by Yasaman SADEGHI

Encompassing the tangible and intangible remnants of the distant and recent past, heritage has immense potential for tying individuals, communities, and societies to the past and future. A number of heritage management practices, such as archeology, museology, conservation, restoration, and upholding traditions, can mediate the translation of the remnants of the past into a meaningful resource for the communities. We take pride in seeing a museum exhibiting relics of a long-gone culture. In visiting memorial monuments, we experience the grief of atrocities of the past in which we did not partake. In cooking traditional recipes for special holidays year after year, we enjoy a sense of connectivity to the past and project ourselves into the future, because we anticipate preparing the same traditional recipe the next time that the holiday comes around. 

Heritage is nevertheless subject to the passage of time. A portion of this is attributable to the inherent vulnerability of the remains of the past: as time goes on, material artifacts are susceptible to disintegration and decay, stories may lose their color and fade away, and craftspeople may diminish in their skills and abilities. Another factor, which is less discussed but increasingly prominent, is due to the conditions of the time that may shift the perspectives on the heritage that are now held or require a new way of looking at the past to meet present-day needs. 

Such vulnerability to the passage of time is ever more pertinent to marginalized communities. While consecutive changes in power often heavily impact the breadth and availability of the remains of the past, the changing ideologies, and goals – whether imposed by the authorities or emerging from the felt needs of the communities – increase the sensitivity of heritage to the passage of time. Heritage managers are skilled and knowledgeable practitioners who appreciate such vulnerabilities and dynamism and use a variety of techniques and methods to remedy some of the aforementioned problems. However, it is often difficult to reconcile the rapidly evolving needs and conditions of the communities with the institutional and scholarly understanding of heritage management. How, then, can heritage management adapt to the potential threats that the passage of time imposes on tangible and intangible heritage in the margins?

Community engagement is a deceptively complicated answer to this question, whose importance has been long acknowledged by heritage managers as well as global institutions. For instance, The Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage issued by UNESCO in 2003 requires the member countries to “ensure the widest possible participation of communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals that create, maintain and transmit such heritage, and to involve them actively in its management”. Applying community engagement in practice, however, proves to be challenging, especially when it comes to the margins.

At times, marginalized communities require a radical shift in perspective toward the past and future. For instance, a statue of a quintessential past figure and the annual celebrations around the statue in the town square may have been a source of pride and glory. Yet, there are myriad ways in which this very figure can be contested: the statue may be of someone whose influence on the community is no longer appreciated; the commemorations may have been mandated by a former authority that is no longer in power; new information may come to light through discovery or changes in the social consciousness that alter the interpretation of a given historical figure, ritual or celebration; the community may need a new source of inspiration and hope through remembering an event, person or object that is significant to them at the present moment. These are but a few reasons for which a community may contest, reject, or modify its heritage, creating a dire situation for the community and heritage managers. 

Yet even though community engagement requires listening to and respecting the community in any heritage management practice, there are several obstacles to implementing community engagement not only to safeguard existing heritage but also to maintain or revise it throughout time in a sustainable and empowering manner: a piece of heritage that the community rejects may be deemed as valuable according to the ingrained approaches, techniques, and practices of heritage managers; the community members may not be willing, ready or able to participate in heritage management; they may require fast, immediate action towards heritage that cannot be accommodated through the often slow and bureaucratic processes involved in heritage management; their everyday realities may be detrimental to upholding a heritage that they will intend to preserve.

Community engagement, then, is a vital yet complicated aspect of heritage management. Attempting to separate or pierce a community to a heritage while disregarding their present-day conditions and requirements has proven to be detrimental, not only to the community itself but also to the heritage that we may insist on conserving as it is. However, it is helpful to remember that heritage is dynamic rather than static, and community engagement is a process rather than a goal. In this sense, being subject to the passage of time may pose problems on heritage, but it is nonetheless an inescapable feature of it, which heritage managers increasingly embrace. Amidst the rapidly evolving needs and requirements of communities, thus, heritage management can engage with communities and mediate the relationship between the community and the remnants of the past rather than striving for an unattainable ‘perfection’.

By Dr Cornelis Stal

Spatial data play a crucial role in archaeological research, and orthophotos, digital elevation models, and 3D models are frequently used for the mapping, documentation, and monitoring of archaeological sites. 

