The coastal cultural heritage facing coastal management

This paper is concerned with the role of cultural heritage in coastal areas, including land belts and coastal marine waters in the prospect of operating sustainable development-aimed strategies. It is a part of the investigations carried out in the framework of the Progetto Finalizzato Beni Culturali (Special Project Safeguard of Cultural Heritage) convened by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR, the Italian National Research Council). Essentially, it aims at contributing to the discussion on how the mise-en-valeur of the coastal cultural heritage may be framed within integrated coastal management programmes. In this view, the discourse on the coastal cultural heritage runs along this pathway: (i) global (climatic) change and globalisation are assumed to be the key components of the external environment with which the coastal area interacts; (ii) the conceptual framework of coastal management, as it can be deduced by the background guidelines from Agenda 21 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED), is considered; (iii) the legal framework, which the coastal area is characterised by, is taken into account by focusing on its implications on the management patterns. At this point, attention is concentrated on the role of cultural heritage in the framework of integrated coastal management approaches. It is considered, how this pivotal component of the coastal area has been dealt with bythe intergovernmental organisations. Special consideration is attributed to the European Code of Conduct for Coastal Management Zones, since it considers the ecological patrimony and cultural heritage as giving shape to a unique ethically-endowed reality, which materialised through landscapes and seascapes. The final step consists of the design of a tentative Code of Conduct for Coastal Cultural Heritage consisting of some background and operational principles.     

An application of Multicriteria Decision Making to built heritage. The case of Calcutta

Given the civic and social commitments of urban local bodies in developing countries, renovation and maintenance of all heritage buildings and sites is a financially non-viable proposition. Urban planners, therefore, need to take decisions on which heritage sites are to be protected (either in their original form, or with suitable modifications that permit commercial use without destroying their architectural integrity) and the sites to be pulled down, ensuring more efficient land use. Such selection can generate considerable dispute between policy makers and various stakeholders unless the selection process is transparent, consistent and incorporates views of stakeholders. The difficulty in creating an analytical framework to be used for grading is the multiple (often qualitative) attributes of heritage sites. How to combine the performances of heritage structures with respect to these attributes into an aggregative index is a major concern for urban planners and conservationists. This paper argues that the Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) method may be a relevant method for grading heritage sites. The application of this method is illustrated for several heritage buildings in Calcutta, India.     

Measuring the efficiency of heritage institutions: A case study of a regional system of museums in Spain

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a widely applied tool in efficiency evaluation for public administration, yet has scarcely been put to use in the case of heritage institutions. The goal of the current paper is to evaluate the technical efficiency of a regional system of museums, the hypothesis being that these bodies represent one organization of productive resources (employment, equipment, art collections, and so on), aimed at providing various goods and services linked to their basic functions: conservation, exhibiting, research and dissemination of cultural heritage. Yet, given the diverse nature of this kind of institution, previous sorting and classification is required in order to obtain homogeneous clusters for the various elements. This research therefore merges multivariate statistical techniques to synthesise the initial information and DEA for efficiency evaluation. These findings may prove useful for management of these institutions, as well as for those responsible for public resource allocation policies in the area of cultural heritage. We apply this to a regional system of museums in Spain, which includes both rural and urban museums.     

Copyright and IPR management for cultural heritage digital content in peer-to-peer networks

As a general and effective protection measure for copyright violations, which occur with the use of digital technologies including peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, copyright owners from the cultural sector often use Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems and digital watermarking techniques so as to encrypt copyright information to the cultural content. In other cases, copyright owners restrict or even block access to the digital cultural content through the Internet and the P2P infrastructure. This chapter claims that DRM and P2P can be quite complementary. Specifically, a P2P infrastructure is presented which allows broad digital cultural content exchange while on the same time supports copyright protection and management through watermarking technologies for digital images.     

Cultural heritage in geosciences, mining, and metallurgy

Seven conferences devoted to the documentation and history of geosciences, mining, and metallurgy took place from 1993 to 2003 mainly where the first Schools of Mines were founded. More conferences are planned in the future. It is hoped that those interested in the preservation of this heritage support such effort.     

