The reference number of each subject indicates first the name of the recruiting university and second the name of the co-supervising university.
Candidates can apply up to 3 subjects maximum.
USMB-UNIZAR-1.4.01 : The use of gamification tools to enhance tourist participation, cultural heritage valorisation and sustainable tourism practices in European destinations
Recruiting university : USMB (France) / Co-supervising university : UNIZAR (Spain)
Summary
Cultural tourism destinations are faced with mass tourism and tourism practices that can alter both the quality of the tourism experience and the cultural and heritage sites themselves. The gamification of certain tours, activities and destination websites could contribute to a better understanding of these destinations, better engagement of tourists and more effective tourism. This research aims to better understand the adoption of gamification during a touristic experience and especially its attitudinal and behavioral outputs. If previous researches were oriented towards the acceptance of such solutions and the effect of gamification on consumer’s engagement and purchase intention, in this research we propose to study gamification as a part of a whole touristic experience through the Expectation Confirmation Theory lens. The main objective is to better understand the mechanisms by which gamification solutions influence tourists to adopt responsible behaviors within the destination they are visiting. In the context of cultural destinations, the challenge is to find levers that both enhance the value of heritage and guide tourist behavior towards greater respect, cleanliness and heritage preservation. In addition, this research aims to establish whether gamifying a destination can create a stronger bonds with tourists, leading to favorable attitudinal and behavioral consequences for the destination.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Elodie Manthé (USMB)
Sara Catalàn (UNIZAR)
USMB-UNITO-1.5.02 : Revisiting the scientific career of a deceased researcher using artificial intelligence creations: The case of Michel de Certeau
Recruiting university : USMB (France) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
As we approach the centenary of Michel de Certeau's birth (2025), a figure who is part of the common heritage of the territories covered by UNITA, as a researcher born in Chambéry, seat of the Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, and whose influence remains worldwide, we need to revisit his conceptual proposals, particularly in the reference book L'Invention du quotidien (1980). At the time, the author was formulating concepts relating to the use of traditional media (books, print media, radio and television). Detour and resistance are examples of tactics developed by media consumers in the face of communication strategies. The author, who died in 1986, was unaware of the mainstream Internet and more recent communication technologies such as artificial intelligence. The primary aim of this research is to question concepts applied to traditional media, and to revisit them in order to check their validity in the light of new developments in a now-hybrid daily life, i.e. both physical and digital.
Full description of the project
«USMB-UNITO-01.pdf» (262.1 Ko)
Supervisors
Jacques Ibanez Bueno (USMB)
Simone Natale (UNITO)
USMB-UNITO-1.5.03 : The Politicisation of Borders and the Shaping of Identity
Recruiting university : USMB (France) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
Thirty years ago, it seemed that national borders were breaking down, as the Cold War came to an end and the Maastricht Treaty introduced a borderless space within the European Union. Today, conversely, the notion of a borderless world appears ever-more elusive as borders are constantly reinforced and extended. The UK serves as a fascinating case -study of these trends where successive governments have sought to reinforce territorial boundaries, most recently by ending freedom of movement for EU migrants and introducing strict new migration controls that risk contravening international law. EU and UK efforts to reinforce their borders have proved largely inefficient. The UK has seen a significant net increase of illegal migration since 2018. Yet, the strengthening of the border serves an important symbolic function in political terms, notably providing an illusion of security in an unstable world. The politicisation of the border also serves to demarcate national identities, as borders are presented by populist leaders as a means of protecting a supposedly homogeneous people from external threat. These processes in turn create significant threats to human rights and reinforce cultural and symbolic borders within national territories. This interdisciplinary project will draw on methodologies and critical tools from Politics, Sociology and Linguistics to examine how some political groupings within the UK are developing alternative ways of thinking about borders as dynamic, open and inclusive, thus allowing the construction of inclusive, positive identity narratives that promote human rights, tolerance and diversity – key elements of the intangible cultural heritage of European nations.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Emma Bell (USMB)
Massimiliano Demata (UNITO)
UPPA-UNITO-2.5.04 : Analysis and study of the role of ecomuseums in sustainable development and the representation of future territories (multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary heritage and territorial study)
Recruiting university : UPPA (France) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
This project aims to analyze and study the evolution of the ecomuseum concept from the perspective of sustainable territorial development. This collaborative project is rooted in the idea that tangible and intangible heritage can make a greater contribution to the social and ecological transition of the cultural and eco-cultural sectors. Over the past decade, ecomuseums have experienced a succession of crises. Their teams have adapted, taking into account the objectives of increasing their visitor numbers, developing their digital activities and transforming their primary missions of heritage promotion and mediation. These changes are profoundly transforming the original role and concept of ecomuseums in France, Europe and the rest of the world. These multi-faceted cultural structures, once testing grounds for a new museology involving local populations in their museographic choices, and for the management of their collections, seem to be at a historic turning point in their evolution. Ecomuseums are playing an unidentified role in transmitting gestures and practices that can help combat the environmental crises caused by climate change. The involvement of local residents and responsible tourists can help raise awareness of the need to bring man closer to nature. The aim of this project is to initiate research on a European and international scale, bringing together researchers from different disciplines and stakeholders involved in the question of the human-nature relationship in the ecological and tourism transition of territories.
