{"id":2726,"date":"2024-04-09T01:41:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T01:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2024-04-09T01:41:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T01:41:11","slug":"irish-castles-and-ancient-greek-rites-show-cultures-role-in-regional-regeneration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/2726\/irish-castles-and-ancient-greek-rites-show-cultures-role-in-regional-regeneration\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish castles and ancient Greek rites show culture\u2019s role in regional regeneration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tapping into the long and rich histories of places around Europe is a central part of an EU push for rural and urban revival.<\/p>\n

By<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro<\/p>\n

Finola Finlay claims to know almost every inch of West Cork in southwestern Ireland. That makes her acutely aware of climate change\u2019s threats to the cultural identity of the remote coastal region.<\/p>\n

Finlay first got to know the area in her early 20s when she studied archaeology at University College Cork, or UCC. After four decades of\u00a0working in higher education in Canada, she rekindled her connection to West Cork 12 years ago by choosing to retire there with her husband.<\/p>\n

On the rocks\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dozens of castles that dot the West Cork coastline are not just remnants of the ancient Irish clans that once held sway over the territory but also living links to the ancestral roots of today\u2019s inhabitants, according to Finlay.<\/p>\n

\u2018The locals are very proud of their heritage,\u2019 she said. \u2018They are very proud of their castles. They love them.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rising sea levels and coastal erosion resulting from climate change pose risks to that heritage. Preserving it was a prime focus of a recent EU-funded research project called\u00a0CHICC<\/a>, which wrapped up in September 2023 after almost three years.<\/p>\n

Heritage is also a central part of the New European Bauhaus initiative to improve everyday living in Europe by bridging the worlds of science, technology, arts and culture. The EU is organising an\u00a0NEB festival<\/a> in the Belgian capital Brussels on 9-13 April.<\/p>\n

Castle views<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finlay lives near Rossbrin Castle, a historical landmark in a state of ruin after a series of severe storms in the 20th century. What remains of the castle dates from the 15th or 16th century.<\/p>\n

Many such structures are teetering on the brink of destruction or have already vanished without leaving a trace, according to Finlay.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every time there\u2019s a big storm, we wake up in the morning and wonder if Rossbrin Castle is still going to be there,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Across the water from her home, on Cape Clear Island, stands a 16th-century stone castle that is also exposed to harsh Atlantic storms.<\/p>\n

Called D\u00fan an \u00d3ir,\u00a0the castle served as a case study under CHICC to assess the interplay among heritage, climate change and local communities.\u00a0As a result of the rising sea, the castle can no longer be reached on foot and is marooned.<\/p>\n

Residents contributed paintings, poems, children\u2019s drawings and personal stories linked to the castle. The works often referenced the weather and the changing climate.<\/p>\n

Some pictures and poems depicted violent storms and collapsing landscapes.<\/p>\n

A man who participated recounted how, decades ago, he reached the castle on foot during low tide on a calm winter day.<\/p>\n

\u2018We were learning together about the relationship between heritage and climate in this very unrestricted and non-expert-driven way,\u2019 said Dr\u00a0Sarah Kerr, an archaeology lecturer at UCC who led CHICC.<\/p>\n

Climate conscious<\/strong><\/p>\n

The researchers also examined damaged heritage sites in Jutland, Denmark and in the Fife area of Scotland in the UK.\u00a0Like D\u00fan an \u00d3ir, both are sparsely populated.<\/p>\n

CHICC adopted a \u201ccitizen-science\u201d approach in each case by involving community members as researchers.<\/p>\n

While Kerr decided on the research objectives, local residents collected data about the sites and chose what to do with the information.<\/p>\n

Approximately 50 to 70 people participated online during Covid-19 lockdowns in each location, according to Kerr.<\/p>\n

CHICC led to a significant boost in climate literacy among the Irish, Danish and Scottish participants, according to Kerr.<\/p>\n

She said that about 70% of them reported a better understanding of climate change as a result of their active involvement in the project.<\/p>\n

While helping to keep cultural heritage alive, CHICC also made participants more aware of its potential loss \u2013 as exemplified by D\u00fan an \u00d3ir in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u2018By looking at the history and how the castle changed over the course of 500 years, we were learning how the life of the castle started,\u2019 said Kerr. \u2018And if it has a beginning, it may have an end.\u2019<\/p>\n

