The Joint Programming Initiative in Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPICH) is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for transnational proposals. The Conservation and Protection call will support research into strategies, methodologies and tools to safeguard and use the physical components of our cultural heritage. It invites research projects that take a global approach to preserving Europe’s heritage and which result in a better understanding of our history, traditions and culture, of our individual and collective identities, and ultimately of our well-being. The total budget for the call for transnational projects is approximately 6.96 million Euros.
The main eligibility criteria are:
• Duration of projects: up to 36 months;
• Each project proposal must comprise of at least three research teams, each based in an eligible institution in a different country participating in the Conservation and Protection Call. The maximum number of research teams in a project proposal is five.
• Applications must be in accordance with the eligibility requirements relevant for the national research teams in the transnational research consortia and not exceed the maximum budgets to be requested therein.
The Call for Proposals will open on 1 May 2019 and the deadline for submission of proposals will be 3 September 2019, 14:00 CEST.
Topics for the Conservation and Protection joint call
Safeguarding Europe’s unique cultural heritage against the effects of continuous ageing and decay under global change conditions is a major concern for decision makers and researchers in Europe. Heritage should be understood in its broadest sense and one which recognises the interconnectedness between cultural, built and natural heritage. Cultural heritage includes tangible (movable and immovable) and intangible assets, and encompasses a huge range of types including digital heritage and those which overlap with natural heritage, such as cultural land- and seascapes. Both natural (inherent ageing processes that are influenced by access and storage, indoor and outdoor climate, weathering, etc.) and anthropic factors (lack of recognition, war, neglect, digitization, visitor numbers, etc.) pose major threats to the remnants of Europe’s past, one of the most diverse and rich patrimonies in the world. What measures are needed to safeguard the tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage as a whole?
The research topics in this JPICH Conservation and Protection Call have been drawn from areas identified in the Strategic Research Agenda for the Joint Programming Initiative in Cultural Heritage and Global Change (http://www.jpi-culturalheritage.eu/wp-content/uploads/SRA-def.pdf). It is acceptable and encouraged for a project to address issues from more than one of the Conservation and Protection topics described below. Indeed, proposals addressing intersections between topic areas could be particularly fruitful.
•To develop materials, technologies and procedures for long-term maintenance, secure access, conservation and in-situ preservation of cultural heritage.
•To explore the opportunities heritage presents for revitalisation and regeneration of artefacts, buildings and landscapes taking into account the values various kinds of cultural heritage hold.
•To discover what evidence is required by decision makers when deciding new or changed uses for cultural heritage and the role of the community as actor in heritage management and sustainable development of local communities.
•To develop sustainability strategies, including cultural, social, economic and environmental approaches, for cultural heritage at all scales, from artefact to landscape.
•To fully understand the embodied energy in heritage materials and energy systems in heritage structures and assemblies in order to develop effective, sustainable management plans.
An expert group will further define the research topics for the final call guidance to be published In May 2019.
The aims of the call are:
• to support well-defined, innovative, interdisciplinary, internationally-focused and collaborative research projects of the highest quality and standards that will lead to significant advances in the conservation and management of cultural heritage across a broad range of research communities and societies, notably through trans-frontier exchange and in international contexts;
• to maximise the value of research outcomes by promoting knowledge exchange with individuals and organisations outside the immediate research community, to include policy makers, businesses and commercial enterprises, the broader heritage sector, voluntary and community groups and the general public;
• to support a range of interactions and partnerships between cultural heritage researchers and a variety of user communities, to include policy makers, businesses and commercial enterprises, the broader heritage sector, voluntary and community groups and the general public, thereby maximizing the value of the research outcomes.
The projects supported by this call will, in combination, achieve a comprehensive view of heritage in terms of:
i) breadth (museum collections and in situ, urban and rural, ancient and modern, landscapes and archaeological sites, buildings and historic areas, ‘everyday’ as well as special places),
ii) approach (multidisciplinary collaboration between humanities and science; oral, physical and digital sources)
iii) temporal scale (understanding changes in the past and present condition; projecting and modeling future change)
iv) spatial scale (from invisible to visible, the local to the regional, national or European),
v) mode of expression (mainly focussing on tangible heritage, but not overlooking intangible and digital),
vi) the plurality of values attached to heritage,
vii) the range of current approaches (notably people-centred paradigms) to heritage planning, conservation and the management of change.
Who can apply?
Applicants must be based in countries that have committed to the Conservation and Protection Call and must be eligible for the funding organization specified below.
• Belarus – National Academy of science (NASB)
• Cyprus – Research Promotion Foundation (RPF)
• Czech Republic – Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS)
• France – Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
• Italy – Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)
• Latvia – Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia (IZM)
• Norway – The Research Council of Norway (RCN)
• Poland – Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (MKiDN)
• Portugal – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
• Spain – State Research Agency (AEI)
• The Netherlands -The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
• The United Kingdom – Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
The above National research teams should be contacted with regards to questions about eligibility and maximum budgets in advance of the publication of the full call guidance in May.
• Belarus – vit@history.by
• Cyprus – mspanos@research.org.cy
• Czech Republic – Daniel.Hanspach@msmt.cz
• France – Sylvie.CONTREPOIS@agencerecherche.fr
• Italy – aldo.covello@miur.it
• Latvia – Kaspars.Karolis@izm.gov.lv
• Norway – et@forskningsradet.no
• Poland – ABudzalek@nimoz.pl
• Portugal – Luisa.Igreja@fct.pt
• Spain – juan.climent@aei.gob.es
• The Netherlands –a.lubbers@NWO.NL
• The United Kingdom – James.Davies@ahrc.ukri.org
Application Procedure
The Conservation and Protection Call is a one phase submission and evaluation process according to the timetable below:
JPICH Conservation and Protection Pre Call Announcement – 8th March 2019
Launch of the JPICH Conservation and Protection Call – 8th April 2019
Opening of platform for submissions 7th May 2019
Deadline for submission of proposals – 3rd September 2019
General Eligibility check – From 4th To 11th September 2019
National Eligibility checks – From 12TH to 19TH September 2019
Evaluation of eligible proposals by independent external peer reviewers – From 20TH September to 18th October 2019
Independent International Assessment Panel meeting – 1ST Week of November 2019
Funding decision – 1ST Week of December 2019
JPICH Conservation and Protection projects start – From 1ST January to 1ST July 2020
Further information
The following information will be available from 01 May 2019 onwards on the JPI website:
www.jpi-culturalheritage.eu/:
– Conservation and Protection Call for Proposals, including eligibility criteria and detailed guidelines for preparing and submitting a proposal;
– Application form;
– Required budget templates;
– FAQs and Glossary.