Full description of the project
«UPPA-UNITO-01.pdf» (553.4 Ko)
Supervisors
Christel Venzal (UPPA)
Cristina Trinchero (UNITO)
UPPA-UNITO-2.5.05 : Artists’ house museums in Romance-speaking Countries: shaping a model to Foster Cultural Participation and Social Inclusion
Recruiting university : UPPA (France) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
Although artists’ houses that are open to the public exist in many countries, these cultural ‘objects’ can be conceptualised in different ways depending on their geographical and linguistic context. The research hypothesis is as follows: a specific type of house museum is common to Romance-speaking countries and distinct from the Anglo-Saxon, Slavic, or Germanic ones. The aim is to identify the specific characteristics of this model through a comparative analysis of selected artists’ houses present in the UNITA alliance countries. Moreover, house museums seem to be numerous in rural areas, making them a vital vector for territorial development. However, how can we reconcile tourist appeal with cultural relevance? This will be one of the central questions of the research. From a methodological point of view, the approach will be fundamentally interdisciplinary, with contributions ranging from literature and art history to history, geography, museology, regional planning, along with sociology, law, architecture. The subject also requires applied research about the cultural and social context of the places analysed. The challenge will be to better understand these house museums to identify their potential and develop accessibility and cultural participation.
Full description of the project
«UPPA-UNITO-02.pdf» (232.8 Ko)
Supervisors
Hélène Laplace-Claverie (UPPA)
Silvia Pirredu (UNITO)
UPPA-UNITO-2.5.06 : The festivalisation of crime fiction in Romance-speaking Europe: towards heritage?
Recruiting university : UPPA (France) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
Long considered a sub-literature, a "bad genre", the detective novel seems to have gained its own spurs at the start of the 21st century. Not only is it no longer regarded as a pulp novel, relegated to the newspaper kiosks, but it has conquered the institutional and cultural space of the city in the form, among other things, of the growing number of festivals devoted to it each year. Since the 1980s, there has been an unprecedented expansion of thriller festivals in France, Spain and Italy in particular, as part of the international movement to promote and circulate books. While major cities such as Barcelona, Lyon and Milan are organising their own events, the phenomenon seems to be spreading to medium-sized towns and even small cities across Europe. In Italy, for example, the most important crime fiction festivals are held in small provincial towns (Suzzara, Monticello Brianza, Pietrasanta). These festivals are often run by crime fiction writers, wh o then become cultural agents in their area, and enjoy remarkable support from local institutions. It will be interesting to analyse the phenomenon in all the countries of Europe's Romance languages in order to study the way in which this literature is currently undergoing a phenomenon of ontological promotion and how, in turn, the territories are seizing on the phenomenon to promote a form of literary tourism that is booming.
