Cultural heritage, in its multidimensional constitutive structure, is inexorably linked to discursive mechanisms of operational identity construction and reproduction, making it an object of international and national public policies, its existence and preservation having direct socio-economic and political effects. Furthermore, cultural heritage is additionally connected to an acknowledgement of longue durée processes and paradigmatic awareness regarding historical macrostructural cumulative civilizational factors. This very attribute can make it a ”field of action” for various political and ideological agendas, as well as for specific economic distributional patterns and financial prioritizations, and to variables in the concurrent administrative and legal frameworks, on a regional, national, or international level. The meaning of the term ”heritage” itself, its practical components and operational extensions and the enlargement of its scope will also be discussed.
Based on these factors, we intend to analyse and debate three main themes, and to also integrate the following Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 4 – Quality Education and Lifelong Learning, SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
The three major themes are:
I. Public policies and the safeguarding & management of cultural heritage
Considering recent armed international events, together with socio-economic and political tensions in fragile states, and their implications upon the safety and current status of cultural heritage, we propose a discussion regarding the contextual evolution of national and international legal frameworks involving the management of heritage, including the key players, interests, laws & regulations, economic & financial logistics, social geographies, and comparative analyses.
II. Diverse Societies, Inequality and Social Change – Migration, Integration and Identity in the African – European Relational Context: Convergence or Divergence? A Research Framework Based on the World-Systems Analysis & Transactionalism Starting from the present cumulative overlap of the 4 main systemic problems currently facing human society on a global scale (poverty, inequality climate change, sustainability), which has conditioned the new migrational paradigm, we intend to discuss:
– the new dynamics of migration, brain drain, capability transfer, dependence, multidimensional capital asymmetries, the reconfigurations inside the centre–semiperiphery–periphery world system, the new identitarian configurations, as well as the complicated integration of migrant groups (institutional, allocational and redistributive mechanisms provided by the European Union & the United Kingdom), by concentrating mainly on the Africa – Europe mobility axis.
III. Diverse Societies, Inequality and Social Change - Heritage for an open society
As recent events have demonstrated, cultural heritage can easily become a target of various political agendas or religious propaganda, facing irreversible destruction. However, there are now possibilities to recreate what was lost or what is in a fragile context: cutting-edge 3D digital technology, depicting both the original characteristics and the current condition of ancient/protohistoric cities, sites & objects. We shall also approach the subject of the operational strategies, as well as the technological and educational resources required for an efficient systematisation and dissemination of knowledge & expertise, in the current objective context of the global multiscalar digital divide.
From an empirical, solution-based perspective, we strive to achieve a better understanding of the systemic implications of the specified themes, and the needed human, institutional, technological and financial resources, in order develop realistic initiatives, which efficiently correlate essential SDG goals.
Thus, the quantifiable components of the project will be constituted by: a webinar, journée d’étude, and summer school (for improving the qualifications and competences of MA & PhD students, with a focus on the latest methodological developments), a blended learning interactive online digital platform (for sustainable long-term collaboration between CIVIS members and partners), a coherent educational and informational dissemination program, directed towards the general public (integrating Q & A sessions).