Cultural Heritage and Digitalization in City Branding

In today's competitive global environment, cities are striving to stand out and be attractive to investors, visitors, and residents. City branding is an important tool to differentiate the city from its competitors and to be preferred by visitors. Every city has its own characteristics resulting from its historical development, the influence of its geography, and its social, cultural, and economic past. Therefore, the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of cities is vital for their promotion and branding. This study aims to show the importance of their cultural heritage, which is the most fundamental feature to differentiate themselves from their competitors in city branding. It is emphasized that the cultural events organized in cities or the assets specific to cities, most of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, have a significant impact on city branding. In addition, the chapter explains the impact of digitalization, which is one of the most important developments of our time, on city branding and cultural heritage.

From the Entrepreneurial University to the Civic University

The chapter aims to investigate the impact of the presence of the university on the perceived quality of life of the host community. To this aim, the authors focused on a specific area, that is the historical town center of Naples (as defined by the UNESCO in the World Heritage List since 1995), where five universities are located. Adopting a qualitative and explorative approach, 25 in-depth interviews have been conducted with local universities' stakeholders and content-analyzed through the software Nvivo 10. Thus, the authors identified precisely the multiplicity of activities through which the presence of the university contributes to the socio-economic and cultural well-being of the community of which it is part, thinking about the dynamics that may occur in the case of an urban-located university. Based on the findings, a conceptual model is proposed that may be further validated with new investigations.

Integrating Big Data to Smart Destination Heritage Management

New technological requirements and needs of today's world are forcing cities to transform into smart cities and smart destinations in tourism cases. Smart destinations are focused on enhancing the tourist experience while also supporting the decision-making process, sustaining effective usage of resources, and maintaining sustainability. Big data has started to act as a reliable resource that assists these processes and offers alternative solution methods. Improvements in the usage of big data within the framework of smart destination management systems will also provide new insights and understandings about heritage sites and their management. Istanbul and the Sultanahmet region, which were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, form the main domain of this chapter. This research aims to reveal any significant differences between Istanbul Wi-Fi data, Sultanahmet Wi-Fi data, and Istanbul Arrivals data. Kruskal-Wallis Test was conducted for comparing these data sets for 28 countries, and recommendations are presented.

The Potential Role of Ecoacoustics in the Study of the Coffee Natural Landscape of Colombia

In 2011, the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Several studies have been undertaken to increase its knowledge and promote its conservation and sustainable development; however, there still exists a gap between the knowledge of the visible features of this landscape and the audible ones, which are associated to anthropophonic, geophonic, and, mainly, to biophonic sound-emitting sources. The perception or recording of the audible features in a place has been recently termed as soundscape and is studied by a relatively novel discipline known as ecoacoustics. This chapter is, therefore, aimed to discuss the potential opportunities and challenges of applying ecoacoustic methods—particularly non-negative matrix factorization and acoustic indices—to enrich the study of the CCLC. Essential concepts for both the CCLC and ecoacoustics are also briefly explained, along with an outline of future work directions in short- and long-term perspectives.

Mainstream digitale e altre immagini urbane. Una ricerca empirica nel sito UNESCO di Palermo

The research deepens the role of new technologies in the construction of geographical imaginaries investigating the dimension of the offer related to the cultural heritage of the city of Palermo. The study was conducted using qualitative methods and provided for the application of two research techniques: participant observation and semi-structured interviews. By interpreting the results produced, the contribution aims to highlight the predominance of an urban image, linked to the UNESCO inclusion of the site in the World Heritage List, which is conveyed through new technologies. Developing a reflection on the alternative capacity of new media to dislocate and challenge shared images, the study will also examine the role of technologies in the production of imaginative counter-geographies.

Excavations on the Coral Mosques of the Maldives

This report presents the results of an archaeological mission done in the Maldives archipelago located to the south-west of India, in the Indian Ocean. In November 2017, we carried out archaeological excavations and surveys as well as collected oral traditions on two sites, the Fandiyaaru Mosque and Koagannu Cemetery in Hulhumeeddhoo town on Addu Atoll and the Friday Mosque of Fenfushi on Alifu Dhaalu Atoll. Two outcomes were expected from our mission: first, to provide new scientific data on the coral mosques of the Maldives in order to improve the chances of success of nomination of the mosques on the World Heritage List of UNESCO; then to support the conservation project of the Maldivian government and international organisations such as UNESCO and the World Monuments Fund (WMF). One major question during our excavation was the continuity of the settlements from pre-Islamic cultures and influences from Buddhist architecture on local Islamic architecture.

Тематическое исследование всемирного наследия Центральной Азии Primary tabs

The World Heritage thematic study for Central Asia has been produced as a contribution to supporting the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in Central Asia. It provides a response to a Decision of the World Heritage Committee in order to identify outstanding areas with potential for future nomination to the World Heritage List with primary focus on criteria (ix) and (x) at the regional scale. The approach applied in this study, focusing on criteria (ix) and (x), follows that from the 2013 study on terrestrial biodiversity and the World Heritage List. Criteria (ix) and (x) are clearly the primary ones for recognition of extant biodiversity values, and they have been applied to a wide range of biodiversity features, including ecosystems, species, and ecological and/or biological processes. Although this study is an initial assessment, most areas and sites recommended here have appeared repeatedly as being of particular interest for biodiversity conservation during the work process, whether through literature analysis or in discussions with experts and specialists. The recommendations reflect the current level of knowledge that should be strengthened in the future, to ensure that the identified areas and sites are well supported with the necessary data and empirical evidence to address the requirements of the Operational Guidelines.

