Partners
Meet our research team
NIKU
UCL
University of Edinburgh and stirling
University of Florence
Universitat de Barcelona
NIKU - Norwegian Institut for Cultural Heritage Research
Full Bio
Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen is an archaeologist (PhD) and Research Professor and has been employed in NIKU since 2001.
During his time in NIKU he has participated in numerous research projects and commissioned projects aimed at planning and management of cultural heritage and the uses of cultural heritage as societal resource.
From the 1990s onwards he has participated in and been the leader of several archaeological excavations and field surveys in Norway, as well as participated at archaeological and heritage based projects in Greece, Italy and Oman.
His primary research interests in NIKU has been research on cultural heritage and their environment, especially related to heritage, environmental monitoring and planning, i.e. cultural heritage as value in policy / management and in the society. His interests is also covering cultural heritage research aimed at public sectorial challenges, hence issues about urban heritage and road /technological-industrial heritage.
Guttormsen joined NIKU after finishing his MA in archaeology at the University of Oslo in 2001, he holds a doctorate in archaeology with heritage issues in focus from the University of Gothenburg.
Full Bio
Paloma Guzman holds a PhD from the Eindhoven Technical University in the Netherlands, a master’s degree on World Heritage Studies and a bachelor’s in architecture.
Her research field focuses on the integration of cultural heritage in sustainable development, particularly in urban contexts. She explores landscape-based conservation approaches to bridge interdisciplinary gaps to foster the resilience character of cultural heritage in sustainability agendas including climate change. Her current research targets the role of cultural heritage as a transformative agent for climate responses.
Her research interests include exploring systemic theoretical approaches to better understand heritage conservation within the sustainability paradigm. The applicability of her research focus for instance on using the historic urban landscape approach to better link heritage management and monitoring practices and their alignment with broader agendas such as urban development and climate action.
Paloma’s professional experience include the World Heritage Cities Program under the lead of Ron van Oers at UNESCO World Heritage Centre. She is also an active member of ICOMOS working group on
Full Bio
Jorid Martinsen is NIKUs Communications Officer. She is responsible for the communication strategy, for press and media relations and also for the website and social media channels.
Before joining NIKU in 2019 she worked with communications at The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association and as Project Manager for Wikimedia Norge, the Norwegian chapter of Wikimedia Foundation.
Jorid holds an MA in Cultural Studies from The University of Bergen.
Full Bio
Joar Skrede is a sociologist (PhD) and research professor at NIKU. He works primarily with Heritage Studies, Discourse Studies and Urban Studies – often in combination.
Skrede has published several scientific articles, nationally and internationally, within topics such as:
- The relation between experts and lay persons in Heritage Studies
- Comparison of methods used in Heritage Studies
- Affective and emotional aspects of heritage – both theoretically and empirically
- Textual, visual and material representations (multimodal critical discourse analysis, social semiotics)
- Culture-led urban regeneration, historic environments and place identity
- Sustainable development (with emphasis on cultural sustainability)
- Ecosystem services (with emphasis on cultural services)
- Philosophy of science (with emphasis on Critical Realism)
UCL The Bartlett Institute for Sustainable Heritage
Full Bio
Kalliopi Fouseki is a Professor in Sustainable Heritage Management at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage (ISH) and the UK-PI for the CURBATHERI project. At ISH she has been leading over the last 9 years the MSc in Sustainable Heritage and supervising a large number of international PhD students in sustainable heritage management with particular focus on heritage-led regeneration and the contribution of heritage to the sustainable development goals as well as on energy efficiency in historic urban areas in Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Greece, UK, China, Taiwan, Egypt, Nigeria and Kosovo.
She has led and been involved in a number of national and international projects, including, among others, the JPI Heritage Values Network, the AHRC Collections Demography project and IEA Task 59/Annex 76 on Deep Renovation of Historic Buildings Towards Lowest Possible Energy Demand and CO2 Emissions.
Her recent book Deep Cities: Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations co-edited with Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen and Grete Swensen from the National Institute for Cultural Heritage Research provided the stimulus for the CURBATHERI project.
