Proposal alla 2nd call ENPI CBC MED per standard project: Cultural Heritage Laboratory System - CHeLabS

There can be no doubt that Cultural Heritage is a common and distinctive character of the Countries of the Mediterranean Sea Basin. The implementation of the Cultural Heritage Laboratory System, the CHeLab System, offers an opportunity of growth around this common Patrimony by means of specific activities oriented towards knowledge and data sharing. Each site, constituting the CHeLab System, will be properly selected because representative of a specific deterioration problem, derived by a specific risk among the most relevant ones in the Mediterranean Sea Basin. An accurate selection of the sites allows the analysis of the "risk - deterioration process" assessment in a number of case studies oriented towards a specific problem solving. The solutions found will be useful to apply in further contexts and cases which are external to the selected sites. - The selected sites will be equipped with constant monitoring systems for the detection of relevant parameters, which are indicators of specific risks and of particular deterioration phenomena, depending on the selected site, also useful to other sites affected by the same deterioration problems. The results of the continuous monitoring will have an open access character for data sharing and on-line availability. - A range of technologies / tools will be employed for studies and periodic tests for deterioration problem assessment and effects. A number of innovative techniques / devices / models will be scheduled for validation activities and will benefit of a 24 months experimentation. - Joint activities is foreseen for the implementation of a harmonized management of the sites, thus sustaining the exchange of good practices. - A simplified Quality Management System derived from the one which constitute the reference for metrological laboratories will be implemented, planning periodic controls on the instrumentation/systems used. Also auditing programme will be organized in order to guarantee the quality of the experimental data and the harmonization of managerial and technical activities in the different CHeLabs. - Each site will be managed by a little local and interdisciplinary team but exchange of technologies/man and students among partners can be foreseen. This team will be responsible for the correct fruition of the site, for the employment and the maintenance of the available instrumentations/systems, and for the open access of the experimental data on the web. - The system of CHeLabs will benefit of an ICT infrastructure supporting the activity management and experimental data access. - A pilot action will be evaluated in cooperation with other EU projects (CHARISMA; MOLAB): the system of CHeLabs will be geared towards the open accessibility to external research units (users) according to typical large facilities rules with an important socio-economic return for the territory. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the harmonized management will provide an indication of the potential scalability of the system, which can be enlarged by including other sites of artistic - archaeological - historical interest. Dissemination of results and communication activities will be implemented. This will allow the evaluation of the scientific attractiveness of the CHeLab System model among the Scientific Community. The project is based on the vision of the Cultural Heritage as an opportunity for the advancement of the knowledge, for the technological and scientific development as well as for the socio-economic enhancement of the territory.