Adopting the FAIR principles
CHEDAR is built upon four pillars that define its operational structure and the mechanisms through which partners collaborate.
This framework ensures participatory and sustainable management, safeguarding the quality of outcomes and maintaining continuous alignment with the FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), as well as European and international standards.
Education is integral to all four pillars, enhancing their overall impact and connecting them. Education contributes integrally to the development of activities in research, innovation, conservation and cultural enhancement.
FIRST PILLAR
Documentation and Digitalization
Digitalization, in all its forms, is used to create digital resources that document and prevent the loss of cultural heritage.
Strategies are developed to recover and enhance existing digital data to ensure the sustainability of digital practices and preserve historical memory.
Advanced tools are designed to manage knowledge and information relating to cultural assets, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for data analysis and processing.
PILLAR
Safeguarding and Conservation
Integration of advanced investigation, diagnostic, and monitoring tools, alongside restoration techniques, allows for innovative approaches to the safeguarding and conservation of heritage.
The project draws inspiration from traditional craftsmanship and historical processes, valued through a lens of environmental and economic sustainability.
Preventive and risk management strategies are adopted, including the use of innovative and sustainable materials designed to reduce environmental impact throughout the entire life cycle of the cultural asset.
THIRD PILLAR
Enhancement and Valorization
Development of new ways to experience cultural heritage through digital technologies that facilitate access and enrich meaning.
Engagement of diverse audiences to overcome physical, cognitive and cultural barriers.
Promotion of best practices for the sustainable management of heritage, taking into account the full life cycle of assets and their integration into the wider cultural ecosystem.
Reuse of digital data within the creative industries to revitalize heritage through design, digital art, augmented reality and other expressive forms.
All activities are based on the integration of the expertise of the participating research groups and on active or developing interdisciplinary collaborations aimed at creating solutions in the strategic fields of research, innovation and cultural heritage protection.
FOURTH PILLAR
Climate Change and Risks
Acknowledging that the Mediterranean is among the regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, CHEDAR develops tools to analyse and address environmental threats to cultural heritage, operating across multiple scales of intervention.
In line with national recommendations and international frameworks, the project adopts downscaling approaches to translate global data and scenarios into localized, actionable insights—supporting concrete measures, from territorial planning to interventions on individual heritage assets
The increasing frequency of extreme weather events—such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves—demands a systemic and multi-level approach, combining risk analysis, historical knowledge, technological innovation, and predictive modelling.
The use of digital twins and predictive models makes it possible to assess asset-specific vulnerabilities, simulate future scenarios, and design adaptation and mitigation strategies tailored to each context.
Environmental monitoring, enriched with historical and geographical data and supported by GeoAI tools, enables the development of effective, science-based responses and the creation of sustainable, scalable protection models.