Currently, she works on two book projects aimed to be published in 2021 by Routledge and UCL Press respectively including the first Handbook on Sustainable Heritage and a monograph on the dynamics of heritage. Kalliopi will be leading the Work Package dedicated to the development of a ‘system dynamic model’, that is a ‘model’ which will display what social, cultural and economic factors are enabled during the regeneration of historic urban areas. The focal case study is the case of Woolwich, one of the most deprived areas in London (see case study information).
A researcher with expertise in ‘participatory system dynamics’ will join the team in June 2021. In the meantime it is worth noting that prior to embarking to the JPI project preliminary work providing the basis for the modelling process has been carried out by 7 MSc Sustainable Heritage students including Sharon Shie, Mingsu Xie, Harriet Kyaw Thaung, Alex Hayes, Jiahe Lu and Yunjian Liu. Their work includes studies on the change of the town scape at the Woolwich Town Centre and Royal Arsenal, the economic and social change in both areas and current perceptions of local communities inhabiting both areas providing a solid basis. The results of these preliminary studies are currently in the process of publication.
Full Bio
Lorika Hisari is a Research assistant working on WP2 of the project assisting with the dynamic modelling of the urban transformation through heritage in the case study of Woolwich.
Lorika is an architect and a PhD researcher at the Bartlett UCL, Institute for Sustainable Heritage, London UK. She holds a degree of a Graduated Engineer of Architecture from the University of Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo. She is experienced in post-war reconstruction, regeneration and development as a responsible architect in multi-disciplinary projects for international donor-aid programmes.
She completed a postgraduate professional course at Master’s level on International Spatial Planning Practice and Public Realm at the University of Westminster, London UK where she was awarded a JCDecaux Prize for Urban Design, 2012.
Since 2009, she is engaged in built heritage conservation through policy development, projects and research. She is particularly interested in urban heritage and area-based conservation with focus on socio-political and cultural dynamics in diverse multi-layered historic urban environments in conflict and post-conflict contexts. She views this with people-oriented approach as owners, users and residents.
Prior to her PhD study she was critically engaged in professional writing and independent research and presented her work at local and international platforms. Her most recent publication is ‘Post-War Cultural Heritage Preservation in Kosovo: Rethinking the Implementation of Ahtisaari Plan Annex V’ in the Special Issue of Heritage – Urban Heritage Management in Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts for Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Recovery.
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Sara Pomparelli is a master student at the UCL Bartlett Institute for Sustainable Heritage in London. Sara holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage from the Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan and she also attended an exchange semester at the Université de Vincennes Saint Denis in Paris.
Sara’s current work focuses on social sustainability around the Woolwich project; her research is focused on assessing the value of Woolwich’s local markets and their impact on the current and future development of the area.
Sara is passionate about art and heritage conservation. As part of her BA thesis she has presented a conservation project for the archeological site of Saint Dominic monastery in South of Italy, as an extraordinary case of the region’s unexplored heritage. She is currently working as content creator for Nudibranchi, a non-profit cultural association for the enhancement of the local artistic and cultural environment. In 2019 she has attended an internship at the A. Granata & F. Braghieri Art Foundation in Italy where she was responsible for the organization of cultural and artistic events.
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Guosheng Gou is an architect and a Master student at the Bartlett UCL, Institute for Sustainable Heritage, London UK. He holds a Bachelor degree of Architecture from Beijing Jiaotong University, Republic of China. He is particularly interested in the transformation of traditional villages and urban conservation areas, as well as the adaptive use of historical buildings inside. He is involved in several landscape design projects for national heritage sites, mainly focuses on the conservation and transmission of heritage values.
Since 2017, he has been engaged in built heritage conservation through surveys, interviews as well as conservation plans in a series of Traditional Chinese Villages in Shanxi province, middle of China. Besides, he also shows initiatives in the transformation of Beijing urban area, recording the changes of historical areas and people’s interaction with it in daily life, exploring the social and psychological influence of heritage, which was listed on the 2019 Beijing International Design week. Recently, he pays more attention to the case study of Woolwich and is trying to explore the roles of heritage in urban transformation through the application of space syntax in his research dissertation.
