Digital meets Culture

Pilot 10 Escape into the archipelago landscape offered opportunities for students to analyse and work on visitors' behaviour data

INCULTUM Pilot: training to students at Uppsala University

text and images courtesy of dr. Sabine Gebert Persson, Associate professor Uppsala University

In the context of INCULTUM Pilot 10 Escape into the archipelago landscape, students of Uppsala University were involved in training actions that follow the work done in the Pilot to collect data relating to visitors behaviour in the area of Swedish Archipelago.

In the university course called GIS2, offered by Marina Toger at the Department of Human Geography of Uppsala University students are examined, among others, through project work, by reusing for various assignements the data collected by the researchers in the Pilot. As a result, one student team analysed data collected in Roslagen, and identified both challenges and opportunities that relate to both the destination and its sustainable development, also suggesting a new tourist route. On April 4th, 2023, the students presented their results at a workshop with different stakeholders in Öregrund.

Earlier in the Spring/Fall semester 2022 Uppsala University jointly with researchers at CBS Copenhagen Business School arranged a Ph.D. course called ”Advanced Spatio-temporal analysis: Methods in understanding tourists’ behavior”. Students used data collected in Gotland, Torsö, Roslagen, and Copenhagen, during the course in the practical exercises.

As a result, 3 papers academic weresubmitted to the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. Additionally, the PhD course developed one collaboration among students from University of Palermo, Italy, and Uppsala University, Sweden. Their analysis has also been submitted to Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism.

Inauguration of Aynadamar irrigation channel in Granada

text and images courtesy of Elena Correa Jiménez (University of Granada).

In the context of project INCULTUM, the Biocultural Archaeology Laboratory (MEMOLab) of the University of Granada, directed by Dr. José María Martín Civantos, has launched the participatory project “Recovering the Aynadamar irrigation channel”. This irrigation channel had been abandoned for 50 years, and thanks to a big particpatory effort it was recovered in all its sections, and was inaugurated on 15 April 2023.

The restoration project has been promoted by the University of Granada itself as one of the INCULTUM Pilots, through the Vice-Rectorate for University Extension and Heritage, with the co-financing of the Granada Water Foundation, the Hidralia Chair, EMASAGRA and the collaboration of the Community of Irrigators and Users of the Aynadamar irrigation channel and the Association of Historical and Traditional Communities of Andalusia.

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The Aynadamar irrigation channel has been documented at least since the 11th century to supply water to the ancient Alcazaba of Granada (Qasabat Garnata), the seat of the Zirid dynasty, and to the present-day Albayzín. This canal has been one of the axes that have shaped the city of Granada and its surroundings since the Middle Ages. In the 80s of the 20th century, the final section was definitively abandoned and destroyed on its arrival in the city, with the consequent loss of heritage, landscape and environment.

The aim of this project, in addition to the heritage and environmental aspects, has been the recovery for irrigation of the Cartuja Campus, thus avoiding the use of drinking water and the consequent regeneration of the landscape, taking advantage of the environmental functions of the traditional irrigation ditches.

The recovery work, in which more than 500 volunteers from various interests and more than 1000 schoolchildren have participated, has made it possible to put into use one of the last stretches of irrigation ditch, which had been abandoned for more than 40 years. From now on, the water from Fuente Grande (Alfacar), which used to run to the end of the Fargue, will begin to flow towards the Cartuja Campus. However, the scarcity of water due to the overexploitation of the aquifer and the drought, now confront the irrigation community and the irrigation channel with a new challenge

Learn more about INCULTUM Pilot 1 – Altiplano de Granada

the presentation illustrated various participatory activities carried out in the Altiplano de Granada

Presenting INCULTUM in a meeting of Granada University Community Volunteers and Solidarity Associations

images courtesy of Elena Correa Jiménez.

On 12 April 2023, Elena Correa of the MEMOLab team at University of Granada, the INCULTUM coordinator, provided a presentation of the work done in the project and on the Altiplano de Granada Pilot at the “VI Encuentro Voluntariado Comunidad Universitaria y Asociaciones Solidarias” (VI Meeting of University Community Volunteers and Solidarity Associations).

The presentation specifically focused on the recovery of historic irrigation ditches and cultural trails. This meeting was organised by UGR Solidaria and recording is available

24 May 2023 – Brussels (Belgium)

SmartCulTour Final Conference

SmartCulTour (Smart Cultural Tourism as a Driver of Sustainable Development of European Regions) is a four-year project, funded by the European Union in the frame of Horizon 2020. The goal of SmartCulTour is to support regional development in all European regions with important tangible and intangible cultural assets, including those located in rural peripheries and the urban fringe, through sustainable cultural tourism.

The final Conference on sustainable cultural tourism under the HSmartCulTour project is called “Culture as Catalyst: Redefining Cultural Tourism for Sustainable Destinations”, and it aims to explore emerging trends in cultural tourism and identify priorities for destinations to harness the power of culture and local values to redefine the visitor experience by introducing the project tools and sharing the different experiences of the Living Labs with key target audiences.

The conference will take place on Wednesday 24^th of May 2023 from 9:15 to 18:30 at the Herman Teirlinckgebouw building (Havenlaan 88, 1000 – Brussels, Belgium).

Registration in the final conference is free but is highly recommended in order to prepare for the event and make sure to have enough seating capacity for everyone attending.

You can download the programme of the event here (PDF, 217 KB).

For further information, follow this link.

