ECOLOGY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

The course is included in the Conservation Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage master programme and is part of a cluster of courses providing a sound background for planning the conservation of cultural Heritage. The main objective of the programme is to train highly skilled professionals, who could properly deal with all the issues involved in the conservation and management of Cultural Heritage. In order to achieve this aim, interdisciplinary courses are delivered in the second year. In this context, the main objective of this course is to enable students to plan restoration and conservation interventions taking into account their environmental impact, as well as the sustainability of the subsequent management of a restored item.

Attending the classes, thoroughly studying the course notes and reading materials, investigating the case study and drafting the final report will enable students to achieve the following learning outcomes.

1) Knowledge and comprehension
Basic knowledge concerning: i) the structure and functioning of terrestrial, marine and urban ecosystems, ii) the most relevant environmental impacts of restoration, conservation and management/usage of cultural heritage.
Knowledge of the sustainability principles and of Life Cycle based methodologies for assessing the sustainability of products/processes.
Understanding the role of the surrounding environment and ecosystem in valorising a cultural heritage item.
2) Capacity of applying knowledge and comprehension.
To be able to plan a restoration intervention taking into account also its environmental impact, as well as the sustainability of the subsequent management and usage practices.
3) Assessment capacity
Capacity of evaluating alternative options for restoring and managing a cultural heritage item, taking into account also the ecological quality of the surrounding environment

Basic knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics, usually provided by courses delivered in scientific batchelor programmes which gives access to this educational programme.

Introduction to Life Cycle Analysis: methodological background and steps of the assessment. The main impact categories and their relationship with structure and functioning of ecosystems. Main terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecosystems and biodiversity. Ecosystem properties: resilience and resistance. Landscape ecology. Urban ecology. Anthropic drivers, pressures and impacts on ecosystems. Main impacts related to restoration, conservation and management of cultural heritage.
Sustainable development. Environmental, economic and social sustainability. Sustainable Development Goals. Assessing sustainability: methodologies based on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, LCSA.
Assessment of environmental impact of restoration, conservation and management of cultural heritage. Tools for implementing the LCA approach: "Openlca" software (www.openlca.org). Construction of simple models using openlca. Application to case studies
From assessment to management: the innovative CH-LCM, Cultural Heritage-Life Cycle Management approach.

Lecture notes, powerpoint slideshows, reports and scientific papers provided by the lecturer.

The achievement of the learning objectives if verified by means of: a) a written test, aimed at ascertaining the understanding of the main ecological concepts, b) a final report and its presentation using slideshow. The written test account for 6/30, the report for 20/30 and the presentation for 4/30.

1) Lectures, based on the notes, slideshows, reading material which is provided weekly to the students. The learning of theoretical concepts will be facilitated by providing examples of their relevance for understanding the complex interactions among cultural heritage and surrounding ecosystems.

2) Hands-on session using an open source software for building models which enable one to estimate the environmental impact of restoration intervention and of the subsequent management/usage of a cultural heritage item.

English

written and oral