Full Bio
Junyi Wu is a postgraduate student of MSc Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage(ISH). She is now working with Professor Prof. Kalliopi Fouseki for her research dissertation on Woolwich, focusing on ‘heritage-led regeneration’ and ‘social cohesion’.
Junyi holds a bachelor’s degree in Real Estate Management at East China Normal University. During her study at ECNU, she proactively participated in the 2018 and 2019 National Real Estate Marketing Planning Contest, respectively doing research on Reconstruction planning project of demolished land in Zhuanqiao area of Shanghai and Renovation planning project of Longtengyuan Estate in Huilongguan area of Beijing. These experiences further increase her interest in urban regeneration, and she completed her undergraduate dissertation with the Research on the Impact of Mega-Events on Urban Development from Perspectives of Urban Renewal.
University of Edinburgh and University of Stirling
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Chiara Bonacchi is Chancellor's Fellow in Heritage, Text and Data Mining and Senior Lecturer in Heritage at University of Edinburgh. She is a leading expert in digital heritage and the study of public experiences and values of the past and how these relate to contemporary identities and decision-making. She has led or co-led a broad portfolio of collaborative research projects in the UK, Europe and the Middle East including the major AHRC-funded project Ancient Identities in Modern Britain project on which she was CI (2016-2019).
Her recent work has concentrated on advancing current knowledge and understanding of the ethics, ontologies, and epistemologies of digital heritage in a world of big data, on online co-production of collections and knowledge and on the politics of the past.
She advocates for the application of data-intensive methods in heritage studies, which, combined with qualitative approaches, can help to address real world social challenges and dialogue with policy more effectively.
Chiara is currently completing a special issue of Big Data and Society on Heritage in a World of Big Data and two monographs on Heritage and Nationalism: Using Big Data to Deconstruct Populist Narratives (UCL Press) and Public Archaeology in Europe (Cambridge University Press).
Chiara is PI for the University of Edinburgh and Stirling on the JPI CURBATHERI project, leading on WP3. She will contribute her expertise on ways of capturing intangible values of heritage online and offline, and on the curation of urban environments including through building archaeology.
Full Bio
Sian Jones is Professor of Heritage and Director of the Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy at the University of Stirling. She is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in cultural heritage, as well as on the role of the past in the production of power, identity, memory and sense of place.
Her recent projects have focused on the practice of conservation, the experience of authenticity, replicas and reconstructions, public parks as urban heritage, and the experience of wonder on the Isle of Staffa.
Her books include, The Archaeology of Ethnicity (1997), A Fragmented Masterpiece: Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Cross-Slab (2008), My Life as a Replica: St John’s Cross Iona (2020).
She has also published extensively in journals on conservation and authenticity, social and communal values and community heritage; work which is particularly relevant to this ‘Deep Cities’ JPICH project.
Full Bio
Elizabeth Robson is a Research Postgraduate at the University of Stirling. She is currently completing a collaborative doctoral project focused on how we can better understand and evidence the social values associated with the historic environment, including people’s sense of identity, belonging, attachment and place. The research is a partnership between and funded by the University of Stirling and Historic Environment Scotland.
Elizabeth holds degrees in History (BA, University of Exeter), Environment, Development and Policy (MA, University of Sussex), and Social Anthropology (MRes, University of Aberdeen). She is an experienced professional, with a background working internationally for organisations promoting human rights and citizen participation.
Her current research builds on her experience and interest in participatory approaches, community empowerment and how social values, such as identity, are reflected in place management processes.
Elizabeth is a Research Assistant on the JPI CURBATHERI project, contributing to WP3. She will be applying her knowledge of people-centred, qualitative methods as part of the Woolwich case study.
