scholarly journals Qualitative Fire Vulnerability Assessments for Museums and Their Collections: A Case Study from Kosovo

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Charlotte Fafet ◽  
Erinë Mulolli Zajmi

Fires are among the most frequently recurring hazards affecting museums and cultural heritage sites. The fires of the National Museum of Brazil in 2018 and of Notre Dame de Paris in 2019 showed that the consequences of such events can be heavy and lead to irreversible heritage losses. In Kosovo, few studies were made about the risks that can affect cultural heritage sites. A project led by the NGO Kosovo Foundation for Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB Kosova) in 2018 explored the most prevalent risks for the cultural heritage sites of the country and highlighted fire as a predominant risk in Kosovo. In order to better understand it, vulnerability assessments were conducted in several museums in Kosovo. Data were collected through field visits in the different museums, in which interviews with staff members as well as observations were conducted. The aim of this paper is to present the main results of the fire vulnerability assessments conducted in Kosovo’s museums in 2018. An important aspect of this project is the approach to collect information in data-scarce environments. It is believed that the questionnaires used to lead interviews with museums’ staff members could help other practitioners to collect data in such contexts and evaluate more easily the risk of fire for the museums and their collections. In the context of Kosovo, one of the main findings is the identification and prioritisation of measures to ensure better protection of Kosovar museums. Structural mitigation measures such as alarm and fire suppression systems are not the only elements necessary to improve the resilience of Kosovar museums to fire. Indeed, the promotion of risk awareness, the training of staff members and the realisation of crisis simulation exercises are just as important in order to prevent and detect a fire, and above all, to respond quickly and accurately if a fire occurs.

Urbani izziv ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (30) ◽  
pp. 70-84
Author(s):  
Sibel Polat ◽  
H. Özge Tümer Yıldız

In recent years, central and local governments have carried out studies to establish a legal administrative infrastructure for urban design and to develop urban design guidance to preserve the identity of historic cities under the pressure of rapid urbanization in Turkey. The main aim of this article is to explain how we implemented a participatory urban design guidance (PUrDeG) model for cultural heritage sites, which was developed as part of a research project. We explain how we used various techniques to engage various actors in preparing urban design guidelines for a cultural heritage site. In addition, the article discusses the importance of community engagement techniques and processes in developing urban design guidance, and the context of guidelines for sustainable conservation of cultural heritage sites with examples from the United Kingdom and Turkey. It then presents a case study conducted in the Hanlar District, a Unesco world heritage site in Bursa, Turkey. The case study includes research on planning decisions, site analysis, a survey of urban residents, in depth interviews with local artisans, and an urban design workshop with various actors. The main outcomes of this study include a presentation of how to use various community engagement techniques to prepare urban design guidelines for cultural heritage sites in Turkey, an urban design guidance system for Bursa, and a list of recommendations related to urban design guidelines for the Hanlar District and Bursa in the light of UK experience.


Author(s):  
Pilar Luna Erreguerena

Mexico's underwater cultural heritage represents a vast and splendid universe varying from prehistoric to modern remains. But one of its main cultural riches is contained in its coastal and open-sea waters, where hundreds of ships have wrecked since the sixteenth century. Most of the underwater archaeological work undertaken since the 1980s has been in marine waters, especially the Gulf of Mexico. This article explains the discourse of maritime archaeology in Mexico through various phases such as the pre Colombian navigation, the European navigation, and stages of underwater recovery and underwater archaeology in the Mexican waters. In Mexico, the effective management of submerged heritage sites has proved difficult. Although it has no specific laws, Mexico has gained a better awareness regarding the importance of preserving its submerged cultural heritage and has signed and ratified diverse international treaties and the future looks promising.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Garrote ◽  
Andrés Díez-Herrero ◽  
Cristina Escudero ◽  
Inés García

Floods, at present, may constitute the natural phenomenon with the greatest impact on the deterioration of cultural heritage, which is the reason why the study of flood risk becomes essential in any attempt to manage cultural heritage (archaeological sites, historic buildings, artworks, etc.) This management of cultural heritage is complicated when it is distributed over a wide territory. This is precisely the situation in the region of Castile and León (Spain), in which 2155 cultural heritage elements are registered in the Catalog of Cultural Heritage Sites of Castile and León, and these are distributed along the 94,226 km2 of this region. Given this scenario, the present study proposes a methodological framework of flood risk analysis for these cultural heritage sites and elements. This assessment is based on two main processing tools to be developed in addition: on the one hand, the creation of a GIS database in which to establish the spatial relationship between the cultural heritage elements and the flow-prone areas for different flood return periods and, on the other hand, the creation of a risk matrix in which different variables are regarded as associated both to flood hazard (return period, flow depth, and river flooding typology) and to flood vulnerability (construction typology, and construction structural relationship with the hydraulic environment). The combination of both tools has allowed us to establish each cultural heritage flood risk level, making its categorization of risk possible. Of all the cultural heritage sites considered, 18 of them are categorized under an Extreme flood risk level; and another 24 show a High potential flood risk level. Therefore, these are about 25% to 30% of all cultural heritage sites in Castile and León. This flood risk categorization, with a scientific basis of the cultural heritage sites at risk, makes it possible to define territories of high flood risk clustering; where local scale analyses for mitigation measures against flood risk are necessary.


