HERIWELL: Cultural Heritage as a Source of Societal Well-being in European Regions

Idalina Conde (CIES/ISCTE-IUL) participa no projeto como especialista sobre Portugal, o património na Europa, membro da rede Europeana e parceira de longa data do ERICarts. Nessa qualidade, assegura o contributo nacional e a comunicação sobre o projeto junto das entidades governamentais, centrais e locais, públicas e privadas, que se ligam com temáticas do Bem-Estar, cultura, património e Europa.

O projeto está agora aberto a comentários e contribuições de quem queira manifestar-se! 

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The main objective of HERIWELL is to develop of a pan-European methodology and territorial analysis of impacts of cultural heritage that can be associated with societal well-being, including but not limited to quality of life, social inclusion, educational benefits and other aspects. The research will cover both material and intangible cultural heritage and the impacts should be associated with:

◼  The presence of material cultural heritage (stock of buildings and other objects);

◼  Use of the material and intangible cultural heritage (including participation in related activities);

◼  Digitalisation of cultural heritage;

◼  EU-funded investments in cultural heritage;

◼  Activities (policies and measures, including participatory ones) aimed at increasing positive impacts of cultural heritage and diminishing potentially negative influences (if feasible).

The objectives of the study have been synthesised into six preliminary research questions.

0. 1. How can the societal impact of cultural heritage be defined? To which societal domains does cultural heritage contribute? How significant is this contribution?
   2. How to measure the societal impact of cultural heritage? How to express it in quantitative terms, considering reliability and validity, at the territorial level?
   3. What disparities exist between societal impacts of cultural heritage in different types of territories and for different groups of stakeholders (particularly as regards residents, tourists, arts and heritage professionals, minorities and migrants)? And how to narrow these disparities?
   4. How to compare impacts of cultural heritage across different European regions?
   5. What are the impacts of EU funded heritage investments on societal well-being in cities and regions?
   6. To what extent can the digitalisation of cultural heritage and related offers influence well-being in terms of education, knowledge, etc.

The main outcome of HERIWELL will be a methodological framework, defining the most important societal domains in which impacts of cultural heritage can be observed, and providing evidence of such impacts. In addition, a quantification of impacts for the past 10 years is intended by establishing comparable socio- economic indicators and using different sources of information, taking into account the results of the 2019 ESPON Targeted Analysis.