Full Bio
Alex is a research assistant for the JPI CURBATHERI project, based at the University of Stirling (UoS). He works with Dr Chiara Bonacchi, UoS PI, on the capturing and assessment of social values of urban heritage through the analysis of web data.
Alex Hiscock will start his PhD at the University of Stirling in October 2021 (AHRC CDP collaboration with Historic Environment Scotland), having earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in classical and historical archaeology from Durham University. A Roman archaeologist and digital heritage specialist, his current research combines quali-quantitive approaches and data science to understand intangible heritages associated with the Roman Antonine Wall in Scotland, across both offline and online spaces.
Alex has worked with various heritage institutions and stakeholders. Most recently he researched and developed historical content for the BAFTA award winning UK television series Horrible Histories. Since 2018, he has produced and played in The Silliad: Improvised Myths and Legends, a live mythology show, combining storytelling, theatre and improvised comedy to engage audiences with Ancient Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythological narratives.
His research interests focus on a) Postcolonial identities and material culture within Roman Britain, b) transatlantic Roman and Classical heritage narratives, and c) public interactions with heritage within dynamic popular media and environments, particularly over online spaces.
Full Bio
Larry is a postgraduate student of MSc Heritage at the University of Stirling. He works with Dr Chiara Bonacchi, PI for the University of Stirling, on data capture and assessment of the values assigned by tourists to the Royal Mile in Edinburgh as part of the JPI Deep Cities project.
Originally from Hong Kong, Larry Leung holds a master degree in Corporate Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a bachelor degree in Biochemistry and Social Science from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Being a communication specialist and social scientist, he is an experienced professional with a background of working for international organisations promoting heritage tourism branding and managing a place-making project in connections with various tourism stakeholders and statutory bodies.
Larry will start his dissertation project in Autumn 2021. His research will be built on his experience and interest in heritage tourism and sustainability. He will be applying digital methods combined with qualitative approaches in understanding the relationship and engagement of tourists with places to inform urban transformation and sustainable development through heritage and its values on the ground.
University of Florence SAGAS Department
Full Bio
Michele Nucciotti is an asociate Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Florence.
From 2000 scientific director of Medieval Amiata archaeological-territorial project, from 2019 director of the Medieval Petra– Shawbak Project archaeological mission in Jordan (University of Florence and ItalianForeign Office – co-director 2002-2009) and from 2014 director of Italian archaeological mission inArmenia (University of Florence and Italian Foreign Office).
He is an author of over 80 contributions and articles in Italian and international scientific journals and editor of 6 books, from 2000 Michele Nucciotti directed field and research projects in Italy, Jordan, Iraq, France and Armenia, for the University of Florence, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Italian Foreign Office and the European Union.
His main research interests include Medieval rural settlementand landscape, historic building practices, ideology and public architecture, Light Archaeology, Public Arcaeology and Computer archaeology (contract Lecturer from 2005 to 2010).
Elected in the steering committee of the Italian Society of Medieval Archaeologists in 2012, he also serves as member of national and international scientific committees of peer-reviewed journals (“Archeologia Medievale”, “Ricerche Storiche”) and series (“Limina Limites”, BAR Oxford, Uk;“Archeologia Pubblica”, Florence University Press). With Guido Vannini, curator of the International exhibition “From Petra to Shawbak, archaeology of a frontier”(2009).
More recently curator, with Chiara Bonacchi (University of London, UCL), of the first Italian congress of Public Archaeology (2012, in print in 2019), Michele served also as CEO of Laboratori Archeologici San Gallo (2011-2014), a spin-off company of University of Florence developing advanced services to public/private sectors for setting up Heritage Economy pilots. Scientific coordinator in Heritage-related local/regional development EU projects in Tuscany (2006-2008) and Euro-Mediterranean regions (from 2009 to present), Michele is also contributingto the strategic optimization of archaeological sites’ management and to the development of local/regional tourist master plans.
Other expertise include project writing, public communication and fundraising for Archaeology andthe Heritage sector.