Full description of the project
«UPPA-UNITO-03.pdf» (324.1 Ko)
Supervisors
Emilie Guyard (UPPA)
Alessandro Perissinotto (UNITO)
UPPA-UNITO-2.5.07 : Contributing to the creation of cultural heritage through the choice of French as a form of artistic expression
Recruiting university : UPPA (France) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
In today's world, multiple migrations have led a large number of authors to adopt a language other than their mother tongue, and many writers (outside the French-speaking world) have chosen French as their means of artistic expression, to name only S. Beckett, M. Kundera, A. Makine (who has become a member of the Académie française) or A. Weber. More rarely, their colleagues of Romance mother tongue, such as E. Ionesco or J. Semprún, have taken this route. The thesis will be devoted precisely to this last movement of intellectual and cultural migration: it proposes to first list the writers corresponding to this model for the period from 1945 to 2020, to then analyze (based on specific cases) by what strategies (translation, self-translation, change of language, appropriation of literary models etc.) they have succeeded - or not - in inscribing themselves in the French cultural heritage - thus participating in the construction of a European identity in Romance languages. By changing the language of litterary expression, thoses wrighters obtain also the possibility to bequeath their individual memory, that is generally linked to a collective one, to a broader public who can explore experiences of other nation by this means, for example every day life under the communism in the books of rumanian authors written in French.
Full description of the project
«UPPA-UNITO-04.pdf» (270.3 Ko)
Supervisors
Caroline Fischer (UPPA)
Franca Bruera (UNITO)
UPNA-UPPA-3.2.08 : Urban networks y societies between Navarra and Bearn (XIIe-mi XVe s.)
Recruiting university : UPNA (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
Noble and aristocratic society has been strongly studied in Navarra and Bearn. This proposal is interested in cities and urban elites, their family and business networks (artisan elites, larger-scale merchants, transporters, specially between Spain and France), their systems of legitimation and representation, their involvement in politics (in the town, but also in the service of the Kingdom of Navarre or the Viscounty of Bearn, church…), frameworks of sociability and the relevance of more neglected sectors, such as women in the urban world. The chronology would start from the end of the 12th century, where we have the first reasonable documentary pieces, and would reach the central years of the 15th century, until the beginning of civil struggles in Navarre, understanding that social phenomena must be addressed over the long term, and before the Viscounts' accession to the throne of Navarre. In Navarra, although the Pamplona case and, in part, that of Olite, are more worked on, the centers of Tudela, Estella and Sangüesa have not received attention. San Juan de Pie de Puerto is also very little known from this perspective. Tudela, in particular, presents municipal archives of great importance and scarcely worked within the framework of long-term investigations focused on its political society. In Bearn, the towns are often smaller than in Navarre, but belong to the same cultural unit (“Pays de Fors”). The towns selected are mainly Morlaàs, Orthez, Oloron, Lescar, Pau, but also Sauveterre-de-Béarn and Nay for their commercial function. They have never been studied for their urban elites society, their networks in Bearn, with Navarre or other regions (Aragon, Toulouse, Bayonne, Guyenne and England).
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Eloisa Ramirez Vaquero (UPNA)
Véronique Lamazou-Duplan (UPPA)
UPNA-UPPA-3.2.09 : Restoring the memory of the Spanish Civil War: towards a common trans-Pyrenean heritage?
Recruiting university : UPNA (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
While history is the scientific study of past events, memory is the subjective transmission of memories between individuals. Memory work is therefore a process of construction and sharing, in which memories, necessarily plural, are heard and included in the elaboration of historical discourse. It is both a key to rebuilding and understanding communities, and a tool for democratic defense. Memory work combines scientific research (data compilation, geographical organization, archaeological digs, DNA identification, testimonies), education (transmission of narratives to various audiences, publications) and heritage (transmission and concretization: war memorials, commemorative itineraries). In recent years, the French presidential election and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as in many other countries, have shown that the desire to transform the present is based on an alarming rewriting of the past. Consequently, the work of memory remains fundamental, in order to guarantee the plurality of testimonies and historical discourse, and to counter the manipulation of facts deceptively presented as “alternative”. The project aims to explain Pyrenean memory practices in the light of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the years of repression that followed. Focusing in particular on the analysis of memorial institutions such as the Navarrese Institute of Memory in Pamplona, the study will compare the mechanisms for restoring the memory of this conflict in a trans-Pyrenean dynamic. Based on the Spanish case, the aim is to gain a better understanding of the re-articulation of epistemological and political issues in historical work in contemporary societies.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Gemma Piérola Narvarte (UPNA)
Laurent Dornel (UPPA)
UPNA-UPPA-3.2.10 : Textile heritage in rural and mountain environments: material and intangible dimension. Continuities and evolutions.