Cultural Heritage and Conflict in Africa

Throughout history the continent of Africa has witnessed major conflicts and wars. Most of these conflicts have wreaked havoc in people’s lives and their socio-economic well-being. The nature of conflict on the continent has both indigenous and exogenous origins. Past colonial wars of occupation and the subsequent occupations generated conflicts and wars of its own. These led to the creation of what the so-called modern states that exist in Africa. Most of these creations by colonial powers were designed to serve their own interest. However, the wars and movements of independence also generated conflicts of their own. The modern states created during the colonial days are also the root cause of some of the conflicts today in Africa. The world conflicts during the Cold War also generated Africa’s own conflicts. The rise of extreme religious movements like Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and their affiliates have taken advantage of the fragile states of Africa to cause destruction in the continent. All these conflicts have had an impact on the heritage of Africa and in some instances generated its own places of commemoration and remembrance. With the creation of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage Convention in 1972 and its efforts to protect heritage places, Africa has registered some of the places of remembrance and commemoration to the prestigious World Heritage list. Some of the sites registered are a result of conflict. But what concerns UNESCO is the management of the sites on its World Heritage list. Thirteen of these sites from the continent are on the danger list, largely due to the conflicts ravaging Africa. Through the 1954 Hague Convention, UNESCO has tried to ensure that African state parties adhere to the norms of protecting heritage in the event of a war or conflict between nations. Unfortunately most conflicts in Africa are not between conventional armies but largely internal through guerrilla warfare, thus limiting the application of the 1954 Convention. Some of the conflicts in Africa that have had an impact on heritage have attracted attention from major powers in the world. For example, the conflict in Libya has had countries such as Italy, the United States, and France interested in protecting the heritage places there. In the same vain France has been attracted to the conflict in Mali, which threatens the famous sites of Timbuktu among others. In all these UNESCO has played a part in highlighting the need to protect heritage and in the case of Mali even successfully enlisted the International Court of Justice to prosecute the perpetrators of these attacks on heritage. In some cases, like in Nigeria with the Boko Haram attacks on the world heritage site of Sukur Cultural Landscape, there has been a deafening silence from either UNESCO or any other international organization or country.

Proposing a New Methodology for Monument Conservation “SCOPE MANAGEMENT” by the Use of an Analytic Hierarchy Process Project Management Institute System and the ICOMOS Burra Charter

Managing the scope of the “Properties” and “Performances” domains plays a fundamental role in the scheduling and controlling of the wide variety of variables and processes involved in any project, for the purpose of increasing the quality of outputs, which leads to time and budget-saving. Notably, in monument conservation projects, “scope management” is a vital factor targeted at maintaining historical parameter values and accuracy in the number of interferences and occupations on sites. Nowadays, as urbanization speeds up unprecedently, the territories of these heritage sites have been demolished or have lost their place on the World Heritage List. Undoubtedly, the existence of such critical conditions makes it increasingly necessary to apply scope management methods to preserve such archaeological and historic sites across the world. The purpose of this article is to propose a “Comprehensive and Regular Systematic Schedule” for the purpose of monument conservation via the use of scope management, based on the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)—specifically the Burra Charter (1981). The results of this research include hierarchical levels of management processes which consider all the effective variables, both the tangible and intangible elements (independent factors) and the other weaknesses and opportunities of the project in order to determine the scope of the required operations, which must be scheduled based on historical sites’ conservation charters. In this way, in addition to reviving a cultural landscape’s (cultural heritage or site) essential and valuable parts, unnecessary changes can be avoided.

Hydrological System of the Plitvice Lakes—Trends and Changes in Water Levels, Inflows, and Losses

The Plitvice Lakes National Park is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The lake system is composed of 16 cascading lakes of different sizes separated by tufa barriers, which are the park’s key phenomenon. The lakes are characterized by highly diverse trends of the characteristic hydrological indicators—mean annual water levels, discharges, and tufa barrier growth. The analyses carried out in this paper identified that in the period before the early 1990s, Kozjak Lake had a trend of decreasing discharges, together with a trend of increasing water levels and growing tufa barriers. In contrast to this, in the period after 2001, a trend of increasing discharges was recorded, as well as a trend of decreasing water levels and decreasing tufa barriers. A potential cause of the barriers decreasing in size were the extremely high discharges during the last decade, which resulted in increased erosion of the tufa barriers. Losses of water due to the sinking from the lake system as well as the upper Korana course were confirmed, and it was identified that during the analyzed period the losses had not changed significantly. It was determined that the losses of water from Kozjak Lake occurred during low-water periods; however, they depended not only on the quantity of water flowing through the lakes but also on the hydrological conditions underground. The analyses carried out and the methodological procedures used in the analyzed area of the Plitvice Lakes are useful examples for the performance of analyses at similar lakes in karst formed by tufa deposition processes.