Full Bio
Elisa Pruno is an Adjunct Professor of Archaeological Research Methodology -University of Florence – SAGAS Department. Membre associé of LA3M (Laboratoire d’Archéologie Médiévale Méditerranéenne) – Aix en Provence.
From 2009 director of Medieval Montaccianico (Scarperia-FI) archaeological-territorial project. Responsible for the Excavation and the Archeology of Production in Crusader and Ayyubid settlements in Transjordan, University of Florence, Scientific Director Prof. Michele Nucciotti and Responsible for the Archaeology of Production in The Making of the Silk Road in Armenia (cc. 7th-14th): Vaiots Dzor and Arates Monastery, University of Florence and Yerevan State University, Scientific Director Prof. Michele Nucciotti. Author of a monography and of over 50 contributions and articles in Italian and international scientific journals.
Elisa is interested in the artisanal production during the time, with a special focus on medieval period. Her focused materials are stone and pottery, form the point of view both of production and consumption. Her main interests are in Mediterranean space, Italy, Near East and Armenia and she is also interested in methodological approaches regarding archeological theory.
She is member of the Board of the Lunensi Studies Center andMember of SAMI (Italian Archaeologists Medieval Society) Board.
Full Bio
Andrea Biondi is Research Fellow on the JPI Deep Cities project, working with the University of Florence and contributing to WP2 and WP3. In particular, he conducts archival researches and building archaeological studies, and he deals with the selection of stakeholders and the realization of laboratories and public actions in the area of the San Donato neighbourhood.
Andrea has started his Ph.D. in Archaeology at the University of Koper in Slovenia in October 2020. Furthermore, he holds a II Level Master in GIS (Geographical Information System), a School of Specialization in Archaeology’s degree (University of Florence), a Master’s degree in Medieval Archaeology (University of Florence), and a Bachelor’s degree in History and Conservation of Archaeological Heritage (University of Florence).
Andrea collaborates with the Medieval Archaeology Chair of the University of Florence in several projects and fieldwork. Furthermore, since 2016 he leads the Laboratory of Landscape Archaeology (part of the Laboratory of Medieval Archaeology, directed by prof. Michele Nucciotti). Since 2017, he is also working as a freelance archeologist for private archaeological companies in various relevant research sites between Florence and Tuscany. In the meantime, Andrea has also been collaborating with Ecomuseo del Casentino in Tuscany, working with local communities and realizing cultural activities on Heritage for kids and adults.
His research interests focus on Light Archaeology (Building and Landscape Archaeology), Public Archaeology, and Early Middle Ages social identities and cultural material markers in Italy between the 5th and 8th centuries C.E. (with a particular focus on Lombard phenomenon).
Full Bio
Elisa Broccoli is Research Fellow on the JPI Deep Cities project, working with both the University of Florence and the University of Stirling’s teams (WP3 and WP4). She is also Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Stirling. Her research interests focus on Building Archaeology and Digital Heritage.
Elisa holds a PhD in Archaeology and Post-classical Antiquities (University of Rome – La Sapienza), a bachelor’s degree in History and Conservation of Archaeological Heritage (University of Florence) and a master’s degree in Medieval Archaeology (University of Florence).
She has participated in a broad portfolio of archaeological fieldwork and research projects led by the School of Medieval Archaeology of the University of Florence focused mainly on Light Archaeology (Building and Landscape Archaeology).
Elisa is also interested in different forms of public engagement with the human past. She recently started a collaboration with Sarah Bromage and the Scottish Political Archive, housed at the University of Stirling, and with Dr Chiara Bonacchi, Senior Lecturer in Heritage at University of Stirling. She is author of two crowdsourcing applications on the MicroPasts web platform created to enhance the Scottish Political Archive and to research political uses of the past in the context of the 2014 Referendum in Scotland.
Elisa is a Research Assistant on the JPI CURBATHERI project, contributing to WP3 and WP4.
Full Bio
Giacomo Ponticelli is an intern for the CURBATHERI project based at the University of Florence. He is part of the team together with prof. Michele Nucciotti, Dr. Elisa Pruno, Dr. Andrea Biondi and Dr. Elisa Broccoli. His work will concern the development of a GIS platform for the implementation ofthe management toolbox of WP4.
