SoPHIA

CC unsplash/Ebuen Clemente. CC BY-NC-SA.

CURRENT

Upon finalising the SoPHIA model, a toolkit was designed for assistance in its implementation. In addition, four policy briefs were also produced, with the purpose to influence policymakers on problems identified through the project’s research, along with clear recommendations. They covered the social, economic, cultural and environmental impact of cultural heritage interventions. As part of the project, guidelines for an action plan on future actions regarding cultural heritage impact assessments was also produced for policymakers, along with an analysis of the research agenda and needs within the impact assessment realm in Europe. The consortium met for the project’s final conference in Rome, in December 2021. At the end of 2021, the Italian journal Economia della Cultura published a special issue on the SoPHIA project and its results.

SoPHIA

A Horizon 2020 Project on developing a "Social Platform for Holistic Heritage Impact Assessment"

SoPHIA seeks to propose a holistic impact assessment model for historical, environmental and cultural heritage sites in Europe. With the term holistic it understands that the economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions necessary to any intervention on heritage must be addressed comprehensively. For this purpose, the social platform will bring together research communities, practitioners, public and private stakeholders as well as policy makers at local, national and international levels.

The way cultural heritage is preserved and enhanced is a major factor defining Europe´s identity and its place in the world. In this sense, high quality interventions in cultural heritage contribute to local communities´ well-being and to the development of sustainable cultural tourism. On the other hand, low-quality interventions in cultural heritage sites may not only damage irreplaceable historical elements, their environment and related intangible heritage but also foster negative perceptions by society.

Against this background, SoPHIA will:

Review the research literature, policy programmes and practices to provide an essay mapping existing gaps, issues and problems.
Analyse and map best practices related to both impact assessment and quality of interventions taking into account the economic, social, environmental and cultural domains.
Design and test an impact assessment model in several European heritage sites of different nature to adjust it to ensure the highest level of performance or effectiveness.
Produce a toolkit for practitioners and other stakeholders, including recommendations for impact assessment and related quality standards.
Formulate recommendations and produce guidelines as a basis for an EU action plan regarding 1) operational programmes related to interventions on cultural heritage, innovation and focused research and 2) public policies on quality interventions in cultural heritage in Europe.
Engage the related heritage community throughout the project and beyond, as well as the general public.