NET-HERITAGE

Welcome to the NET-HERITAGE website. This site has been developed under the EU-funded NET-HERITAGE programme to provide a platform accessible to a wide audience of Researchers, Practitioners, Funding Agencies, Policymakers and anyone with an interest in European cultural heritage. It enables users to connect, share their knowledge and work collaboratively.

The NET-HERITAGE website has 3 main components:

• Online magazine and news content relating to Heritage Science throughout Europe
• An 'Observatory' database of articles, documents and datasets
• A social network for heritage science researchers and practitioners

The NET HERITAGE programme has been funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework ERA-NET funding stream.
For more information on the programme as a whole visit the NET-HERITAGE website

Background to the NET-HERITAGE Programme

Cultural heritage is the mirror of society. It constitutes the legacy of tangible artefacts, such as historical buildings and monuments, as well as intangible features, such as traditions, customs and practices. Tangible and intangible cultural heritage operate through a symbiotic relationship, whereby the physical symbols serve as evidence of underlying norms and values of a culture. Taking this into consideration, the importance of protecting tangible cultural heritage is significant not only in order to reflect on and to better understand the past but also to maintain identification in the future.

The cultural heritage of the European Union is crucial for establishing a shared European identification through progressive integration. The protection of cultural heritage is an extremely intricate endeavour, one which can only be accomplished by joining forces and maximising synergies. To add to this challenge, there have been no prior means to disseminate research results which applies to the protection of tangible cultural heritage. NET-HERITAGE European Network on Research Programme Applied to the Protection of Tangible Cultural Heritage is the first significant initiative which has set out to coordinate national RTD programmes of European countries, and support European programmes in research applied to the protection of tangible cultural heritage.

Existing Partnerships

NET-HERITAGE is a partnership of ministries, funding agencies and national RTD authorities from 14 European countries (Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Island, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom). It has embarked on a monumental effort to fulfil a crucial need within EU research policy: to overcome the barriers of exchanging information on coordinated research activity applied to the protection of tangible cultural heritage. Prior to the formation of this ERA-NET, information on heritage science consisted only of exchange among researchers, as well as dissemination to policy makers, end-users and professional non-researchers. This resulted in the value of heritage science remaining highly invisible and the exchange among researchers fragmented.

Aims of the Programme

The existing national cultural heritage programmes, which NET-HERITAGE is building upon, indicate that this field is prepared for a European cultural heritage research network. The ultimate aim is to strengthen the foundation of scientific and technological research as it applies to the protection of cultural heritage in Europe. NET-HERITAGE will encourage a gradual unfolding and penetrating of cooperation among stakeholders. This will involve three stages:
 

• Information exchange through the creation of this Observatory
• Strategic activities, which include the improved assessment of indoor and outdoor environments, environmental monitoring for pollution, climate change, and seismic risks – simple, cost-efficient measurement tools which end-users can utilise.
• Joint activities, made possible by identifying common priorities to incorporate into national RTD programmes, strategic test cases, and common policies.

The impact of HERITAGE-NET will be vast, spanning the coordination of national activities, education, training and knowledge transfer, the inclusion of cultural heritage protection in EU legislation, and on the harmonisation and acceptability of technologies which apply to tangible cultural heritage. When it comes to cultural heritage preservation, the programmatic and operational approaches differ considerably among NET-HERITAGE partners. This is actually a strength, as it will provide a systematic exchange of information, experience and best practice for joint multilateral actions. One of the project’s main outcomes will be the Advanced Training Programme which will address the needs of heritage professionals such as art conservators and conservation scientists.

NET-HERITAGE will provide an opportunity for Europe to maximise and coordinate combined efforts, which will in turn assist it with finding solutions in a global context. Furthermore, its contribution to a sustainable cultural heritage will support the European tourism industry in relation to growth, development and job creation. Essentially, NET-HERITAGE will facilitate the vision to redefine the national approach to research in the cultural heritage domain leading to a common European strategy of investment in research, thereby investing in maintaining Europe’s identity in the future.
It will be the only resource of its nature in the field of heritage science research providing detailed up-to-date information on European and national programmes, as well as results and research outcomes. NET-HERITAGE is financed by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme 2007/2013 (Project reference no. 219301-NET HERITAGE).

For more information on the programme as a whole, please see the NET-HERITAGE website