His field of expertise is Landscape Archaeology through field survey and GIS analyses. He is an active member of the “Medieval Petra” project. He participated in various excavation projects, both in Italy and abroad (Jordan and Poland), and has carried out reconnaissance activities in Lunigiana (northern Tuscany) for his BA thesis and in the environs of Shawbak castle (southern Jordan) for his MA project.
Giacomo’s current work focuses on the settlement patterns of the rural environs of Shawbak from the Crusader to the Ottoman period (12th to 16th century). In Jordan, he had the chance to study the visibility features of the landscape of Shawbak during the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, paying attention to the connection between fortified sites and the control over agriculturally exploitable areas. Among Giacomo’s main interests are landscape archaeology, stratigraphic analysis of standing buildings, ethno-anthropology. He has skills in open-source GIS mapping, spatial databases and remote sensing.
Full Bio
Myrtò Psicharis is a BA student in Archaeology, History of Art and Heritage tutelage at the University of Florence. She is currently working for her bachelor degree thesis (tutor Prof. Michele Nucciotti) on a Building and Public Archaeology study related to the Novoli area in Florence. She is involved as intern in WP2 and WP3 of JPI Deep Cities project.
Myrtò has extensive knowledge in museum and field teaching areas, backed up by her consolidated professional background as authorised guide. She actively cooperates with several museums, archaeological sites, and international institutions in Florence, unfolding the city’s cultural heritage.
When communicating Myrtò adopts an interactive interdisciplinary approach based on an open learning method, this method uses open educational resources to share knowledge on the city’s creative urban and landscape heritage and create fruitful discussion.
Her research focuses on historic, archaeological heritage, and collections disclosure. Her research adopts an interdisciplinary approach including digital archives studies, teaching methods, communication and sustainable tourism.
From 2012 Myrtò has also collaborated as a junior board member with AWA Florence, managing the “Women artists in early modern Italy” conference held at the State Archive of Florence in 2012, during her internship at The Medici Archive Project (MEP), Myrtò worked on identifying, researching and promoting the creation of dedicated itineraries focused on women’s artworks in museum storages and collections around Florence.
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Lorenzo Pio Pesce is a BA student in Archaeology, History of Art and Heritage tutelage at the University of Florence.
Lorenzo is involved in the CURBATHERI project for his internship, focusing on Public Archaeology.
In the past, he attended in various excavation experiences, case studies in the site of Casa Bianca (Sibari), he has also participated in the creation of websites aimed at the enhancement of the territory and its cultural heritage. From 2016 to 2018 he served as a guide in the Sibari Archaeological Museum as a high school intern. His role was also to investigate adults and children about the knowledge of their historical-archaeological heritage, their territory and how they imagined a museum. Thanks to these experiences Lorenzo improved his knowledge in public archaeology
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Francesca Sani is a BA student at the University of Florence. She is studying for a degree in Archaeology, History of Art and Heritage tutelage.
Francesca is involved in the CURBATHERI project for her internship, focusing on Public Archaeology.
In the past she has already been part of a project focused on cultural heritage promotion, at the “Pottery Museum”, in Montelupo Fiorentino (Florence). Thanks to this last experience, through interviews and surveys to the public, Francesca has improved her knowledges: communication, promotion and safeguard of the cultural heritage.
Full Bio
Elisa is currently enrolled in the last year of the school of specialization in Archaeological Heritage at the University of Florence. In 2003 she graduated with a thesis in Archaeological Research Methods at the University of Siena in Arezzo. In 2004 she obtained the title of expert in Geographical Systems and Digital Mapping (degree course in Geological Sciences at the University of Siena). In the same year she obtained the qualification of Archaeological Operator able to manage an archaeological cooperative (University of Siena- Province of Arezzo).
