Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Phygital Heritage: Communicating Built Heritage Information through the Integration of Digital Technology into Physical Reality" "Andrew Vande Moere" "Architecture and Design" "Built heritage forms a unique asset by expressing the richness and diversity of our history, possessing vast amounts of information that varies from factual and explicit, to more tacit and embedded. Tacit knowledge of built heritage is typically more challenging to communicate to visitors in understandable and engaging ways due to its implicit and abstract character. Therefore, we investigate how built heritage information can be disclosed via simultaneous and integrated physical and digital means, and how this information can be communicated to visitors in more engaging, educational and meaningful ways. In this thesis we present the approach of “Phygital Heritage”, which entails how heritage information can be disclosed via simultaneous and integrated physical and digital means. We hypothesize that this approach forms a potential medium for more engaging and meaningful communication of heritage information to a broader public. It even enables heritage visitors to appreciate heritage in more experiential ways, and to raise community awareness about heritage assets.Through a set of in-the-wild studies, in which interactive phygital prototypes were designed and deployed in real-world heritage and museum environments, we explore how the seamless integration of digital technology into physical reality facilitates the communication of built heritage information to museum visitors and how it affects user engagement. In Saqqara Entrance Colonnade, through a between-group comparative study in a real-world museum context, we examined how the tangible characteristics of an interactive museum prototype influence how visitors understand tacit knowledge of built heritage;In Nimrud Relief, through a field study in a real-world museum environment, we investigated how an augmented reality experience impacts the architectural contextualization of an isolated artifact from the Nimrud palace in Iraq;In Graethem Chapel, through an in-the-wild study, we investigated how an in-situ interactive projection mapping enables the communication of the spatiotemporal transformation of a medieval chapel that occurred during the last 850 years; andIn Neferirtenef Tomb-Chapel, through a field study in a real-world museum environment, we investigated how a tangible gamification installation supports informal cultural learning of young museum visitors and how it encourages collaboration among them.In summary, this thesis contributes to the knowledge about the communication of built heritage information by demonstrating how this information can be disclosed via simultaneous and integrated physical and digital means, enabling the broader public to appreciate heritage in more experiential ways." "Dialogue for Cinema as Cultural Heritage: Identification, recognition and community-based inventory of cinemas as the intangible cultural heritage in Adana via cross-border dialogue." "Philippe Meers" "Cukurova University, Ghent University, Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)" "The global objective of this proposal is to promote civil society dialogue through the establishment of cooperation between institutions in Turkey and the EU, by focusing on the sector of cinema and film-making as cultural heritage values in the Çukurova Region and the city of Adana in particular. The specific objective of this proposal is to promote cross-border dialogues and networking between CSOs and other stakeholders in Turkey and the EU, by raising awareness, sharing experience/knowledge and cultural/creative production in the field of history of cinema. The main partner is Flying Balloon Children and Youth Association and we work with the Radio, Television and Cinema Department at Çukurova University. The project entails 1. field activities: Identification of cinema theatres and other cinema and film-making related places in the Çukurova Region recording, itinerary development for city cinema tours, etc.2 digitalisation activities: Building an interactive web tool for mapping of cinema spaces; digital library of Cine-House collection 3. Artistic content development activities: Film/Documentary making, compilation of film musics of the region and 4. Awareness-raising and knowledge transfer activities on cinema heritage: Seminars on cultural heritage and cinema history of the region (mainly young people), organisation of city cinema tours, training of young people as city cinema tour guides, study visits to the EU, film screening, film musics performance, etc. 5. Travel of young students to Belgium for a short training." "Dialogue for Cinema as Cultural Heritage: Identification, recognition and community-based inventory of cinemas as the intangible cultural heritage in Adana via cross-border dialogue" "Daniël Biltereyst" "Department of Communication Sciences" "The overall objective: to promote civil society dialogue and networking between the CSOs and stakeholders in Adana and the EU, by focusing on the field of historic cinema places and cinemagoing experiences as intangible cultural heritage values in Adana. Specific objectives: (1) to raise awareness, especially amongst youth and European civil society, on the cultural heritage value of historical cinema places and experiences in Adana, (2) to share experience and knowledge between institutions in Belgium and Adana operating in the field of  intangible cultural