2023-10-12 –, Bazar
In times of war, such as the ones in Ukraine and Syria, damages and heavy losses to cultural heritage sites are observed by local populations on the ground as well as the international cultural heritage community. In Europe, the Ukrainian conflict has brought to the fore the need to digitally store and save Ukrainian cultural heritage through a series of participatory initiatives by individual cultural heritage experts (e.g., SUCHO) and institutions (e.g., UNESCO actions for Ukraine, April 27, 2023).
In this context, motivated by our willingness to create a service that would benefit the Ukrainian cultural heritage sector, we launched the Space4CC (Space for Cultural Heritage, https://space4cc.eu/) joint venture that will produce a tool that gathers data on damage to cultural heritage sites due to warfare. By combining space and Earth observations data (Copernicus, Galileo) as well as citizen-generated data, such as photos of damaged heritage, we are about to deliver a service that can be used by cultural heritage professionals, public agencies and civil society organisations as an effective tool to monitor direct and indirect impact of conflict to cultural heritage.
Our Space4CC idea, and soon-to-become an operationalised service, has been awarded in two European-wide competitions organised by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).
In our session, we will provide insights into the technical innovations developed through the Space4CC tool and its data valorisation potential for the benefit of war-torn cultural heritage.
Katerina Zourou, Ph.D, is a recognised researcher in the area of technology-enhanced education, focusing on open and social learning. She has co-authored one scholar book, three journal special issues and more than 30 peer reviewed papers at international journals and conference proceedings.
Katerina Zourou is Head of Web2Learn in Greece. She acts as project leader or partner in transnational projects funded by the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and national funds. She also gives lectures at Universities, including the Hellenic Open University, the University of Luxembourg and the University of Grenoble Alpes.