She founded and managed an archaeological cooperative for five years, in which she worked in excavation projects and educational projects for schools, libraries and cultural events (in collaboration with municipalities, provinces and archaeological superintendences). In 2006 she participated in the XIV International Summer School in Archaeology and Quantitative Methods (University of Siena and University of Parma). In 2010 she achieved a one-year master’s degree in computerized cataloguing of cultural heritage at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. In 2013 she obtained her doctorate in Humanities with a thesis in Museology and Restoration criticism (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia).
She has collaborated for five years with the Laboratory of Medieval Archaeology of the University of Siena in Arezzo (directed by Prof. A. Molinari) and in particular in the project of excavation and computerization of archaeological data (Gis and Database) Medieval Citadel of the hill of Pionta (Arezzo). She has taught some modules of Gis Application in Archaeology in University courses and in High Education Courses. She has collaborated to different archaeological projects both for universities and archaeological companies and she has been participated as a speaker in national and international conferences.
Her main research interests include the study of medieval settlement models through the development of Geographic Information Systems and the Analysis of Quantitative Methods (she has published some articles on these topics). Elisa is also involved in studying the Accessibility of Cultural Heritage for the different categories of public (her research was published in the monograph: Per un patrimonio culturale accessibile. Nuove strategie di comunicazione e educazione museale, 2014)
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Linda Damiani is an Archaeologist and student at the Italian Archaeological School in Florence, specialising in the study of the Middle Ages.
She was involved with several archeological projects both in Italy and abroad, including the Kuwaiti-Italian archaeological mission to Failaka, Kuwait, with the University of Perugia (2010-2014). Her interests include the application of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) to the preservation and enhancement of cultural heritage. She has a 2nd level Master Degree (EQF8) in Geotecnologie per l’Archeologia (GTARC) at the University of Siena, with an internship in the Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory at ENEA Bologna (2016-2017).
She has worked as a museum attendant in various Italian museums of the Umbria and Marche regions (Perugia – Assisi – Ascoli Piceno).
She is currently an associate member of ABACO cooperative society, that focuses on archaeological and cultural heritage service, enhancement and promotion of local cultural resources.
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Eva Natali is a MA student at the University of Florence, currently studying Medieval Archaeology. She has recently graduated in Archaeology, History of Art and Heritage Tutelage
Eva is involved in the CURBATHERI project as part of her internship, focusing on Public Archaeology.
During the last three years, she took part in two archaeological excavations in Cosa (Ansedonia, GR) and Castel Di Mura (San Marcello Pistoiese, PI). Thanks to these experiencies, Eva has improved her skills and knowledges with archaeological tools and theoretical tasks.
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Tommaso Montecchi is a BA student in Archaeology, History of Art and Heritage tutelage at the University of Florence and is involved in the CURBATHERI project for his internship, focusing on Public Archaeology.
Tommaso took part in several work experience projects related to the cultural heritage of Florence as a high school intern. Some of these projects, like the work experience at the Boboli Gardens or the one at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, involved tasks such as elaborating statistics and detecting, via surveys, the level of satisfaction of tourists about the museums and their activities and services. The main objective was to collect feedbacks in order to improve the level of quality of the museums themselves and offer better cultural performances. Thanks to these experiences, Tommaso has improved his interpersonal skills and has become aware of the importance and the issues of preserving the cultural heritage.
University of Barcelona
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Margarita Díaz-Andreu is an ICREA Research Professor based at the University of Barcelona with many years of previous work experience at the Complutense University of Madrid and Durham University.
She has been researching and lecturing on heritage issues for more than a decade. Her interests include the social and economic value of heritage, World Heritage, the development of archaeological tourism, ethics, the politics of heritage, and the role of heritage within new migrant populations in Europe.
She has recently published a History of Archaeological Tourism (Springer, 2020).
She is the leader of GAPP, the Public Archaeology and Heritage Group, managing a dynamic group of young heritage experts who are developing heritage projects around the world. GAPP organises a regular series of seminars and is intensely involved in the dissemination of its projects to both specialists and the wider public.