The impact of heating, lighting and people in re-using historical buildings: a case study

The impact of lighting, heating and people in re-using historical buildings are discussed for the case study concerning the ceremony room (i.e. the Giant Hall) of a mediaeval palace in Padova. The Hall has substantially four major problems for conservation: (i) the impact of heating, lighting and people when the room is used; (ii) many cracks on the oak panels of the coffered ceiling; (iii) the soiling by dust and soot particles deposited on the frescoes; (iv) the stained glass windows. A microclimate study was performed to know the impact of the environmental variables, and the use of the room, on the artworks preserved inside. The study has proved the impact of the lamps (both incandescence and compact fluorescent lamps) on the ceiling, the penetration of external air in the room, the heat and the moisture released by people, the impact of sunshine through windows and the scatter diagram of the daily cycles in temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH). During winter concerts, the strips of lead which are wrapped round the edge of the cut glass pieces in stained glass windows easily drop below the dew point and form condensation, starting corrosion. A discussion concerns the allowed variability, which should not exceed risk thresholds. A safe interval can be established within the area determined by the most frequent T and RH natural cycles. In fact, both of the cycles were compatible with the artefacts, or the artefacts were already damaged to allow the exceeding dimensional changes. Attention should be paid in the variability external to this area, especially approaching or exceeding a limit equal to twice the mode of the natural variability.     

Virtual museums, a survey and some issues for consideration

Museums are interested in the digitizing of their collections not only for the sake of preserving the cultural heritage, but to also make the information content accessible to the wider public in a manner that is attractive. Emerging technologies, such as VR, AR and Web3D are widely used to create virtual museum exhibitions both in a museum environment through informative kiosks and on the World Wide Web. This paper surveys the field, and while it explores the various kinds of virtual museums in existence, it discusses the advantages and limitation involved with a presentation of old and new methods and of the tools used for their creation.     

The effects of cultural and historical information and contribution threshold on public contributions: an experimental study on the conservation of heritage houses in Penang,Malaysia

Budget constraints at the local government level towards the provision of public goods have fuelled interest in the voluntary contribution and provision point mechanisms. However, due to their public nature, these mechanisms are not without problems. The literature shows the presence of free riding and socially inefficient contribution levels. This paper experimentally tests the effect of cultural and historical information pertaining to heritage houses in Penang, Malaysia, on public contributions for their conservation. This paper considers a standard linear one-shot four-person public good game and the decision of the subjects being to contribute either to a private or to a public account. We devise 4 treatments: a Control treatment, a treatment where subjects are provided with cultural and historical information pertaining to the heritage houses, a treatment that includes a contribution threshold, and finally a treatment that combines the use of cultural and historical information with the contribution threshold. The main finding shows that 60–75 % of the subjects contributed more than what they believed others in the same group would contribute when they were provided with the pertinent cultural and historical information. Most of the subjects contributed less than their belief, while 75–77 % cooperated ‘selfishly’ in treatments without the information. These findings are in agreement with the literature, namely that contributions are higher in treatments with a contribution threshold. Moreover, the combination of a contribution threshold and cultural information could encourage more pro-social behaviours.     

Efficiently capturing large,complex cultural heritage sites with a handheld mobile 3D laser mapping system

Accurate three-dimensional representations of cultural heritage sites are highly valuable for scientific study, conservation, and educational purposes. In addition to their use for archival purposes, 3D models enable efficient and precise measurement of relevant natural and architectural features. Many cultural heritage sites are large and complex, consisting of multiple structures spatially distributed over tens of thousands of square metres. The process of effectively digitising such geometrically complex locations requires measurements to be acquired from a variety of viewpoints. While several technologies exist for capturing the 3D structure of objects and environments, none are ideally suited to complex, large-scale sites, mainly due to their limited coverage or acquisition efficiency. We explore the use of a recently developed handheld mobile mapping system called Zebedee in cultural heritage applications. The Zebedee system is capable of efficiently mapping an environment in three dimensions by continually acquiring data as an operator holding the device traverses through the site. The system was deployed at the former Peel Island Lazaret, a culturally significant site in Queensland, Australia, consisting of dozens of buildings of various sizes spread across an area of approximately 400 × 250 m. With the Zebedee system, the site was scanned in half a day, and a detailed 3D point cloud model (with over 520 million points) was generated from the 3.6 hours of acquired data in 2.6 hours. We present results demonstrating that Zebedee was able to accurately capture both site context and building detail comparable in accuracy to manual measurement techniques, and at a greatly increased level of efficiency and scope. The scan allowed us to record derelict buildings that previously could not be measured because of the scale and complexity of the site. The resulting 3D model captures both interior and exterior features of buildings, including structure, materials, and the contents of rooms.     

