Project: PROTection of European Cultural Heritage from GeO-hazards
| Acronym | PROTHEGO |
| Duration | 01/09/2015 - 28/02/2018 |
| Project Topic | The project PROTHEGO aims to make an innovative contribution towards the analysis of geohazards in areas of cultural heritage in Europe. Many cultural heritage places are continuously impacted by several internal and external factors, with both rapid and slow onset, including natural hazards, such as landslides, sinkholes, settlement, subsidence or earthquakes or extreme meteorological events, all of which could be worsened by climate change and human interaction. Yet, a comprehensive picture of sites affected by these geohazards is not available (only some of the endangered sites are inscribed on the World Heritage in Danger list defined by the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage). PROTHEGO makes an effort to fill this gap, and applies novel space technology based on radar interferometry (InSAR) to monitor monuments and sites in Europe which are inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List and are potentially unstable due to geohazards. |
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Project Results (after finalisation) |
The production of the most complete database related to European geo-hazards available so far for any future analysis. This data collection was completed in collaboration with the European Geo Surveys, analysing available European databases, in order to define their consistency and usability for project purposes. A final geo-hazards database was implemented specifically for the project, available on the project website webGIS (map viewer11) and an updated impact scenario in Europe of Natural Hazards vs Cultural Heritage was produced. • The creation of digital factsheets for each UNESCO World Heritage List site within Europe, highlighting the information available and the potential susceptibility of the location to a selected number of geo-hazards, and easily downloadable in .pdf on the website. To that end, PROTHEGO analysed datasets from the over 10 yearslong project from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU Terrafirma12 and PanGeo13, along with other InSAR data derived products. • A novel methodology to incorporate PS-InSAR data into continental-scale risk analysis of UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) was developed and tested through the project. • A network of public and private decision-makers and end-users involved in planning and management of cultural heritage sites was created, culminating in a final dissemination event “European World Heritage Sites affected by geo-hazards — satellite monitoring future challenges: the PROTHEGO project contribution” hosted at the UNESCO's headquarters in Paris in March 2018 |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | HERITAGE PLUS |
| Call | JPI Cultural Heritage and Global Change |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale Geological Survey of Italy | Coordinator | Italy |
| 2 | Natural Environment Research Council | Partner | United Kingdom |
| 3 | Cyprus University of Technology | Partner | Cyprus |
| 4 | University of Milano-Bicocca | Partner | Italy |
| 5 | Instituto Geologico y Minero de Espana | Partner | Spain |