PROJECT
RESEARCH TOPIC OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
"Strategies for the safeguarding of cultural heritage at risk.
Risk analysis, assessment and georeferencing in the Ravenna area"
(Scientific direction: prof. Mariangela Vandini - prof. Alessandro Iannucci)
Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, tsunamis are just some of the events that can violently impact on populations and buildings. To these risks, others can be added, creating potentially harmful situations deriving from human actions, such as transport and disposal of special substances, vandalism and theft.
Cultural Heritage, in each form, is exposed to numerous threats which can compromise its integrity. The loss of these historical and cultural witnesses, both total or partial, has direct consequences on the Community itself, compromising identity values and social cohesion.
In Italy, risk management falls within the competence of the Department of Civil Protection of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, a national structure responsible for the prevention, monitoring, intervention and reduction of risk factors occurring within the National borders. The current National regulations require to each Italian municipality to adopt specific Municipal Civil Protection Plans (PPCC), which contain all the intervention and risk mitigation procedures to be adopted to protect local Communities. Despite Cultural Heritage is included among the list of "relevant elements" on the territory of Ravenna, at present the Municipal Civil Protection Plans do not present specific operating procedures neither for the prevention phase, nor for the intervention phase, just proposing actions for the post-emergency phase (evaluation of the damage, restoration).
The SIRIUS Project (Strategies for the management of cultural heritage at risk) aims to support Bodies, Institutions and the citizens of Ravenna in improving procedures for monitoring, preventing and mitigating the risks to which the Cultural Heritage is sensitive and exposed. The project intervenes on three specific research topics:
- update and systematization of documentation related to risks impacting on the area of Ravenna and the state of conservation of local Cultural Heritage, with the scope to realize a "Risk Atlas" (a georeferenced tool);
- proposal of a training course for the update of competences and skills of professionals on Cultural Heritage and Intervention Teams on the topic of prevention and mitigation of the risks impacting of cultural assets;
- communication activities to engage the citizenship and increase awareness on Cultural Heritage and risks prevention.
SIRIUS Project is implemented by the Department of Cultural Heritage (Campus of Ravenna), with the support of the Fondazione Flaminia and the Municipality of Ravenna.