heritage with a special focus on historical cinema places and experiences, (3) to produce creative content documenting and endorsing historical cinema places and experiences as intangible cultural heritage." "AFRISURGE: Transformative Heritage: politics, peacebuilding and digital restitution of cultural heritage in contemporary Northeast DRCongo" "Vicky Van Bockhaven" "Department of Languages and Cultures" "International aid and peacebuilding agencies active in Africa often rely on customary leaders to implement interventions in local communities. Their activities reflect functionalist, compartmentalized and rigid understandings of African leadership reminiscent of the colonial era when local leaders were co-opted for purposes of indirect rule. Western misconceptions often complicate rather than solve conflicts and humanitarian problems, and still penetrate scientific perspectives. A common bias is the rigid focus on chiefs as singular central authorities, neglecting other customary powers, and the negotiation of authority between them. Another is the ignorance about ritual powers which still play a clear though often covert role in politics today. The focus is on northeastern DRCongo, bordering on South Sudan and northwestern Uganda. This region once featured in pioneering work in political anthropology, but scholarly knowledge of it only evolved fragmentarily since independence, when foreign interests declined and successive violent conflicts struck the area. Its increasing isolation makes it interesting for studying the ""resurgence"" of customary authority and high incidence of ritually-empowered militias in the absence of state power. The project's beating heart is the transformative potential of material heritage from Northeast Congo in Belgian Federal Museum Collections (Royal Museum for Central Africa), valorising it firstly, as a source for advancing scholarly understanding of customary authority in local governance today, and secondly, as a resource for community- and peacebuilding in a politically fragile region. These goals are intertwined: locals view the loss of ritual objects due to collecting and warfare, and chiefs' loss of touch with traditions both as reasons for the poor state of society. Firstly, this project aspires to a non-Eurocentric scientific revision of contemporary African political cultures, adopoting a new, interdisciplinary approach including object research. The ethno- historically informed study of ritual objects and practices, which is foreign territory to most political scientists, is methodologically deployed to gain new insights in customary authority and armed mobilization today. This, in turn, will help facilitate better quality aid and peacebuilding interventions. Secondly, reconnecting communities with important cultural heritage is explored as a method to improve well-being. Northeast Congolese communities have expressed concern about the loss of sacred treasures that are essential to their identity, historical institutions and well-being. Museum collections are not just theoretically assessed for their potential in the remittance of value to source communities. They will actually be used to this end in community- and peacebuilding. The digital/visual restitution method will be based on provenance research and feasibility checks with stakeholders. This method implies that digital repositories of Western collection databases, including photographs, are made available to Congolese institutions and source communities as a resource to work with. The project is built on a cross-pollination of: 1) Political and development science investigation of customary authorities' resurgence in contemporary society [University of Antwerp] 2) Material culture and ethno-historical research of object provenance in view of digital restitution [RMCA + UGent] 3) Research-based implementation of visual/digital restitution as a transformative resource in community- and peacebuilding [Université de l'Uele]" "Transformative Heritage: politics, peacebuilding and digital restitution of cultural heritage in contemporary Northeast DR Congo (AFRISURGE)." "Kristof Titeca" "Ghent University, Royal Museum for Central Africa (MRAC), Development processes, actors and policies" "This project aspires to a scientific revision of contemporary African political cultures, adopting a non-Eurocentric and interdisciplinary approach. Beyond making new in-depth knowledge available to aid and peacebuilding organisations, it seeks to have a direct impact on the well-being of the communities being studied through the method of digital restitution of cultural heritage. The underlying premise is that knowledge of one's cultural history constitutes a cultural capital that is a source of self-esteem and contributes to societal commitment and cohesion. The project is built on a cross-pollination of three complementary strands of research. The first is a political and development science investigation of the resurgence of customary authorities in contemporary DRCongo. This will take seriously the full spectrum of local expressions on the matter, to acquire a better understanding of the region's historically-rooted political culture and its underlying cultural logic. The second consists of research on ritual objects and their provenance, to shed new light on customary authority and to prepare for digital restitutions. The third component will explore the transformative potential of efforts to reconnect historically dispossessed 'source communities' with their material cultural heritage. The digital restitution will