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Ana Pastor Pérez is a trained archaeologist and an archaeological conservator with a specialisation in heritage management and preventive conservation.
Her recent doctoral thesis is titled Social archaeological conservation: heritage ethnographies in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Her research focuses on the study of new preventive conservation systems in which the needs of society are taken into account while being balanced with the preservation of archaeological remains situated in the public space.
She has broad experience in the application of ethnographic techniques for identifying and describing the interactions between different stakeholders in participative and bottom-up processes in the urban context.
She is an active member of the GAPP, in which she organises the heritage conversations series, a permanent, annual event open to the public, from which a compilation titled “21 Ensayos sobre Patrimonio Cultural/21 Essays on Cultural Heritage/” (JAS Arqueología, 2020) will soon be published.
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María Gabriela Navas Perrone, is an architect and holds a PhD in Social Anthropology.
At present, she leads the postgraduate course “Anthropology and Architecture. The social life of the built environment” offered by the University of Barcelona, and is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of History and Archaeology of the same university, for the European project Curbatheri-Deep Cities.
Her main line of research explores the interdisciplinary approach between architecture and ethnography to study the production of urban space. From this perspective, she is the coordinator of the research group “Anthropology and Architecture” of the Catalan Institute of Anthropology (ICA) and also the “Research Group on Control and Social Exclusion” (GRECS) of the University of Barcelona. At present, she leads the postgraduate course “Anthropology and Architecture. The social life of the built environment” offered by the University of Barcelona.
Gabriela is also an active member of the “Observatory of Anthropology of Urban Conflict” (OACU) and is the president and founding partner of the education and training association ANTIARQ, where has coordinated various training activities that explore the human dimension of cities.
Eventually, she has participated in research projects that address the political economy of architectural production, the social impacts of urban transformations, urbanism with a gender perspective, and recently, issues of heritage related with urban mobilities in post-pandemic cities.
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I have a degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Goods (University of Barcelona, 2012-2016) and I am currently a MA’s degree student in Cultural Heritage Management and Museology at the University of Barcelona.
During 2020, I have made an internship at the Catalan Agency of Cultural Heritage (Agència Catalana de Patrimoni Cultural) participating in a program which entails the digitalization in 3D models of the Catalan Cultural Heritage. ‘
‘My recent trainings involve several courses on virtualization of heritage techniques, among which I would like to highlight Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry. Currently, I am working on my MA’s dissertation under the tutorship of Dr. Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Dr. Ana Pastor Pérez (University of Barcelona).
The main scope of my research is related with planning, developing and socializing heritage virtualization in the frame of local museums, focusing on the case study of the Museum of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona, Catalonia).
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Paloma Zarzuela Gutiérrez is a PhD researcher at the University of Barcelona.
I have a Bachelor degree in Archaeology (2017) from the University Complutense of Madrid and given my commitment to enlighten and share knowledge about the past I enrolled for a Masters in Teaching Social Sciences at the University Rey Juan Carlos (2019).
As a student, I received an Erasmus grant to study during two terms at the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom). This experience allowed me to focus on my particular interests and develop my own areas of expertise. Afterwards, I gained some initial professional experience at the University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) where I did a two-months internship funded by an Erasmus+ scholarship.
Since I graduated I have been working as an archaeologist in the Heritage sector. As a freelance archaeologist in Spain I was employed by archaeological companies and private clients where I developed and performed different projects throughout the country. In 2019 an interesting opportunity arose to develop my skills in Roscommon (Ireland). The specific difficulties of this project have given me a broader view of archaeology.
Besides, I am a member of CRAS – Centro Revolucionario de Arqueología Social, a group based in La Tabacalera de Lavapiés (Madrid) where people from various professional backgrounds try to make archaeology and heritage more accessible to the public.
My interests include public archaeology, participatory processes and feminist and gender archaeology. I am also a member of the new UB project ArqueólogAs which focuses on a critical analysis of the role of women in Spanish archaeology, from the professionalisation of the discipline in the 19th century to the present day.
Last update
20.12.2022