She said the greater appreciation that CHICC\u2019s participants gained about the impacts of climate change helped to lay the ground for possible further environmental action by them.<\/p>\n

In that context, the project served as a stepping stone to longer-term local engagement, according to Kerr.<\/p>\n

Old foundations, new layers\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Local residents are also at the centre of another EU-funded project seeking to bridge the past and future in three European locations.<\/p>\n

But in this case the focus is urban areas and the role of cultural heritage in their regeneration.<\/p>\n

Called\u00a0HERITACT<\/a>, the project began in March 2023 and is scheduled to run through February 2026.<\/p>\n

In addition to a town called Ballina in Ireland and Italy\u2019s second-largest city, Milan, the focal points include the Greek municipality of Elefsina.<\/p>\n

A seaside industrial centre outside Athens, Elefsina is also the birthplace of ancient tragedian Aeschylus and home to one of the most important religious sites of antiquity \u2013 a sanctuary where pilgrims were initiated annually into the Eleusinian Mysteries for the cult of Demeter and Persephone.<\/p>\n

In Elefsina, whose population is around 30 000, the HERITACT researchers are involving six neighbourhoods in cultural and sustainable urban initiatives.<\/p>\n

Active engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n

While still in its initial phase, HERITACT has already attracted\u00a0hundreds of local participants including students and children, according to Dr Stylianos Karatzas, the project coordinator and a civil engineering fellow at the University of Cambridge in the UK.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is something that we did not expect at this point of the project,\u2019 said Karatzas. \u2018This shows that people actually need these types of innovative solutions.\u2019<\/p>\n

The project has created plant-covered walls and shading systems for public spaces. It has used a design technique \u2013 tensegrity \u2013 that balances pushing and pulling forces to produce strong and flexible structures.<\/p>\n

The installations are not just for looks; they\u2019re designed to be low-maintenance and to showcase sustainable urban development.<\/p>\n

The project will also use urban mobile furniture, which can be rearranged and adjusted as users see fit. The aim is to make heritage spaces capable of hosting various activities such as food markets, sporting events and theatre performances.<\/p>\n

HERITACT will extend this approach\u00a0to some of Elfesina\u2019s industrial heritage spots including an old soap factory, the city\u2019s first such site founded in 1875, and to the Eleusis cinema, built in the first half of the 20th century and\u00a0recently reopened after closure in 1988.<\/p>\n

In Milan, the project plans to strengthen cultural and social activities in ancient farmhouses, called \u201ccascine\u201d, through additions such as local vegetable gardens and green tensegrity installations.<\/p>\n

In Ballina, HERITACT is repurposing historical buildings like the Convent of the Immaculate Conception, focusing on their potential for preserving Ireland\u2019s social, cultural and artistic heritage.<\/p>\n

Back in West Cork, Finlay has shown the power of local heritage through a\u00a0blog<\/a> that she has written with her husband, who died last month.<\/p>\n

The blog, which has delved into the region\u2019s history, landscape and culture, has amassed more than 2 million views in the past year.<\/p>\n

Research in this article was funded by the EU\u2019s Horizon Programme including, in the case of CHICC, via the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The views of the interviewees don\u2019t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. <\/em><\/p>\n

NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS<\/strong><\/p>\n

A century after it emerged in Germany, the Bauhaus school of art, architecture and design is getting a rebirth in Europe in a bid to improve urban life.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0New European Bauhaus<\/a>\u00a0(NEB) aims to help cities across the EU become less polluting and more attractive through artistic, cultural and technological projects reaching many millions of residents.<\/p>\n

Initiated by the European Commission in 2020, the NEB has three prime goals: reduce environmental harm including climate change, tackle social inequalities such as exclusion and spruce up public areas.<\/p>\n

Changing the design and use of urban spaces and structures is central to the whole undertaking, with sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics shaping the overall vision.<\/p>\n

While serving policy goals set at EU level, the NEB relies on bottom-up initiatives undertaken by a range of people and organisations. These include city dwellers, artistic groups, architectural experts and local businesses, authorities and students.<\/p>\n

Research is a main feature of the NEB, with\u00a0almost\u00a0\u20ac160 million for EU projects in 2021-2024.<\/p>\n

More info<\/p>\n