, HYPERION has designed, developed, tested and evaluated a complete Holistic Resilience Assessment Platform, which aims to assist representatives of local authorities and cultural heritage managers in gaining a deeper understanding of the threats and risks facing tangible Cultural Heritage (CH) sites. By providing valuable insights, the platform enables more informed decision-making for a prompt and effective response, ultimately contributing to the sustainable preservation and revitalization of historical regions at risk.An enhanced visualization interface was generated supporting CH operators during maintenance as well as at all phases of a crisis management process (preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation).

A total of eight KERs were identified based on their degree of innovation, their exploitability, and their impact: i) Climate Models Downscaled Maps ii)Hygro-Thermal (HT) Simulator iii)Computer Vision-CV Detection & Monitoring Systems (airborne and ground based) iv)3D Representation Toolkit v)Middleware and Data Fusion (DF) services
vi)Social Participatory Mobile Application vii)HRAP, Visualization Environment and Decision Support System viii) HYPERION Integrated Solution. For each KER, an Exploitation Strategy Structure was constructed, including problem statement, alternative solutions and draft stakeholder and competitors analysis. The Dissemination and Communication Plan included a project website, various social media channels, collaboration and common activities with other EU projects, posters, leaflets, animation videos, newsletters, conference presentations, scientific publications , media articles and interviews , training and demo events, an annual magazine and a big final event.
HYPERION’s aim is to support integrated reconstruction, in social, environmental and economic terms by adopting a load-balancing model of business cooperation and offering a rational (model-quantified and evidence-supported) basis for adopting the right mix of policies and financial tools for fueling a rapid and build-better reconstruction. In this context, the development of the first integrated HRAP platform has been produced , providing the tools for better decision making. The platform is not only able to make projections based on environmental modeling , material deterioration patterns, and multi-hazards modeling , but also integrate scenarios provided by the end users in order to train stakeholders.
HYPERION has identified extreme climate indicators and atmospheric stressors in connection to specific hazards, produced simulated average climate & extreme events in the meso-local-site scale, including an estimate of uncertainties, and having delivered maps of quantified impact, extremes and environmental forcing at local scale. It has also developed multi-hazard simulation tools to provide the spatial/temporal distribution of stressors to the historic areas for certain hazard scenarios, and have results from the HT and SG analysis.
The following components have been developed towards science-/evidence-based guidelines & models to local authorities :i) Business Continuity (BC) models, using data from Rhodes, Granada and Tonsberg ii) a community engagement tool as a mobile application, incorporating ICOMOS classifications, while at the same time retaining a user-friendly interface. Moreover, we showed how the HYPERION system can be used to provide assistance to stakeholders and facilitate them in their effort to alleviate the effect of CC and natural hazards, so that they can make not only CH sites, but their whole communities more resilient in a climate-change era .
Excessive collaboration with relevant projects has led to the establishment of a common task force, which extended our view on existing experiences, good practices and has led to a common effort to render historic areas more resilient and better prepared to face future disasters.Societal stakeholders have been included in all case studies of the project (city and cultural authorities from the ministries), while community-based partners have been contacted by HYPERION and have been actively engaged to our project activities . The functionalities of the system were demonstrated to the end users who were also given access to the live environment for further experimentation.
Having developed a strong belief in the project outcomes, a roadmap for wider communities’ and other stakeholders’ engagement in the following 5-year period was provided , including several strategies to foster the adoption of the key project innovations within the wider European community of Cultural Heritage sites operators, city managers, and other relevant interested parties.
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