be guided by object provenance research, by an assessment of existing digital infrastructures in the region, and by a thorough consultation with (local) stakeholders to determine what is desirable and feasible." "Controversial heritage. Development and implementation of a reference framework for dealing with sensitive heritage in cultural heritage institutions (REFSHER framework)." Didactica "With discussions about wrong street names, controversial statues or loaded colonial objects, sensitive heritage has a high topical value. It is not easy to handle this for cultural heritage institutions. The aim of the project is (1) to develop a REference Framework for dealing with Sensitive HERitage (REFSHER framework) that (2) can be applied in the collection presentation and public activities of heritage institutions so that their effects can be measured.Sensitive heritage can be a powerful means of facilitating multiperspectivity. Multiperspectivity is an attitude that expresses the willingness to change perspective mentally. It is about the willingness to put oneself in perspective of others, both in old perspectives and in contemporary interpretations. It is also important to include the perspective of socially vulnerable groups or groups that are less socially involved. Multiperspectivity presupposes bringing together and connecting people with openness to each other's argued perspectives. In this way, multiperspectivity contributes to the development of a critical sense, respect for others and a democratic attitude. Sensitivity is time and space bound and not static and unchangeable. Watson (2016) speaks in this context of ""the emotional register of the past"". Heritage institutions do try to respond to the sensitivities that exist in society by creating authenticity, experience and tension, but are also wary of hyper-emotional reactions. We mainly work with publicly accepted emotions about suffering, violence and fear. However, that emotional register is not certain. The fierce discussions about controversial statues, wrong street names or the Zwarte Piet policy show that sensitivity is time and space bound. ""Sensitivity"" is a label that is stuck on heritage, but can fade over time to come back later. The question therefore arises as to which factors determine that something is perceived as sensitive and to what extent this is then associated with heritage.The central research question is: What are the possibilities and limitations to realize multiperspectivity through sensitive heritage in cultural heritage institutions?As partners in the cultural heritage field, we chose institutions that (1) have sensitive heritage in their collections and (2) offer opportunities to respond to important contemporary social issues. The following partners were found willing to actively participate:- ADVN | archive for national movements, specifically the Flemish movement, other national and regional movements in Europe and related themes or derived from them, such as right-wing radicalism, fascism, racism, negationism, based in Antwerp;- Kazerne Dossin - Memorial, Museum and Documentation Center on Holocaust and Human Rights, in Mechelen;- Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent on the history of and current discussions on psychiatry and mental health, care, and art and madness;- AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, place of memory of a shared colonial past and a platform for meeting and dialogue with people of different generations and cultures." "Controversial Heritage. Development of a frame of reference for dealing with sensitive heritage in cultural heritage institutions (REGER frame)" "Marc Jacobs" "Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences (ARCHES)" "The goal of the project is (1) the development of a Frame of Reference for dealing with Sensitive Heritage (REGER-Frame) that is (2) concretely implemented in the public display and outreach programmes of heritage institutions, and, (3) to give an incentive for a structural sustainable inclusion of the REGER-frame in heritage and education networks. The impact of and the potential of the reactions against the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 on the three subgoals of the second phase of the broader project are explicitly addressed." "Critical Heritage Studies and the Future of Europe_Towards an integrated, interdisciplinary and transnational training model in cultural heritage research and management" ArcK "CHEurope focuses on developing a new integrated theoretical and methodological framework to enhance the academic and professional training and open future job opportunities in cultural heritage preservation, management and promotion. Heritage has commonly been perceived through its contingent relationship to other areas, preventing it to be considered as a 'legitimate' scientific discipline. Moreover, research and practice in this field are still too often seen as separate dimensions. Thus, there is an increasing need to address these diverging trends in the expanding heritage industry with a critical approach that situates cultural heritage in its social, economic and political frameworks, as well as in professional practice. Bringing together a network of key European academic and non-academic organisations, the project will explore the processes by which heritage is 'assembled' through practice-based research in partner institutions that connect students to their future job markets and publics. Our aim is to inform more conventional aspects of cultural heritage designation, care