Recruiting university : UPNA (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
The textile heritage has barely been investigated, much less in rural and mountain areas. It is a field of study with few methodological reference works, perhaps because it is a feminized heritage and, therefore, relegated. However, it is an object of study of great interest for several reasons. Firstly, because it presents in an indivisible way a material and an immaterial dimension, which can be a paradigm for the study of other tangible heritages. Secondly, because it includes both the processes and techniques of growing and collecting raw materials, manufacturing fabrics, and making and decorating them. Thirdly, because it is related to everyday life and its narrative, but also to festive and identity expressions and their narratives. Finally, because it is a heritage that is constantly evolving, even open to the innovations of current designers. Generating a reference methodology for the study of such a complex heritage, therefore, is a very important objective. On the other hand, investigating this heritage in rural and mountain areas gives the opportunity to assess adaptive and sustainable responses to this environment. The textile industry is responsible for an enormous ecological footprint both in the manufacturing and management of textile waste. The methodology required for research of this type has to be based on the analysis of very varied contents and sources, among which ethnographic field work is essential.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Alfredo Asiain (UPNA)
Mathilde Lamothe (UPPA)
UPNA-UPPA-3.2.11 - Promotion of intangible cultural heritage with digital inventory and digital mediation tools
Recruiting university : UPNA (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
Based on the experience in carrying out digital inventories of intangible cultural heritage in France and Spain (Navarra), the proposal focuses on developing digital tools for geopositioned signage and mediation, which allow the intangible cultural heritage to be valued and made visible. The latest augmented reality and virtual reality technologies will be used in the treatment of the intangible dimension of heritage assets, as well as the concept of ubiquitous learning when proposing educational and mediation applications. The experience of the Chair of Intangible Heritage of Navarra in the design and implementation of a mobile application for heritage signage and education will serve to improve the public's knowledge of ICH, their satisfaction with the mediation offered and the possibilities of sustainable local development based in the heritage. Therefore, a line of applied research is proposed that explores the social and economic uses of ICH through digital tools. This type of research connects perfectly with the work of the ITEM around the valorization of heritage. Specifically, the proposed research axis may address the adaptations of heritage discourse to different target audiences, the generation of more complete and satisfactory experiences for users, quantitative and qualitative studies of audiences, etc. It will be based on the design already implemented to improve and refine the signaling and mediation tool.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Alfredo Asian (UPNA)
Patricia Heininger-Casteret (UPPA)
UNIZAR-UPPA-4.2.12 : The landscapes of war: material testimonies and narratives of the conflicts of the 19th Century
Recruiting university : UNIZAR (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
The Carlist Wars were a civil conflict that marked Spain's entry into the contemporary era. Although the conflict affected the entire peninsula, the main centers were found around the French border -Basque Country-Navarre and Catalonia- and in the mountains of Maestrazgo. The war disrupted the lives of the people. Their territory became a battlefield. The villages were the scene of armed clashes, but they also had to suffer the daily presence of the troops. The Carlist conflict cannot be understood without knowing the territory, the villages, the roads and, in short, the geography of the war. Zumalacárregui became famous for his use of the territory. Cabrera also made use of his knowledge of the people and the characteristics of the country. The project proposes to study the remains that remain of the territory in which the war took place and to enhance the value of the urban and natural heritage remains that refer to the conflict. In this way, the aim is to reinforce the identity of the territory with the knowledge of its own past. And, at the same time, to preserve the architectural or natural elements that allow us to identify the effects of the war even today.
