Project description
Helping to protect our cultural heritage sites
Ancient monuments and other cultural sites are vulnerable to environmental threats. These include natural threats like extreme weather events or earthquakes and volcano eruptions. There are also human-made threats, ranging from destruction during wartimes to pollution to climate change. Conservation and restoration are key, but full of challenges. The EU-funded HYPERION project will provide the tools needed to understand the effects of climate change, extreme weather conditions, the ravages of time and intense geological phenomena on cultural heritage monuments in Greece, Italy, Norway and Spain (representing different climatic zones). The findings will boost our understanding of the threats and improve decisions for effective response. Project work will also contribute to the rehabilitation of the historical regions under threat.
Objective
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 will perform combined hygrothermal and structural/geotechnical analysis of the CH sites (indoor climate, HVAC, related strains and stresses, etc.) 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 will be coupled with simulated data (under our holistic resilience assessment platform-HRAP) and will be further analysed through our data management system, while supporting communities’ participation and public awareness. The data from the monitoring system will 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 will be used 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 will be demonstrated to four European historic areas in Norway, Spain, Italy and Greece (representing different climatic zones).
Fields of science
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic zones
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringthermodynamic engineering
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesphysical geographynatural disasters
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
Keywords
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.5. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.5.6. - Cultural heritage
- H2020-EU.3.5.1.2. - Assess impacts, vulnerabilities and develop innovative cost-effective adaptation and risk prevention and management measures
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
106 82 ATHINA
Greece