Cultural heritage

Cultural heritage enriches the collective memory; this makes the future of Europe human and friendly to its population. It is also the basic asset on which tourism is built. Construction activities and heritage preservation needs will however be in conflict if they are not considered together at the intial planning stage of any development.

The main challenge involves the application of special techniques, materials and processes in order to maintain the rich cultural heritage of the European Union. This is of crucial importance for all stakeholders oriented towards the maintenance and preservation of European cultural identity in the face of ever increasing globalisation. A robust research partnership between the construction industry, institutes and universities is important for heritage protection and its integration into the contemporary life of cities. 

The research challenges related to the involvement of the construction industry in the preservation of cultural heritage are focussed at the intersection of technology and environment. Socio-economic impacts need to be assessed in order to reach the goals of a consequence based approach to heritage protection.

The number of challenges - preservation, rehabilitation, integration in urban and natural, environment, increase of life quality, economic promotion, multicultural tolerance, spreading of awareness, knowledge transfer, and impact assessment - will be responded to by the activities of different working groups.