Author(s):  
A. Federman ◽  
M. Santana Quintero ◽  
S. Kretz ◽  
J. Gregg ◽  
M. Lengies ◽  
...  

The increasing commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has opened the possibility of performing low-cost aerial image acquisition for the documentation of cultural heritage sites through UAV photogrammetry. The flying of UAVs in Canada is regulated through Transport Canada and requires a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) in order to fly. Various image acquisition techniques have been explored in this review, as well as well software used to register the data. A general workflow procedure has been formulated based off of the literature reviewed. A case study example of using UAV photogrammetry at Prince of Wales Fort is discussed, specifically in relation to the data acquisition and processing. Some gaps in the literature reviewed highlight the need for streamlining the SFOC application process, and incorporating UAVs into cultural heritage documentation courses.


Author(s):  
W. Ren ◽  
Y. Zhu ◽  
M. Du ◽  
J. Lai

Abstract. Cultural Heritage sites with poor accessibility preventing tourists visiting, and there are few studies that specifically explore the practical problems and measures faced by poorly accessible world cultural heritage sites in terms of sustainable development. This research suggested a holistic solution that integrates six emerging technology methods and implements them with the case study Hailongtun Tusi, in Guizhou Province, China. This research provides a new idea for promoting sustainable development of world heritage based on 3D digital technology. Due to its simple technology and controllable cost, it also provides a model for other countries faced with similar issues in managing their world cultural heritage sites.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siniša Cvijić ◽  
Jasna Guzijan

Established in the first half of the 18th century, the district of Krš in Trebinje was the first settlement to grow upoutside the town walls. It grew up spontaneously in response to the local natural environment and under amixture of Mediterranean and Oriental influences. Since the second half of the 20th century, the district has faceddilapidation, a process that has not been countered yet, despite its recognised value as a cultural asset and thequality of its ambience.In this paper the present state of the district of Krš is analysed, along with the possibility of its adequateprotection relative to the applicable spatial and town plans, town planning ordinance and international charterson the protection of cultural and natural heritage sites. Also considered is the formulation of a special strategythat would help regenerating the area under consideration as well as safeguard its intangible cultural heritage andgenius loci.


Author(s):  
Мария Владимировна Вострова ◽  
Светлана Ивановна Яковлева

Предложена авторская разработка кейса для изучения исторических поселений в курсе «Пространственное планирование» - для магистров-географов. Исторические территории - это один из типов районов территориального планирования во всех странах мира, это объекты культурного наследия ЮНЕСКО (списки). В России исторические территории и поселения - новые объекты территориального планирования. В географии и истории - это популярная тема исследований. Опыт профессиональной оценки исторических поселений (их планировочных особенностей, типов застройки, функций) - важная компетенция географов-исследователей. The author developed a case study for the study of urban agglomerations in the course «Spatial Planning» for master-geographers is proposed. Historical territories are one of the types of territorial planning areas in all countries of the world, they are UNESCO cultural heritage sites (lists). In Russia, historical territories and settlements are new objects of territorial planning. It is a popular research topic in geography and history. The experience of professional assessment of historical settlements (their planning features, types of buildings, functions) is an important competence of researchers in geography.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Selena Aureli ◽  
Mara Del Baldo

PurposeThe paper aims to investigate the approach and tools adopted by an Italian city, included amongst the UNESCO World Heritage sites (WHS), to involve different stakeholders in the protection and valorisation of its historical centre to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The paper focusses on the role of local authorities as the key actors that should engage different city users to jointly achieve heritage conservation and socio-economic development.Design/methodology/approachData were collected, thanks to the researchers' direct participation in a project launched by the municipality of Urbino, which involved several local stakeholders and lasted about a year. Participant observation allowed the authors to collect informal interviews, join collective discussions and reflect on the direct observation of the activities undertaken.FindingsThe case study analysed suggests how participatory governance may be effective in fostering responsible principles in “asset usage” by any type of city users and how citizens actively co-design and co-implement initiatives of heritage revitalisation when engaged in cultural heritage (CH) policies.Originality/valueThe paper addresses a long-standing problem that has never been solved: how to enhance the consciousness of the CH amongst stakeholders and reconcile their different and conflicting needs in the historical urban environment in the process of revitalisation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document