• Energy Research

Due to climate change, it is foreseen that the frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events such as heavy precipitation, flooding and drought will increase throughout Europe. In recent times, numerous areas suffered from disasters that produced significant damage to cultural heritage. Although different risk management strategies are currently enforced in Central Europe, there still exist many challenges that undermine their effectiveness. This study reviews the necessary points to be addressed for strengthening existing management strategies within the region and the characteristics of potential resilience building measures. It presents feasible and tailored ICT solutions (e.g. a web GIS platform) and decision support tools (e.g. a manual for cultural heritage resilience and a handbook on transnational rescue procedures) for the protection of cultural heritage against floods, heavy rain and fire. These tools result from the Interreg Central Europe project ProteCHt2save, concentrating on risk assessment and sustainable protection of cultural heritage in changing environments. The proposed measures are tested at pilot sites and successfully integrated in local risk management plans. Future work is also proposed for further implementation of the results.

È di tutta evidenza ormai come il nostro patrimonio culturale, inteso nella sua complessità di patrimonio immobile e mobile ma anche paesaggistico, sia a rischio a causa degli eventi estremi correlati ai cambiamenti climatici che lo stanno mettendo sotto pressione con una frequenza crescente. Catastrofi naturali e disastri antropici impongono nuove sfide conservative mondiali in continua evoluzione e necessitano urgentemente di un approccio innovativo. A rischio non è solo la conservazione del patrimonio culturale ma anche la sicurezza dei visitatori, dei lavoratori del settore e delle comunità locali, con conseguenze economiche negative a seguito della riduzione dei flussi turistici. Ma se il rischio è sempre più evidente, purtroppo sono ancora sporadiche le misure e le strategie inserite nei piani di riduzione e gestione del rischio. Il CNR-ISAC ha coordinato su questi temi due progetti Interreg Central Europe, "ProteCHt2save - Risk Assessment and Sustainable Protection of Cultural Heritage in Changing Environments" (2017-2020) e il progetto di capitalizzazione "STRENCH - STRENgthening resilience of Cultural Heritage at risk in a changing environment through proactive transnational cooperation" (2020-2022). Lo strumento principale realizzato e successivamente integrato è stato l'online WebGIS, attualmente denominato in "Risk Mapping Tool for Cultural Heritage Protection" che, visualizzando in modo interattivo mappe di rischio dell'Europa a elevata risoluzione spaziale culturale, mostra dove e con quale forza i possibili cambiamenti climatici interesseranno il territorio. It is widely recognized nowadays that our cultural heritage, considered in its complexity of immovable and movable heritage but also landscape, is at risk due to extreme events related to climate change that are putting it under pressure with increasing frequency.Natural catastrophes and anthropogenic disasters impose new and continuously evolving global conservation challenges and urgently require an innovative approach. At risk is not only the preservation of cultural heritage but also the safety of visitors, workers in the sector and local communities, with negative economic consequences as a result of the reduction of tourist flows.However, while the risk is increasingly evident, unfortunately, the measures and strategies included in risk reduction and management plans are still sporadic.CNR-ISAC coordinated on these topics two Interreg Central Europe projects, "ProteCHt2save - Risk Assessment and Sustainable Protection of Cultural Heritage in Changing Environments" (2017-2020) and the capitalization project "STRENCH - STRENgthening resilience of Cultural Heritage at risk in a changing environment through proactive transnational cooperation" (2020-2022). The main tool created and subsequently integrated was the online WebGIS, currently named "Risk Mapping Tool for Cultural Heritage Protection" which, by interactively displaying risk maps of Europe at high cultural spatial resolution, shows where and how strongly possible climate change will affect the territory.

The risk to cultural heritage as a consequence of the impact of climate change is globally recognized, even though not exhaustively tackled with sustainable solutions and tools addressed to support policy and decision makers in the preparedness phase of risk reduction and management cycle.This contribution aims at presenting the methodological approach applied and main results of the "Risk mapping tool for cultural heritage protection" specifically dedicated to the safeguarding of cultural heritage exposed to extreme climate changes, produced in the framework of the Interreg Central Europe STRENCH (2020 - 2022). STRENCH project is strongly based on a user-driven approach and the multidisciplinary collaboration among the scientific community, public authorities, rescue bodies and the private sector (https://www.protecht2save-wgt.eu/).The presented tool provides hazard maps for Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin where cultural and natural heritage is exposed to heavy rain, flooding and prolonged drought. The tool enables assessing risk of cultural heritage assets based on: the computation of extreme changes of precipitation and temperature performed using climate extreme indices defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection Indices (ETCCDI); the exploitation of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), together with Earth Observation-based data and products; the integration with outputs from Regional Climate Models from the Euro-CORDEX experiment under two different scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5); a developed methodology for identifying the main critical elements determining the vulnerability of cultural heritage; the ranking of the vulnerability taking into account 3 main aspects, namely the susceptibility, exposure and resilience of cultural heritage.Preliminary results from the testing of the "risk mapping tool" at European case studies (Krems-Stein in Austria and Troja-Prague in Czech Republic) allow concluding on the feasibility and applicability of the tool presented in the perspective of optimizing preparedness strategies and mitigating the risk of cultural heritage subject to climate change related actions.In conclusion, the STRENCH project, through the implementation of its outputs, is expected to proactively target the needs and requirements of stakeholders and policymakers responsible for disaster mitigation and safeguarding of cultural heritage assets and to foster the active involvement of citizens and local communities in the decision-making process.

The presence of water and rising damp in particular is the most relevant cause of decay in historic buildings. Degradation processes such as biological growth, frost and salt crystallization arise or are intensified in the presence of rising damp and its relevance is expected to increase in the future, due to climate changes. Treatment against rising damp is therefore generally advised for protection and durable conservation of historic buildings. The JPI - CH Project "Effectiveness of methods against rising damp in buildings: European practice and perspective - EMERISDA" aimed at a scientifically based evaluation of the effectiveness of different methods against rising damp and decision support tool definition for a conscious choice use of these methods in the practice of conservation. During the present contribution, the main results obtained for the case study in Ferrara (Italia) will be discussed. Specifically, the treatments applied and the methodological approach for their effectiveness assessment will be presented. The rising damp is the most relevant cause of decay in historic buildings as it causes biological growth, frost and salt crystallization arise. Its relevance is expected to increase in the future, due to climate changes. Treatment against rising damp is therefore generally advised for protection and durable conservation of historic buildings. The JPICH EMERISDA Project aimed at a scientifically based evaluation of the effectiveness of different methods against rising damp and definition of a decision support tool for a conscious choice use of these methods in the practice of conservation. The treatments applied and the methodological approach for their effectiveness assessment will be presented for Ferrara (Italia) case study.

The presence of water in masonries is one of the most relevant cause of decay in historic buildings. If water is present, particularly rising damp, degradation processes such as biological growth, powdering due to salt crystallization cycles may arise and be intensified. Treatment against rising damp is therefore generally advised for the protection and preventive conservation of historic buildings. Within this framework, the JPICH Project "Effectiveness of methods against rising damp in buildings: European practice and perspective - EMERISDA" (2014-2017) aimed at a scientifically based evaluation of the effectiveness of different methods against rising damp and at decision support tool definition for a conscious choiceuse of these methods in the practice of conservation. During the present paper the methodology adopted on site for the evaluation of the efficiency of methods aiming at stopping/limiting rising damp on masonries is described. Specifically, results concerning the treatments on masonries with chemical injections (solvent and water based) and with plasters application on scale models and the case study of Agora in Ferrara (Italy) are presented. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.