and management with a strong focus on present and future consumers. We propose an advanced learning strategy based on the emerging field of Critical Heritage Studies, which combines theoretical and instrumental knowledge at a transnational and interdisciplinary level, in a series of research seminars, summer schools and secondments. The program is based on themes where cultural heritage is undergoing profound change, such as Heritage Futures, Curating the City, Digital Heritage, Heritage and Wellbeing and Management and Citizen Participation. In so doing, this research will have a direct impact on future heritage policies and be linked explicitly to new modes of training. These will enable future practitioners to facilitate a more democratic and informed dialogue between and across various heritage industries and their users, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in this field." "Contested Heritage. A multilevel analysis of the securitization of heritage and its challenges for EU and UN actorness (COHERE)" "Lien Verpoest" "Modernity & Society 1800-2000, Leuven, Institute for International Law, Materials and Constructions, Tartu Ülikool, Charles University (Univerzita Karlova)" "Summary: In recent years, Eastern Europe has been confronted with new forms of heritage policies. European and international organizations tend to focus on the opportunities of heritage diplomacy for the European Neighbourhood region, yet more recently, several researchers have identified the phenomenon of the securitization of heritage. In times of conflict, states and organizations turn cultural heritage into an object of security through discursive actions. This is currently the case in Central and Eastern Europe, where Ukrainian, Estonian, Czech and Russian parties contest and claim heritage by disseminating security narratives. What are the challenges for the European Union and the United Nations as actors of heritage diplomacy in cases of conflict?This research project intends to evaluate EU and UN actions when faced with serious challenges for heritage diplomacy, in this case state-led securitization that targets common history and shared heritage with other states. The overall goal of this pilot study is to prepare an analytical framework to assess EU and UN actorness that can strengthen the field of research but also provide the organizations with new ways of dealing with these challenges. Follow-up research will focus on implementing the results of this pilot study in collaboration with organizations on the ground and in other conflict areas. In this project, we will focus on three cases in Ukraine, Estonia and the Czech Republic during which the aforementioned challenges but also opportunities for heritage diplomacy have occurred. The COHERE consortium will analyse EU and UN actorness in these cases of conflicting heritage claims in Crimea, decommunization laws in Ukraine that target unwanted heritage, and the use of sharp power as a new Russian diplomatic policy tool to reinforce memory politics in Estonia and the Czech Republic. Despite the abundant discourse on heritage diplomacy, these cases offer an opportunity to test the link between EU’s and UN’s discourses and actorness, with specific attention for the EU-UN dynamics in this process." "Many-voiced Heritage. Multiperspectivity in Heritage Education." Didactica "Cultural heritage is a powerful instrument because different perspectives can play a role. In addition also the perspectives of forgotten social (etnic-cultural) groups can be discussed and so (super)diversity gets a voice. Heritage could become as though many-voiced. This opportunity is nowadays usually underestimated or underutilized. In this case multiperspectivity points to a substantively approach. In the content of heritage education this project also wants to stimulate a sustainable cooperation between formal education and institutions of heritage education. In which way formal education and institutions of heritage education can learn from each other? What is the added value for each other? We intend to bring institutions of heritage education and representatives of formal education round the table in order to work together at heritage education. This is what's called procedural multiperspectivity. The first objective of this project is to design a theoretical frame for multiperspecitvity in heritage education. This frame aims nog only to respond at the many policy recommendations in recent research on cultural education in Flanders and international, but also functions as a basis and acid test for specific heritage education projects. Based on this theoretical frame we search for existing sets for heritage education both in Flanders as abroad. These sets will be analyzed and valued through the lense of the theoretical frame. Subsequently we'll design three sets for heritage education that match with the conditions of het theoretical frame (substantive multiperspectivity). Three independent design teams with representatives from different domains are responsible for the lay-out. (procedural multiperspectivity). We'll adopt the principles of design-based research. This means that the sets will be designed in different iterations and tested in several groups, in order to valorization. The results will be joined in a publication and disseminated at a congress. The main concern is that the notions of multiperspecitivity and heritage education that will stem from this project certainly will be adopted in the daily practice of institutions of heritage education and formal education."