Full description of the project
«UNIZAR-UPPA-01.pdf» (211.2 Ko)
Supervisors
Pedro Rujula (UNIZAR)
Laurent Dornel (UPPA)
UNIZAR-UNITO-4.5.13 : The recovery of the artistic heritage of female artists in Europe between the wars
Recruiting university : UNIZAR (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
Our research proposal aims for the recovery of the artistic heritage created by women in the European interwar period, a necessary work to be accomplished in order to increase Europe's artistic heritage and to broaden our knowledge of works of arte created by women. Although the period in which the research focuses has attracted the attention of specialists in the field of the arts, and many studies have been devoted to analysing the contributions made by creators of different profiles (visual artists, architects, poets, writers, playwrights, filmmakers, photographers, etc.) with their creations, it should be remembered that the vast majority of the protagonists of these works are men. The women present in them have usually been relegated to a secondary position, in their role as companions or muses, and almost never as authors. Nevertheless, and thanks to the efforts of some research, we know that an important group of women were creators, participating in the avant-garde movements, being pioneers in some cases of certain techniques or forms of expression, and having conceived works that form part of Europe's artistic and cultural heritage, and which must be recovered, studied and valued. For this reason, this research aims to investigate the artistic heritage created by women in interwar Europe, with the intention of unravelling who they were and what their contribution was in the field of creation. Within this broad context, it is proposed to focus on the Spanish, Italian and French cases, with the aim of exploring not only the artistic styles they practised but also the relationships established between these territories in the field of training, collecting and the art market.
Full description of the project
«UNIZAR-UNITO-01.pdf» (331.3 Ko)
Supervisors
Concepcion Lomba Serrano (UNIZAR)
Anna Ciotta (UNITO)
UNIZAR-UNITO-4.5.14 : Written culture and literacy in Northeastern Hispania and Northern Italy (2 nd BCE-2nd CE): a comparative study based on epigraphy
Recruiting university : UNIZAR (Spain) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
The research project is based on the epigraphic documents of two well-studied regions (Northern Italiy — Gallia Cisalpina— and northeastern Hispania), with which the two co-directors of the thesis are familiar. It aims to delve from a comparative perspective into the transformations that written culture and literacy experienced—with different rhythms and notable local particularities—in these two regions between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. During this period both regions were integrated into the Roman Empire and became urbanized areas (although with rural spaces linked to them —especially in mountain areas) with an early integration into the Roman civic community. The research therefore starts from the incipient writing practices of local cultures such as Iberian and Celtiberian in Hispania, or Celtic and Venetic in Cisalpina —using their own writing systems and languages—, and it ends with the phase of maximum intensity of Roman epigraphic culture in the 2nd century CE. This century is unanimously acknowledged as the period of Antiquity in which literacy reached a greater development, although the degree of literacy of the ancient Roman population—and especially of women and inhabitants of rural areas—is a debated issue, particularly since the underestimating study of this phenomenon by W. Harris, Ancient literacy, 1989.
Full description of the project
«UNIZAR-UNITO-02.pdf» (250.6 Ko)
Supervisors
Francisco Beltran Lloris (UNIZAR)
Silvia Giorcelli (UNITO)
UNITO-UNITBV-5.7.15 : Documenting the Preservation of Digitized Archival Film : A Transdisciplinary Collaboration between universities and Film Archives
Recruiting university : UNITO (Italy) / Co-supervising university : UNITBV (Romania)
Summary
Film studies have historically focused on films as moving images projected on a screen, mainly treating them as texts to be interpreted. However, the relatively new practice of film preservation has veered scholarly attention from films as moving images to films as material objects, thus broadening the discipline's boundaries from the humanities to the hard sciences. Film preservationists can no longer limit themselves to a literary-based hermeneutic approach; they also need to understand the material nature of film. The introduction of digital technology has further complicated the issue by adding computer science to the list of disciplines needed to restore and preserve audiovisual works. Despite the need for a transdisciplinary approach, film preservation courses remain mostly limited to cinema and/or media studies departments, and film preservationists have either a humanistic or a scientific background. This Ph.D. project aims at bridging the gap between humanistic and scientific knowledge in film preservation by recruiting a candidate who would digitize titles from the film collection of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Torino, Italy, supervised by a Cinema Studies professor from the University of Torino, Italy. The second part of the project would involve designing and implementing algorithms for the digital color restoration of the video frames and for the correct preservation of the original content into its digital form, under the supervision of a professor of Electronics Engineering, Telecommunications and Information Technologies from Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania. The final step would be the documentation of the process in a publicly-accessible database.
