Enhancement and sustainable fruition of Cultural Heritage in the era of ecological transition: open data and citizen science

Alessia Minnella

Confirmation: I have read and agree with the workshop's policy on behalf of myself and my co-authors.

Keywords: Wikidata, OpenStreetMap, Cultural Heritage, Conservation, Environmental sustainability, Open Data, Citizen Science

Abstract:

The doctoral research project is developed in collaboration with Wikimedia Italia and focuses on Cultural Heritage in the Italian context. The project investigates the correlation between Cultural Heritage preservation and the ecological transition, emphasizing open knowledge, sustainability, and citizen science.
Climate change poses significant risks to Cultural Heritage, including accelerated degradation of materials in both indoor and outdoor environments. The research adopts an interdisciplinary approach to analyze these phenomena through the development of three case studies representing different display environments and contexts: a Green museum, a museum storage room, and an outdoor heritage site. Particularly, these studies focus on monitoring environmental parameters (both atmospheric and pollution ones), assessing material conservation, and developing sustainable strategies for heritage management.
Wikimedia communities play a pivotal role in ensuring the accessibility and dissemination of research findings through Open Access, Open Data, and free licensing practices. By integrating citizen science into the project, the initiative empowers communities to actively participate in data collection and analysis, fostering a broader public understanding of the impact of climate change on cultural heritage.
An in-depth analysis of the museums and the cultural institutions on Wikidata highlights the centrality of this platform as a tool for collecting, organising and accessing cultural data. The project overview emphasises how museums, with their already available data and those in the process of being opened, can be mapped, enriched and interconnected through Wikidata. This approach enables the selection of new relevant data and the updating of an open and accessible information network, fostering the valorisation of cultural heritage.
Indeed, a key component of the project deals with organizing Wikimedia events in order to involve citizens in the research process. These events aim to raise awareness, share best practices in sustainable heritage conservation, and democratize access to scientific knowledge. The activities that are going to be planned are known as “wikiexcursions” and “editathons”, and they are going to be focused on updating Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons through specific themes focused on cultural heritage and preventive conservation. Within the editathons, it is also possible to plan activities aimed at updating specific points or interesting areas of OpenStreetMap, through the correct geolocation of the outdoor cultural heritage goods under study.
By combining cultural heritage preservation, open knowledge dissemination, and community involvement, the project highlights the transformative potential of Wikimedia-driven initiatives in addressing global challenges like climate change while reinforcing the relevance of cultural heritage in society’s ecological transition.
In addition, as a result of the monitoring of all the environmental data acquired and the state of conservation of the works, it is possible to obtain the definition of guidelines and best-practices aimed at the preventive conservation of the works of art under study.

Format: Lightning talk (5 minutes presentation)

Submission Number: 35