走读英国文化遗产保护利用模式

正2016年10月9日至29日,应英国东伦敦大学邀请,浙江省文物局组团"文化遗产保护与利用"项目,由浙江省文化厅副厅长陈瑶带领18位来自浙江省、市、县文博单位的专业及管理人员赴英国进行了为期21天的培训。此次培训采取授课讲座、座谈交流和实地考察等形式进行,培训地点包括大学、世界遗产、文物建筑保护管理机构、博物馆等。培训内容围绕《英国文     

Assessment of the compatibility of new uses for heritage buildings: The example of Alexandria National Museum,Alexandria, Egypt

This article evaluates the compatibility of the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings in Egypt given that a growing number of projects featuring innovative building reuse are currently emerging nationwide. Accordingly, this research focuses on three objectives. The first objective is the evaluation of indicators drawn from literature, namely architectural integrity, public perception, form and new building function, with reference to the specific case of Alexandria National Museum. The second objective is the investigation of the sustainable adaptation of the Museum. The third objective is the assessment of the capacity of the heritage building to meet the criteria for reuse. The integration of the literature review and the case study is verified by examining research indicators. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, including laypeople and professionals are utilised in the assessment of Alexandria National Museum adaptive reuse project. Research results show that interviewees agree that the process preserved the building's architectural integrity and that its new cultural function (i.e. as a museum) represents the optimal reuse of the building. In addition, the research highlights diversity amongst the stakeholders and the drawbacks of the sustainable adaptation indicator, including the absence of community participation.     

Using contingent valuation and cost-benefit analysis to design a policy for restoring cultural heritage

Historical heritage is proving an ideal field to apply contingent valuation for estimating individual as well as collective preferences as goods tend to be non-market and publicly owned. Yet despite this, findings are seldom used to draw up cultural policies or assess cultural heritage related projects. The current paper thus posits an approach which merges contingent valuation and cost-benefit analysis to design a cultural policy aimed at restoring the urban cultural heritage of the city of Valdivia (Chile). Contingent valuation is used to estimate the expected benefits from heritage for both local residents and tourists visiting Valdivia. We then apply cost-benefit analysis to the findings to evaluate a project to restore the historical ensemble through a non-profit foundation. The originality of the proposal lies in its merging the two approaches and may prove appealing to developing countries in which much of the heritage has been neglected and left to deteriorate, and where few or no resources have been devoted and a lack of effective institutional schemes to address the situation is evident.     

The Garden Temple at Ince Blundell: a case study in the recording and non-contact replication of decayed sculpture

Many important pieces of sculpture are located in exposed sites where they are open to chemical and physical attack by atmospheric agents. In some cases outdoor sculpture is now reaching a critical condition where the cohesion of the material of construction is almost lost. In these circumstances we face a stark choice between removing the sculpture to a safer environment or allowing its destruction. The removal of sculpture from its original site is an emotive issue and it is clearly not acceptable to simply leave a void where the original was located. The obvious solution is to replace the original with a replica. This presents a range of problems since we must achieve a sympathetic and accurate replica without any damaging contact occurring to the original object. The use of a laser scanner combined with the latest manufacturing techniques presents a potential solution to the need for recording and non-contact replication. The aim of this paper is to highlight a case study involving the non-contact replication of two decayed marble sculptures at the Garden Temple of Ince Blundell Hall on Merseyside.     

Analysing the possible impact of landslides and avalanches on cultural heritage in Upper Svaneti,Georgia

In this paper, the threat posed to cultural heritage by landslides and avalanches is analysed for two communities (Ushguli and Mulakhi) in the Upper Svaneti region in Georgia. The vulnerability of 60 cultural heritage objects has been evaluated through a conservation calculation based on an existing methodology using a State of Conservation Index (SCIx), which served as an input in a Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation (SMCE). Factors that are considered important for the occurrence of landslides (slope, landcover, lithology and drainage density) and snow avalanches (slope, insolation, slope curvature and landcover) have been used to generate a susceptibility map. A qualitative risk assessment was carried out by combining susceptible areas and cultural heritage objects. As there were very limited historical data available on the occurrence of landslides and snow avalanches, a combination of local and expert knowledge has been used to extract information on both cultural heritage and natural hazards. Existing management plans were also analysed to evaluate how natural hazards could be incorporated. Finally, some recommendations are given related to the analysis of the impact of natural hazards on cultural heritage in Georgia.     

16世纪前后中国的"权力经济"形态及其主要路径--中国皇权制度下城市经济形态的典型例证

自上世纪五六十年代的“明清资本主义萌芽”讨论以来 ,根据明代嘉靖前后太湖流域城市经济的一度发展而判定中国传统制度框架之内即能自发孕育近现代社会形态的看法 ,至今仍有很大影响并衍生出了新的阐释。但是实际上 ,在权力结构及其法权形态没有发生变革的前提下 ,中国城市经济的某些“繁荣”非但不能预示新的制度前景 ,相反却体现着专制威权对国民经济的操控 ,并由此而使社会的发展悖逆于近现代制度的方向