Cultural heritage preservation by using blockchain technologies

Ubiquitous digitization enables promising options for cultural heritage preservation. Therefore, a new approach is presented that considers deployment scenarios by linking heritage science to tourism. Such an approach is necessary because neither technology nor society views can be treated separately to obtain deployable solutions of a wider social, and even national importance. Clearly, while the traditional approaches to cultural heritage preservation will remain a gold standard, they will be increasingly complemented by digital preservation techniques. Thus, based on practical implementations and lessons learnt in other areas, this multidisciplinary framework paper analyses existing disruptive information technologies deployments. In line with the findings it presents a novel technological architecture tailored to the needs of cultural heritage preservation that deploys an open blockchain architecture. The architecture preserves the advantages of traditional blockchains, which made this technology so important, while enabling energy efficient implementations that can be deployed in mobile applications. By additionally using the contribution-ware principle it links it to tourism, where the identification of users focused incentives and business models play a central role. It is obvious that tourism is a good candidate in such preservation efforts due to the organic links between it and cultural heritage and can support further developments in the heritage preservation domain.

3D technologies for intangible cultural heritage preservation—literature review for selected databases

Conservation of cultural heritage is nowadays a very important aspect of our lives. Thanks to such legacy we gain knowledge about our ancestors, methods of production and ways of their life. The rapid development of 3D technology allows for more and more faithful reflection of this area of life. The rich cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, can be preserved for future generations due to the use of advanced 3d technologies. They provide the means of documenting, recovering and presenting items of cultural heritage. Not only buildings or monuments are taken into account. An important aspect of our culture is intangible cultural heritage (ICH), including acting, crafting or storytelling, passed down from generation to generation. Due to the rapid development of civilisation and the migration of people, this type of culture is often forgotten. That is why the preservation of ICH is an important element of today world. The main aim of this study, on the basis of the gathered papers, is to identify: (1) the general state of use of 3D digital technologies in ICH; (2) the topics and themes discussed; (3) the technologies used in the study; (4) locations of research centres conducting such studies; and (5) the types of research carried out. The methodology consists of the following main steps: defining study questions, searching query development, selection of publications in Scopus, Web of Knowledge and IEEE Xplore, finally the study execution and the analysis of the obtained results. The results show that for ICH the most often used technologies are: 3D visualisation, 3D modelling, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and motion capture systems.

Planning experiences in historic cities protected by UNESCO

This article arises from the need to clarify the field of heritage preservation and conservation at the beginning of the 21st century, especially in central areas and historic cities. We went through this reflection in the face of the expressive homogenization of places and mischaracterizations of the landscapes produced with artificial interventions aimed at exploratory tourism, which directly reflect on the loss of the identity of urban heritage and, more ambitiously, with the cities-commodity in large cities, through management of urbanism with new contemporary interventions. The process of patrimonialization of historic cities is seen here from two distant angles in time, space, territory, culture and history, but they reflect the same repercussions for the city: scenography and gentrification, as is the case in Brazil, in Pelourinho in the city of Salvador, in 1992, and Portuguese, in the Quarteirão das Cardosas, in Porto, in 2009. With this, we were able to further question and denounce some perversions in architecture, the result of these economic speculations, which see facade renovation works as useful, that rip apart the entire interior of the heritage, neglecting the entire authentic experience of the city and demonstrate the perversions in the community in the face of the gentrification process, where landscape is transformed giving material form to the difference between cultural and economic power. We believe that it is possible to demonstrate in time to society, which is in constant threat of globalization, that heritage needs to be urgently recovered in order to remain on the continuum of life.

Heritage preservation easements, urban property, and heritage law: Exploring Canadian common law and civil law tools for responding to international cultural preservation frameworks for cities

This article will first situate cultural heritage preservation in the urban context through an overview of notions of outstanding universal value, the role of cities in cultural heritage and municipal archaeology generally, paths toward the equitable and sustainable development of cities, and inclusive urban cultural rights in the context of cultural heritage where these appear within international law and guiding international legal frameworks for the protection of cultural heritage. The article will also discuss the notion of the ‘public good’ as it is applied within heritage preservation decisions and will also address the balancing of public and private interests in built heritage preservation. This article will further turn to the broad legal framework of cultural heritage protection for built spaces in Canada before narrowing in on the common law concept of a heritage easement agreement – notably, how it is and can be deployed in Canada – and the civil law conservation servitude as it is available in the Civil Code of Quebec.

