Sciences and materials of cultural heritage

The future of cultural heritage in smart cities
Course, Ravello, 6-9 October 2014

with the support of Europa Major Hazards - Council of Europe
in collaboration with ICOD, La Valletta - Malta

The 2014 Programme of the Ravello Course has the specific focus on “The future of Cultural Heritage in Smart Cities”. The Course combined understanding of the impact of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage with the development of cities that need to be “smart” in order to flourish in the 21st century.
The Course therefore considered the pressures that climate and air quality exert on historic materials and structures and how innovative approaches to making cities “smart”, can influence the Cultural Heritage in its urban setting.

Topics:
* The concept of Smart Cities and whether it includes Cultural Heritage
* Mitigation and adaptation strategies, including nanoscience application, to protect Cultural Heritage from Climate Change, starting with the impact of urban pollution on Cultural Heritage
* Information and innovation technologies and energy issues and Cultural Heritage, starting from the lessons we can learn from the past, asking the rhetorical question of why historic cities are smart cities and how historic cities can adapt to new renewable energy technologies as the “smart” or clever way of adapting to the future.
* Energy requirements of historic buildings within the concept of Smart Cities
* The macro-scale of cultural tourism and visitors’ expectations of Cultural Heritage in Smart Cities, and how our Built Heritage must adapt to face the double challenge of catastrophic events in a Smart City context.