The Hague, the Netherlands, 10 -12 October 2023

EuropeanaTech Conference 2023

EuropeanaTech is the community of experts, developers, and researchers from the R&D sector within the greater Europeana Network Association, that coordinates research and development endeavors that seek to improve the standing of European digital cultural heritage and facilitate knowledge across the sector at large.

EuropeanaTech Conference 2023 will take place in The Hague, the Netherlands, from 10 to 12 October 2023, and is aimed to all tech-minded professionals, developers, researchers and students working in and around digital cultural heritage across the globe. It will be a fantastic opportunity to meet with, learn from and work with your collegues, as well as to become part of a community dedicated to Tech in culture, and explore the challenges and opportunities that topics such as AI and 3D bring to the sector.

The Conference is organised in collaboration with the EuropeanaTech community, the Europeana Network Association’s community of experts from the R&D sector. It will be the fourth EuropeanaTech conference, reviving and continuing the series after successful previous editions in Vienna, Paris and Rotterdam. It will be a predominantly onsite event, with some options for online participation.

Here you can find the programme of the event

To get updates on the call for proposals, ticket sales and more, register through the following link.

Naples (Italy), 5-8 June 2023

IIIF Annual Conference

International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) is a set of open standards for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. It’s also an international community developing and implementing the IIIF APIs. IIIF is backed by a consortium of leading cultural institutions and it’s a useful resource for researchers and developers.

The latest Conference will be hosted jointly by the University of Naples Federico II and the IIIF Consortium.

The IIIF Showcase, that will take place on June 5 is free for anyone to attend, and it’s aimed at newcomers to IIIF and locals*. Attendees will receive an introduction to IIIF, including an overview of what it does, use cases, how a wide variety of institutions implement it, and how to contribute to the community.

The IIIF Annual Conference, on June 6-8 is aimed to a wide range of participants and interested parties, including digital image repository managers, content curators, software developers, scholars, and administrators at libraries, museums, cultural heritage institutions, software firms, and other organizations working with digital images and audiovisual materials. Discounted tickets are available to IIIF Consortium members.

To learn more about the event and to register, click this link. Contact staff@iiif.io if you have any questions. Registration close on May 16th.

* Pre-registration is required and space is limited to the first 150 registrants.

Brussels (Belgium) and online, 20th April 2023

RURALIZATION Final Conference

RURALIZATION is a EU-funded project aiming at developing forward-looking policies fulfilling the ‘future dreams’ of new rural generations and foster sustainable development of rural and marginal areas. In this light, RURALIZATION and INCULTUM established a cooperation agreement for cross-dissemination and knowledge exchange. The RURALIZATION project has identified a series of ‘innovation stories’ to better understand the problems associated with rural living, the importance of sustainable and inclusive farming practices, and how new thinking (dream scenarios, foresight activities) can help to transform rural communities. The ultimate aim is to open up rural areas to renew rural generations, jobs and farms.

The RURALIZATION consortium organized the Final Conference on April 20th at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels. Within the course of an on-site and virtual meeting with experts and stakeholders, the event focused on the presentation of lessons learned, best practices and project results that will serve to design and implement policies and activities that facilitate the entry of new generations and newcomers to the rural areas.

View the recording here: https://ruralization.eu/final-conference/

RURALIZATION is focused on assessing and developing novel instruments, strategies and policies for rural regeneration and generational renewal. Its particular focus is on rural foresight analysis, the future dreams of rural youth, facilitating rural newcomers, farm succession, new entrants into farming and access to farmland.

free online seminar, 27 April 2023

Artificial Intelligence and Archives

The Municipal Archive of Girona organized a Seminar within the framework of the Faber-Llull Residency (Olot, Catalonia) and the project InterPARES Trust AI of the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), and with the collaboration of the Society of Catalan Archivists.

“Artificial Intelligence and Archives”

Thursday April 27 – From 10:00 h to 14:00 h (CEST)

Several international experts in their respective professional fields from Brazil, Canada, Catalonia, Croatia, Egypt, France and the Republic of South Africa, presented their current projects in relation to Artificial Intelligence and Archives, as well as the challenges and potentialities they pose for organizations and professionals.

Santiago de Compostela, 20th April 2023

‘Urban Future’ – Seminar at the Faculty of Geography and History, University of Santiago de Compostela

On Thursday, April 20 2023, at 7 p.m., in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Urban Future Seminar takes place, organised by the Territorial Analysis Research Group (Grupo de Investigación de Análise Territorial – ANTE).

Recently, the media presented the urban and architectural proposals for the future of the Youth House in Santiago. The seminar will be the occasion to participate in the debate about common spaces and citizen participation and the role of cultural and public spaces in the city.

Uxío Novo Rey from the UNCHARTED project will participate in the debate.

Download here the announcement of the seminar.

Barcelona, 27-28 April 2023

INVENT Conference: Societal Drivers and Impacts of Cultural Participation

From 27th to 28th April 2023 the final Conference of INVENT takes place at Institut d’Estudis Catalans, in Barcelona, Spain.

INVENT is the acronym of “European Inventory of Societal Values of Culture as a Basis for Inclusive Cultural Policies in the Globalizing World”. It is a research and innovation project funded by the Horizon 2020 Programme, coordinated by Erasmus University Rotterdam. The scope of the conference is to highlight the culmination of the international research conducted by the project about the societal value of culture and the impact of cultural policies in Europe.

The final conference will be a two days event to show the results of the project, with the participation of several team members and outside speakers who will discuss about societal drivers and impacts of cultural participation.

Program and registration are available here https://inventculture.eu/2023-invent-conference/

INVENT participates in the UNCHARTED Community.