Unveiling the Hidden Data Ecosystems: A Pathway towards conservation and protection of Cultural Heritage sites

Underwater and Coastal Cultural Heritage (CH) sites face unprecedented threats from climatic risks and natural hazards, making their preservation, conservation and protection complex and challenging issues. One primary challenge for designing efficient preservation strategies is the absence of curated open data streams that could allow local authorities to have a better understanding of the evolving degradation parameters at CH sites. The existing data silos and the lack of circular, sustainable and curated open data ecosystems (ODE) also leave the key players (i.e., asset managers, local authorities, etc.) of the heritage sites and their connected communities defenceless as they are usually equipped with obsolete and coarse information, a condition that generates a knock-on effect on the adaptation and mitigation strategies against these threats.

This study focused on providing a methodological approach towards data circularity by leveraging on the Open Data Institute's (ODI) Data Landscape Playbook (DLP) methodology. The ODI DLP serves as a comprehensive guide for developing effective data ecosystems. By adapting this playbook to the unique challenges posed by underwater and coastal cultural heritage preservation, stakeholders can harness the power of data to enhance resilience, response, and recovery efforts in the aftermath of natural disasters. This specific methodology consists of four consecutive steps, involving the investigation of the context of the objectives of each pilot case, the identification of all the relevant Data Assets and Data Owners, and therefore details related to the interfaces/infrastructures and standardised data formats that are commonly adopted. The last pillar of this methodology is declared as a prerequisite towards the data circularity, as it tries to profile heritage sites perspectives regarding the ethical, legal, and regulatory context that is chosen based on the Data Spectrum classification so as to disseminate the data sources through the public. The DLP also emphasises the importance of data quality assurance and control measures, ensuring this way about the credibility of the existing information and acknowledging the best practices so as to succeed.

The engagement of diverse stakeholders under the prism of the ODI-DLP attempts to foster collaboration and partnerships among governments, archaeologists, marine biologists, and local communities, and thus facilitate to formulation of sustainable strategies for risk assessment and mitigation, forming the cornerstone of resilient preservation practices. Towards this process, community involvement not only enriches the data ecosystem but also facilitates the integration of traditional knowledge, ensuring a more holistic and culturally sensitive approach to CHs’ preservation. This ODI-DLP methodology is currently applied to seven underwater and coastal heritage sites of THETIDA project, i.e., Mykonos (Greece), Gallinara and Equa (Italy), Algarve (Portugal), Paralimni (Cyprus), Svalbard (Norway), and Ijsselmeer (Netherlands) and thus, will contribute to the digitalisation of each site, creating this way a framework towards the generation of resilient data ecosystems and pathways to improve and enhance CH protection.

Acknowledgement:

This research has been funded by European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under THETIDA project (Grant Agreement No 101095253).