Building skills for informed heritage practice
Capacity building gives people and organisations the knowledge, skills and professional confidence required to make well-informed decisions and take effective action. In cultural heritage, this means enabling professionals, institutions and communities to address conservation needs within their own working environments.
CHEDAR connects research with practice by helping heritage professionals understand, assess and apply methods developed across documentation, conservation, digital transformation and resilience. These include 3D digitisation, material diagnostics, Heritage Digital Twins, artificial intelligence and risk management.
Technical expertise is supported by critical judgement. Professionals need to establish whether a method is relevant to a particular heritage context, understand its limitations and apply it responsibly. This strengthens their ability to select appropriate approaches and make confident, evidence-based decisions.
Strengthening local knowledge, institutions and networks
Heritage practice is shaped by place. Environmental pressures, available resources, institutional arrangements and professional responsibilities differ across regions and organisations. CHEDAR therefore builds on the knowledge held by local professionals, institutions and communities.
Local experience provides the foundation for identifying how research and technology can support established practices and respond to specific conservation needs. This exchange is especially valuable across the Mediterranean and Arab regions, where scientific knowledge, technical expertise and local understanding can be brought together to develop practical and context-sensitive approaches.
Capacity building runs through CHEDAR’s research activities, partnerships, professional exchanges and learning initiatives. The CHEDARacademy forms part of this wider framework for knowledge sharing and professional development. Institutions can integrate new expertise into their procedures, professionals can build relationships with researchers and specialists, and knowledge can circulate through teams and professional networks.
Creating lasting capability and professional independence
The long-term purpose of capacity building is to strengthen the ability of professionals and institutions to act independently. They become better equipped to assess their needs, evaluate available options and adapt tools and methods to the realities of their heritage contexts.
This approach enables heritage professionals to become informed users and contributors to research and technology. Their expertise helps guide the development and application of new methods, keeping innovation relevant to conservation practice and institutional priorities.
The value of this work continues beyond individual workshops, courses and project activities. Skills remain with participants, expertise becomes embedded within organisations, and knowledge can be shared with colleagues and applied to future challenges.