Opening Press Conference – H2020: ReInHerit Research Programme

On 17 May 2021, the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation held the opening Press Conference for the European Programme “Redefining the Future of Culture Heritage, through a disruptive model of sustainability”(ReInHerit), supported by the Hellenic Committee of the Blue Shield, a key partner in the project.

ReInHerit funding was secured in the framework of the Horizon 2020 CSA Programme, on the theme Culture beyond borders – Facilitating innovation and research cooperation between European museums and heritage. Funding for ReInHerit, which is coordinated by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, is 2.998.115 euro. The Programme aspires to disrupt the current status quo of communication, collaboration and innovation exchange between museums and cultural heritage sites by interlinking cultural heritage collections and sites but also by presenting Europe’s tangible and intangible heritage to citizens and tourists in their wider historical and geographical contexts.

More specifically, ReInHerit proposes a particularly innovative model of sustainable heritage management, which will prompt the creation of a dynamic network. This network will comprise of key stakeholders from the field of cultural heritage, experts on the technical management of cultural heritage, researchers, state museums, regional and local museums, and representatives of European Heritage Label sites. This will be achieved through the creation of an innovative Digital Hub.

Tools and resources associated with training, tourism, conservation, preservation, knowledge creation, content use/reuse, illicit trafficking of goods — necessary for the sustainable management of culture, will be shared through this platform. ReInHerit invites us to “re-inherit” our culture differently, in viable, sustainable, productive and participatory ways.

The Programme, launched on the 1st May 2021, will run for 36 months, having more than 30 researchers as participants. Dr Ioanna Hadjicosti, the Director of the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, is the Project Coordinator and the BOCCF’s team of researchers is comprised of Dr Monika Asimenou, Dr Christodoulous Hadjichristodoulou and Dr Polina Nikolaou.

The following also participate in RelnHerit as partners: Cycladic Museum and Blue Shield from Greece; the University of Florence – MICC, Florence, Italy and Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative from Italy; ASOCIACIÓN ARTE SOSTENIBLE from Spain, the University of Graz (Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities) and STadtmuseum GrazGmbH from Austria; the European Cultural Tourism Network from Belgium; the Arcada University of Applied Sciences from Finland; and the University of Nicosia (School of Law) and the Research Centre of Interactive Media Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (CYENS) from Cyprus.

RelnHerit is also supported externally by a number of interested municipalities as well as by regional and local museums, which is expected to enhance communication and cooperation within the cultural heritage sector across the EU and beyond.