Use of Innovative Tools and Techniques for Heritage Preservation in the Digital Era: Academic Research on Asaf Khan’s Tomb in Lahore

In today’s digital era, as resources diminish and globalization provokes more regimented situations, innovative technologies such as parametric modeling, Building Information Modelling, 3D printing, and 3D scanners present dynamic answers for conserving and preserving traditional buildings. The main aim of this research is to explore digital technologies and tools to indicate how they can be of assistance in heritage preservation. Moreover, it also aims to identify the techniques that can make this laborious process more efficient and precise. All around the world, heritage sites are brought to life with the help of augmented models. This research highlights the digital methodology, tools, and techniques not fully explored due to limited funding and opportunities but present here as the evolving concept in the field of heritage conservation. It is more about the examination and investigation of the preservation process with the help of digital technology. It also explores the extent of possibilities and opportunities these digital tools can provide. Digital techniques and tools are extensively used within the traditional heritage internationally. However, Pakistan is still lagging behind in this domain. This study reconnoiters the impending uses of digital techniques in preserving architectural heritage and highlights how simple usage of these instruments can make the whole process more efficient and convenient. The outcomes specify that these tools provide many advantages over the traditional methods of conservation and have proved to be more useful and accurate. The application of photogrammetry to create models of old structures is also discussed. Moreover, the creative use of these tools to develop cordiality to original structures without replacing or damaging them is explored. This paper examines the application of these cutting-edge technologies for the preservation of architectural heritage in Pakistan with specific reference to a Mughal era structure in Lahore, that is, Asaf Khan’s Tomb. Despite the rich architectural heritage of Lahore, there is no proper conservation methodology currently practiced to preserve it. The above mentioned structure was surveyed, documented and the then-current situation was modeled using different softwares including Building Information Modeling in Revit. For the climatic and solar analysis of the structure, Ladybug which is a Rhino plug-in was explored and Microsoft Form it was used for the detailed solar energy analysis. Keywords: building information modeling, digital tools and technology, heritage conservation, photogrammetry

Northwest Native Plants: A Digital Space for Paleoethnobotanical Knowledges and Biocultural Heritage

Biocultural heritage preservation relies on ethnobotanical knowledge and the paleoethnobotanical data used in (re)constructing histories of human-biota interactions. Biocultural heritage, defined as the knowledge and practices of Indigenous and Local peoples and their biological relatives, is often guarded information, meant for specific audiences and withheld from other social circles. As such, these forms of heritage and knowledge must also be included in the ongoing data sovereignty discussions and movement. In this paper we share the process and design decisions behind creating an online database for ethnobotanical knowledge and associated paleoethnobotanical data, using a content management system designed to foreground Indigenous and local perspectives. Our main purpose is to suggest the Mukurtu content management system, originally designed for physical items of cultural importance, be considered as a potential tool for digitizing and ethically circulating biocultural heritage, including paleoethnobotanical resources. With this database, we aim to create access to biocultural heritage and paleoethnobotanical considerations for a variety of audiences while also respecting the protected and sensitive natures of Indigenous and local knowledges.

Murals meet microbes: at the crossroads of microbiology and cultural heritage

expressions and represents a defining feature of our societies that needs to be further inherited to future generations. Even though humankind always fought a daily struggle for survival, at the same time, it seemed to have a spiritual need that went far beyond mere materialistic satisfaction and nowadays manifests in sometimes very ancient, yet brilliant artistic works. This fundamental legacy is endangered by several instances, including biodeterioration. Indeed, microorganisms play a significant role in the decline of all forms of tangible cultural heritage, including movable, immovable and underwater cultural heritage. Microbial colonization, biofilm formation and damaging metabolite production eventually result in critical decay. Thus, efforts to miti-gate the negative impact of damaging microorganisms have been pursued with diverse physical, chemical and biological approaches. Intriguingly, recent advances have unveiled that specific microorganisms and microbi-al-based technologies also have the potential for cultur-al heritage preservation and present unique advantages. This short piece provides a quick overview on the duali-ty of microorganisms in the conservation and restora-tion of cultural heritage.