Full description of the project
«UNITO-UNITBV-01.pdf» (228 Ko)
Supervisors
Sabrina Negri (UNITO)
Mihai Ivanovici (UNITBV)
UNITO-UVT-5.8.16 : ACUSTEME. Development of an OWL ontology for Linked Data publication of Italian and Romanian ethnographic and ethnomusicological digital archives
Recruiting university : UNITO (Italy) / Co-supervising university : UVT (Romania)
Summary
There are presently several digital repositories in Europe, dedicated to multimedia resources and metadata of ethnomusicological and ethnographic interest, implemented by different RDBMS technologies and catalographic standards, but without a shared normative standard. Although diversity makes up an asset – as specific digital cataloguing system fit the peculiarity of the materials and avoid too rigid standards and top-down heritagization processes – all the same, different approaches represent a problem for resources accessibility and visibility, both on a national and an international level. Digital catalogues could become a unified tool for ethnomusicological and ethnographic research if they are to be used and queried in an integrated way. Considering the history of digital archives in the Italian ethnomusicological field, and the substantial amount of already catalogued data, the enforcement of an international standard would be counter-productive and could be only carried out through a costly data conversion by each local resource centre. Current technologies allow for building a convergence of different descriptive models through Linked Open Data (LOD) technologies, bottom-up and cooperatively. This project aims to build an interoperable model through the creation of a computational ontology for the ethnomusicological and ethnographic domain, laying the foundation for semantic interoperability of digital archives. The case studies for the implementation of this research project will concern interoperability of Italian and Romanian digital archives, a proof of concept that has strong potential for international expansion and scalability.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Ilario Meandri (UNITO)
Otilia Hedesan (UVT)
UNITO-UPPA-5.2.17 : Witches then and now: from the patriarchal ban to the rehabilitation of female learned and rebels through arts and literatures
Recruiting university : UNITO (Italy) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
This thesis project builds on the philosophical reflections developed by Carolyn Merchant in The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution (or by Silvia Federici and Alicia Puleo in their respective essays). She argues that the status of women is the result of a systematic subjugation -–which runs parallel to the capitalist exploitation of nature– imposed by the founding fathers of modern science. As a social and mental construct, the enterprise to annihilate all the rebellious women would culminate in the witch-hunts conducted by the Inquisition in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. If the witch figure has inhabited Western imagination for centuries, the last ten years have seen films and novels flourish in Romance-speaking countries (Italy, France, Spain), which fictionalise these same historical facts, highlighting the tension between dissident or learned women (midwives, herbalists, etc.) and a repressive patriarchal order hiding behind the argument of reason. The purpose of the thesis is to study these historical narratives from a socio-critical and eco-feminist perspective, in order to measure the ability of literature and the arts to work on representations, to deconstruct a cultural heritage imbued with a patriarchal ideology, and on the contrary to rehabilitate an invisible cultural ‘matrimony’. How can rethinking representations of the past ultimately influence the present and the future, at a time when “new witches” – from feminists denouncing gender violence to ‘green witches’ reinventing new ways of inhabiting the world – are also being hunted down?
Full description of the project
«UNITO-UPPA-01.pdf» (438.2 Ko)
Supervisors
Chiara Lombardi (UNITO)
Pascale Peygara (UPPA)
UNIBS-UPPA-6.2.18 : New life and proposals to reactivate abandoned alpine areas: perspectives and roles of cultural communities in local development processes through the reuse of architectural heritage
Recruiting university : UNIBS (Italy) / Co-supervising university : UPPA (France)
Summary
The research aims to acquire specific knowledge about architecture and settlements in the mountain area, finding appropriate and effective methods to address their conservation and to valorize them. Beyond economic reasons, recognition and obsolescence play a role in abandoned processes. Several examples can be quoted concerning those settings that have not exactly been abandoned but have been underused because people prefer homogeneous buildings, even if they are anonymous models of dwelling. Implementing a co-evolutionary approach, some other cases can be identified, which prove how built heritage could be recognized and valorized even after radical changes in cultural and ethnic context take place. The management of these potentialities could be the subject of further research in the field. Therefore, the first step of the research consists in the analysis of the causes and of the consequences of abandonment: the processes of abandonment, the relationships with local memory, landscape’s transformation and the individuation of some methodologies for investigating the problem. As a second step, we will assess the possibility of promoting and encouraging the comeback, through strategies and prospects having the aim of relaunching historical mountain centre again, imagining a possible future. Attention will be given to normative approaches applied in UNITA countries. The last step will concern the discovery of some practical examples where the abandoned areas were converted and the people came back. The focus is put on the role that cultural heritage can play in these processes, from the perspective of a significant paradigm shift that places the preservation and the enhancement of these assets in a circular process starting from the territory and ending in the territory.