Over the last couple of decades, thanks to the availability of compact and low-cost uncrewed airborne vehicles also known as drones or unmanned aerial vehicles, the use of UAV-based photogrammetry in this field has significantly matured. More recently, compact airborne systems that allow the recording of thermal data, multispectral data, and airborne laser scanning also became available. 

Recently, a team from HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the University of Bucharest, Kiel University, the Lower Danube Museum Călărași, and the Municipality of Bucharest applied various platforms and sensors at the Chalcolithic archaeological sites in the Mostiștea Basin and Danube Valley (Southern Romania). 

We then analyzed the performance of the systems and the resulting data and were given unique insights that enabled us to select the appropriate system for the right application. 

This kind of analyses are based on thorough knowledge of data acquisition and data processing, as well. As laser scanning and photogrammetry typically result in very large amounts of data, a special focus is also required on the storage and publication of the data. 

Sultana site: DEM (left), orthophoto (middle), and thermal composite (right) based on Mavic 2 Enterprise data of the archaeological site of Sultana (illustrative, the white dots represent the locations of the GCPs).

In a recently published article (reference below), the team provided an overview of various aspects of 3D data acquisition for UAV-based mapping and explored multiple methods for the online publication of data as well as various client-side and server-side solutions to make the data available for other researchers/users. Data are available through an academic open repository (https://zenodo.org/) and an in-house developed website (https://geo.hogent.be/sultana).

Based on our research, it is concluded that photogrammetry and laser scanning can result in data with similar geometrical properties when acquisition parameters are appropriately set. However, the used ALS-based system outperforms the photogrammetric platforms regarding operational time and the area covered. On the other hand, conventional photogrammetry provides flexibility that might be required for very low-altitude flights or emergency mapping. Furthermore, as the used ALS sensor only provides a geometrical representation of the topography, photogrammetric sensors are still required to obtain true color- or false color composites of the surface.

Undoubtedly, the resulting data will serve as the basis for a more in-depth understanding of the complex natural and anthropogenic processes that are documented in the targeted area, and the non-intrusive investigations and the logs from “The dynamics of the prehistoric communities located in the Mostiștea Valley and Danube Plain (between Oltenița and Călărași)” project will provide complementary data for this broader understanding of the prehistoric realities. More specifically, this approach contributes to the research on transformative processes of the archaeological sites and the landscape from proximity, enabling us to create a highly accurate image of the scale of transformation of the area inhabited 6000 years ago by various human communities in order to better understand how Chalcolithic human communities integrated, adapted, and survived in the surrounding environment. 

Chiselet site: Hillshade DEM (left) and false colour composite (right) of the larger extent of the tell settlement (coordinates in EPSG:3844).

Finally, with spatial data playing a crucial role in archaeological research, and orthophotos, digital elevation models, and 3D models being frequently used for the mapping, documentation, and monitoring of archaeological sites, we concluded that recent developments in UAVs and compact sensors have and will have a considerable impact on archaeological research. 

In conclusion, it is stated that applications of geomatics in archaeology contribute to a better understanding and knowledge of various research topics, and the connection between these two disciplines strengthens as data acquisition methods and data processing capabilities evolve.

We explore these methods and tools and instruct our students in their use in HERITΛGE’s Digital Tools for Cultural Heritage Summer School which takes place online and on location in Greece in a few months, and in the ECTS credit-bearing academic certificate that HOGENT UNIVERSITY and HERITΛGE are offering – applications for 2023-2024 academic years are currently being accepted (more information here.) 

I and the HERITΛGE and HOGENT teams look forward to meeting and working with a new cohort of students this summer and in the new academic year to further explore the possibilities of these ever-evolving methods. 

Stal, C., Covataru, C., Müller, J., Parnic, V., Ignat, T., Hofmann, R., & Lazar, C. (2022). Supporting Long-Term Archaeological Research in Southern Romania Chalcolithic Sites Using Multi-Platform UAV Mapping. Drones, 6(10), 277: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/10/277

Website: https://geo.hogent.be/sultana

Data repository: https://zenodo.org/search?page=1&size=20&q=%22Mosti%C8%99tea%20Valley%22

HERITΛGE’s three-day online workshop on “Interpretive writing for natural and cultural heritage” took place from 27 to 29 January 2023. It was delivered by Steven Richards-Price.

11 Heritage Managers from Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda), Asia (Turkey) and Europe (Greece, Serbia) were trained in writing effective heritage interpretive text that captures and holds the reader’s attention.

