Brussels, 15 May 2002
The EU's Enlargement process is well underway, and Europe is preparing to welcome new member countries, but European nations are already united through their shared cultural heritage.
On May 16 in Krakow (Poland), and on the occasion of the Fifth European Research Conference on Cultural Heritage, the Commission will present three EU-funded research projects tackling issues such as
the conservation of Baroque stucco marble in churches (ENVIART) and
the preservation of photographs and paper against light (LiDO).
Another project was instrumental in launching the first pan-European network on cultural heritage research issues (ARCCHIP).
Participants involved in these projects include researches from Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, France and Belgium. EU research can play a key role in mobilising resources, in gathering all relevant stakeholders and successfully integrating Eastern European expertise in R&D programmes to improve the protection of Europe's cultural heritage.
"Let me quote Winston Churchill", said EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. "Europe is the origin of milestones in world's culture, arts, philosophy and science, both of ancient and modern time. Only by sharing its common cultural legacy could Europe experience more than fifty years of peace and economic prosperity. We look forward to fully open our doors to Candidate Countries, neighbours with whom we have so much in common."
2002 is the United Nations year of cultural heritage. On 16-18 May Krakow will host the Fifth European Research Conference on Cultural Heritage. Previous conferences have always been held in European cities with a rich cultural heritage like Rome, Aachen, Santiago de Compostela and Strasbourg. This is the first time that such a conference will take place in a candidate country. Krakow is the city of science where the young Nicolaus Copernicus studied to develop the heliocentric model of our universe, the most western city reached by Byzantine iconography and the most eastern site for mediaeval stained glass windows.
Cultural heritage is endangered and high level research and technological development can play an essential role in stopping or slowing down decline. Since 1986, the Commission has been supporting the world's biggest international research programme devoted to the protection of cultural heritage against environmental deterioration, with an eye to integrating cultural heritage into the living city. This includes fostering sustainable tourism, re-use of buildings and, in general, a responsible and economically viable management of our cultural heritage within European cities.
Candidate countries play a key role in research related to cultural heritage: while just 3 partners from CCs participated in this kind of initiative within the 4th R&D programme, 29 partners from candidate countries took part in 30 running projects in the framework of 5th R&D programme, and more are expected to apply within the forthcoming 6th (2002-2006) programme.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), many from Candidate Countries, are very active in this field. The "veloxy" system for the preservation of books, textiles with non-toxic treatments against insect pests, shape memory alloy devices to protect buildings against earthquakes, a mobile laser cleaning station for oil paintings, are all examples of products marketed and sold by SMEs. 54 SMEs took part in this type of research within the 5th R&D framework programme, compared to just 25 within the 4th R&D programme. Most SMEs are specialising in monument conservation or in high tech fields such as laser cleaning.
The ENVIART project focuses on the protection of baroque stucco marble. The project team, including participants from Germany, Poland, Austria and Belgium, studied its structure, properties and deterioration mechanisms to develop appropriate conservation strategies. The results were obtained with experiments in laboratories and in situ: scientists worked on a masterpiece of European baroque architecture, the Dukes Chapel in Krzeszow (Poland), that was later restored based on the results of the project.
The LiDO project deals with the development and application of light dosimeters. This new tool contains light sensitive dyes in a polymeric matrix on paper or glass support and it will provide conservators and curators with information on the effect of light in museums. The aim is to protect light sensitive artistic materials like photographs or textiles. Thanks to this EC research project, the paper-based light dosimeters containing a red or a blue dye have been patented and are applied in situ as prototypes. Light exposure damage makes dyes fade. Project partners come from Germany, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
The third project is the "Advanced Research Centre for Cultural Heritage Interdisciplinary Project" (ARCCHIP) the first Centre of Excellence for cultural heritage in Eastern Europe funded by the European Commission. The centre analyses state-of-the-art techniques in cultural heritage protection; it gathers up-to-date information in this areas and promotes the exchange of best practices; it helps in selecting themes for medium term joint or concerted research in the field of cultural heritage, and shares information on relevant national and international funding possibilities. The centre also provides training and coaching services, it fosters networking and twinning arrangements, it contributes to national initiatives in restructuring the science and technology sector in Eastern Europe, e.g. by acting as a National Research Centre. All of these activities are carried out with a particular attention to the needs of Candidate Countries.
For further information please visit
ENVIART PROJECT: http://www.chemie.uni-hamburg.de/projec ts/enviart.html
LIDO PROJECT http://www.lido.fraunhofer.de
ARCCHIP www.itam.cas.cz/~arcchip/
DN: IP/02/716 Date: 15/05/2002