Full description of the project
«UNIBS-UPPA-01.pdf» (228.5 Ko)
Supervisors
Barbara Scala (UNIBS)
Christine Bouisset (UPPA)
UNIBS-UVT-6.8.19 : Use of early contemporary cartography and soft information to assess the hydrological water balance in the Alps along the last two centuries
Recruiting university : UNIBS (Italy) / Co-supervising university : UVT (Romania)
Summary
The Alps and the other European mountain ranges historically played and still play a crucial regulating role of the water fluxes, thanks to their capability of storing snow during cold seasons. Yet the present climate change, characterized by fastly increasing temperatures, is altering the mountain water cycle and reducing snow accumulation. At the same time, the abandonment of mountain areas rural activities exacerbates the hydrogeological hazard, whereas well managed slopes would let the soil to spontaneously act as natural water reservoir and mitigate the perturbations of the hydrological cycle. In this context, the proposed research will contribute to understand the evolution of water cycle in some Alpine basins, since the early 19th Century, at the beginning of the recession of the little Ice Age. Since then social dynamics as urbanization and abandonment of mountain agriculture and silviculture in favor of valley and low land ones provoked loss of may slope maintenance activities, local afforestation and the loo of most of the agriculture and silviculture related nonmaterial culture. Many of these changes are well documented by military and cadastral maps, as well as by contemporary surveys. The researcher will interpret 19th century maps and ancient agricultural techniques, in view of comparing the ancient and present landuse and management. Based on the maps, the researcher will perform the historical water balance and compare the contemporary one. The research therefore requires n interdisciplinary approach which mainly involves Hydrology and Geography, with elements of Climatology and Environmental History.
Full description of the project
Supervisors
Giovanna Grossi (UNIBS)
Remus Cretan (UVT)
UNITBV-UNITO-7.5.20 : The Use of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Creating Cultural Creative Touristic Destinations
Recruiting university : UNITBV (Romania) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
Historically, tourism sector was based mainly on various tangible assets. In the recent years, the tangible elements of tourism are more and more combined with experiences, as elements of the touristic demand;as a consequence, tourists became part of the co-creation process in the touristic experience – “the creative turn of tourism”. Cultural tourism made not exception from this trend; moreover, the new paradigm of “cultural tourism” seems to become the result of a synergy between cultural heritage and the specific experience of the tourist. Therefore, developing cultural creative t ouristic destinations needs a multidimensional and integrated approach and, finally, a comprehensive strategy of the policy-makers. The Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) represents a very generous source of creativity; therefore, it could become a defining element of differentiation, a tool used by the authorities as economic and social driver for the local development, and, also, an important provider of innovation, growth and a job generator. Despite the fact that some attempts of culture-related indicators tried to assess and to harmonize culture’s contribution at national and international level, there is a lack of information about the possible contribution of ICH at the creative cultural tourism in terms of innovation, competitiveness or sustainability. The present research proposal focuses on the contribution that ICH might have in the process of cocreation specific to creative tourism, as well as on developing new tools to monitor and to assess the contribution of ICH in the touristic destinatons development.