Over the three days of the workshop, participants engaged in a variety of individual and group activities, such as developing a strong theme for a piece of interpretive writing, turning a poorly written and poorly produced heritage graphic panel into a good example of interpretive writing and panel presentation, and editing and rewriting a complex interpretive graphic panel using the principles of interpretive writing and the importance of plain language. By participating in all the activities, attending the lectures, and using the techniques demonstrated by the workshop instructor, all our participants gained much knowledge and experience in using interpretive writing for their own projects.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet with their instructor again this week for a tutorial session where they can pose questions about how to improve their work and enhance their final assignment.

Steven Richards-Price is a heritage interpreter with many years of practical experience working for natural resources agencies in Wales, UK. In his part-time role with Natural Resources Wales as Visitor Experience Specialist Advisor, he connects people with state-owned forests and national nature reserves. He has been an Interpret Europe Supervisory Committee Member and Training Team member/Trainer, former  Chair of the UK Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI) and Vice-Chair of Interpret Wales. He has been running this course for the past three years, with excellent feedback from participants.

We bid farewell to 2022 with our top 10 highlights of the year.

HERITΛGE launched a training program for Benin in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Our team visited the country to deliver an in-person workshop and liaise with the heritage community in October.

Learn more.

HERITΛGE announced its participation in a major new European Research and Innovation Action (RIA). SHIFT: MetamorphoSis of cultural Heritage Into augmented hypermedia assets For enhanced accessibiliTy and inclusion supports the adoption of digital transformation strategies and the uptake of tools within the creative and cultural industries (CCI), where progress has been lagging.

Learn more.

Three key members of the HERITΛGE team have recently published a new book based on their work in the field. Making Heritage Together: Archaeological Ethnography and Community Engagement with a Rural Community, by Routledge, is co-authored by Aris Anagnostopoulos, Lena Stefanou and Evangelos Kyriakidis and is the distillation of many years of community engagement and collaborative knowledge creation with a rural mountain community in central Crete, Greece.

Learn more.

All the years of community engagement research that have gone in the above publication also form the basis for HERITΛGE’s annual summer school in the Cretan village of Gonies.

Learn more about this year’s session.

A group of 17 World Monument Fund Professionals took part in a tailor-made 6-day online workshop on “Climate Change, Heritage and Risk”. The workshop was exclusively conducted for the World Monuments Fund professionals.

Learn more.

The three-day online workshop on “Project Management for Cultural Heritage Managers” took place from 9 to 11 December 2022.

12 cultural heritage managers from Asia (Lebanon, Nepal, Turkey), Europe (France, Greece) and Africa (Libya, Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa) received training on the skills needed to become a well-organised project manager.

During all three days of the workshop the participants, through the lectures given by the workshop trainer Tim Healing and their active participation in individual and group exercises, were introduced to the process of managing a successful project from the beginning, the planning and implementation phases through to closure. Because each project is different and encounters unique problems, effective project managers must be thoughtful, flexible and communicative. As such, the training helped participants understand how to ensure that their project is completed on time, with the desired quality and within budget, with proper planning and tight control. Participants learned about the importance of planning and how to define the scope of their own project, how to use tools such as the work breakdown structure, critical path diagram and Gantt chart to ensure the success of the project.

HERITΛGE is happy to announce its new academic certificate, DIGITAL TOOLS FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE, in cooperation with Belgium’s HOGENT University. The certificate is a one-semester, part-time European Credit (ECTS) bearing program aimed at students as well as professionals. It integrates heritage management with geomatics and is delivered online to enable students from around the world to join. 

Upon completion of the course, participants are awarded 30 ECTS credits that correspond to 50% of the academic credits for a full year. The program held its first, pilot run this past autumn semester and is now accepting applications for the academic year 2023-2024 (starting October 2023). 

Digital Tools for Heritage Management is a specialized course on spatial data (GIS), laser scanning, 3D modeling, heritage management, and community management. 3 months of online, mainly asynchronous classes (and some live ones) are rounded off with fieldwork which is focused on the entire workflow from data acquisition to data publication.

HERITΛGE & HOGENT decided to offer this comprehensive program, to answer the needs of students and young professionals from a variety of heritage-related or adjacent disciplines e.g., architecture, land surveying, archaeology, heritage management, conservation, geography etc. 

The focus on state-of-the-art technological skills,  as well as on international collaboration, communication, and other future-proofing skills sets this Digital Tools Certificate apart and ensures its relevance to the current and future job markets. 

Find out more and apply here.