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Tools to protect cultural heritage Extreme weather events such as droughts and floods can pose a significant threat to cultural and natural heritage sites. The team behind the EU-backed INACO project is developing tools and management plans designed to help local authorities protect valuable objects and important sites, as Alessandra Bonazza explains. The European climate is changing,

INACO project

bringing with it an increased likelihood of extreme weather events, from prolonged droughts to dramatic floods. These kinds of events pose a significant threat to cultural and natural heritage sites, as illustrated by the floods of 2002, which affected large parts of central Europe. “The impact was felt across central Europe, for example the city of Prague and the surrounding municipalities saw very high water levels. The Wachau Valley in Austria was also badly affected,” says Alessandra Bonazza, a researcher at the National Research Council of Italy. Prague, the Wachau Valley and many other regions across central Europe are rich in cultural and natural heritage, and extreme weather can have a dramatic, lasting impact on artefacts and landscapes. “Extreme weather events can cause structural damage to buildings, and even when a flood recedes there may be secondary damage to the masonry, as the absorbed water can increase biodeterioration and salt crystallisation on building materials,” points out Bonazza.

As Principal Investigator of the EU-backed INACO project, Bonazza is working to help protect Europe’s cultural and natural heritage from the impact of extreme weather events. This follows an earlier project which focused primarily on built heritage, such as city centres, museums

Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. “We are considering both natural and built heritage sites in the project,” continues Bonazza. “Cultural heritage sites have social, economic and cultural value, and need protection by regional authorities. We are working to encourage cooperation amongst the different entities, looking to transfer

“Extreme weather events can cause structural damage to buildings, and even when a flood recedes there may be secondary damage to the masonry, as the absorbed water can increase biodeterioration and salt crystallisation on building materials.” and archives; Bonazza says INACO now has a wider scope. “We want to enlarge our knowledge by including natural sites,” she outlines. These natural sites may be for example the terraced landscapes found in several Euro-Mediterranean regions, which are characterised by dry stone walls; the traditional technique used to build these walls has been included on the UNESCO

best practice and knowledge and improve the resilience of those areas which are not well protected at the moment.” This work is focused on areas that are particularly vulnerable to the impact of extreme weather events, such as around river basins. A number of pilot studies are being conducted in the project at different sites, with the aim of developing effective risk management plans

Biotope mosaic in the heritage region Lake Neusiedl, AT. © David Ramler

to protect local heritage. “We are working in locations along the Danube, while we are also doing some studies in the coastal area around Dubrovnik, by the shortest river in Europe, the Ombla. We have pilot studies in the Po Delta in Italy, and are also considering inland areas and lake shore environments,” says Bonazza. Local citizens in these areas have played a major role in identifying which sites hold particular cultural importance, and which specific artefacts should be protected. “We have been engaged in dialogue at the local level throughout the project,” says Bonazza. “We have organised local events, roundtables and workshops to ask local citizens about their needs, and to identify which areas they consider to be particularly vulnerable and which sites need protection.” The major aim of the project is to prevent damage to cultural heritage sites, which starts

from identifying risks and forecasting extreme weather events before they occur. A free, open access web GIS platform is being developed in the project, designed to support local people by providing detailed, relevant information about local weather patterns. “We are using outputs from both climate models and earth observation datasets, including the atmospheric monitoring Copernicus service,” outlines Bonazza. This will provide stakeholders with a fuller picture of which areas are at particular risk of flooding or droughts, while Bonazza and her colleagues in the project are also considering the possible future evolution of the climate and its likely impact. “We are going to develop tools from another web-based app to assess the vulnerability of different sites, we are providing support for risk assessments,” she says. “In future, our ambition is to eventually release a mobile tool or app for citizens.”

Protecting cultural heritage This accumulated knowledge will be highly valuable for managers and professionals, the people responsible for protecting cultural heritage sites. One part of the project centres on providing effective, reliable decisionsupport tools to managers, helping them assess whether measures like reversible barriers should be deployed for example, while researchers are also developing training courses. “We are going to identify the curriculum that risk managers should follow, and structure a course around the key issues. We also aim to encourage the inclusion of cultural heritage protection measures into existing local climate change adaptation plans,” outlines Bonazza. While protecting culture will of course always be secondary to protecting human life, Bonazza says European countries are committed to preserving their heritage and

Rare bird in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl, AT. © David Ramler

Red crested pochard in a lagoon of Lake Neusiedl, AT. © David Ramler

Water organism (Branchinecta ferox) as demonstrated in an excursion disseminating natural heritage literacy at Lake Neusiedl, AT. © David Ramler

Collapsed high shore area in Fonyód, HU. © György Heizler

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