Full description of the project
«UNITBV-UNITO-01.pdf» (249.7 Ko)
Supervisors
Bianca Tescasiu (UNITBV)
Enrico Eraldo Bertacchini (UNITO)
UNITBV-UNITO-7.5.21 : Earth Observation Data Analysis for the Assessement of Climate Change Impact on Agricultural Crops Defining Cultural Heritage Areas
Recruiting university : UNITBV (Romania) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
Specific agricultural crops and practices define the culture and the cultural heritage of villages and people in particular areas in Romania and Italy. For instance, Brasov region is renown for its potato (also sugar beet) crops, thus the name of “Potato Country”. Due to climate changes, the respective agricultural crops are being replaced with different ones (e.g. rape), more robust and resistant to the new climate conditions in Brasov area. The impact of climate changes on the specific areas translates into impact on the culture of the regions, leading to a deprecation and loss of the cultural heritage. Remote Sensing, especiallys the Earth Observation data from the Copernicus program of European Commission, especially from the Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 satellites, offer invaluable data with free access for the monitoring of agricultural crops. In this project we aim at developing algorithms and approaches for remote sensing / EO data analysis for the quantification of the specific impact on traditional agricultural crops, estimate the water demands of the traditional crops, evaluate the natural-based solution to preserve soil quality and predict the evolution in time that will affect the cultural heritage of the chosen areas in Romania and Italy. By the joint collaboration between a Romanian and Italian research labs and universities, we aim at making steps towards the development of climate change-aware global solutions, which are independent of the specific location of the particular under-study crop and consider the causality provided by the climatic changes.
Full description of the project
«UNITBV-UNITO-02.pdf» (216.7 Ko)
Supervisors
Mihai Ivanovici (UNITBV)
Enrico Borgogno Mondino (UNITO)
UNITBV-UNITO-7.5.22 : Transcending Polyphony: Transcriptions and Premieres of Select Masses by Palestrina and Monteverdi for Solo Piano
Recruiting university : UNITBV (Romania) / Co-supervising university : UNITO (Italy)
Summary
This doctoral research, "Transcending Polyphony," innovatively intersects musicology, performance arts, and cultural heritage studies by transcribing selected masses by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Claudio Monteverdi for solo piano. Situated within the CHORAL programme's framework, this project not only contributes to the intangible cultural heritage and identity narratives but also significantly enhances the accessibility and dissemination of these historical works. The research entails an interdisciplinary exploration of Palestrina's and Monteverdi's compositions, involving field studies in Italian archives to understand their cultural and historical contexts deeply. This process aligns with the CHORAL programme’s emphasis on engaging with local communities and heritage sites (historic libraries and archives) within the UNITA Alliance territories. The project aims to bridge the gap between historical choral traditions and contemporary solo performance, resonating with broader narratives of cultural identity, memory, and religion. Further, by adapting these choral pieces for piano, the project advocates for innovative methods in music education and heritage management. The transcriptions will be made available to educational musical institutions across Europe, fostering an appreciation for these works among new generations of musicians and scholars. The use of digital tools in transcription and dissemination, including recordings and online platforms (all major streaming sites including but not limited to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and so on), aligns with CHORAL's focus on digitization and storytelling. The culmination of this project in a series of concerts and the publication of a doctoral thesis represents a comprehensive effort to enhance public engagement with cultural heritage. By presenting these revered compositions in a new format: as transcriptions for piano, easing their study, interpretation and dissemination, the project invites a re-examination of historical music, encouraging a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation, thus embodying the core values of the CHORAL programme.
Full description of the project
«UNITBV-UNITO-03.pdf» (266.2 Ko)
Supervisors
Petruta Maria Coroiu (UNITBV)
Silvia Pireddu (UNITO)
UNITBV -USMB-7.1.24 : The valorization of cultural heritage through the co-creation of value for the innovation of tourism services in smart destinations in Romania.
Recruiting university : UNITBV (Romania) / Co-supervising university : USMB (France)
Summary
Managing the capitalization of cultural heritage for the development of tourism and smart destinations is a very topical issue in Romania. Cultural heritage it requires a multi-dimensional, multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary approach to take into account all the different perspectives involved and to create an overall conceptual framework that interprets and governs the variety of interests and needs.The Romanian cultural heritage is, as research shows for other countries, a central issue, especially from the perspective of problems, such as the traditional dilemma of preservation vs. improvement. If previous researches were mainly oriented towards the dominant logic of tangible goods, in this research we propose an approach from the perspective of the interaction between tangible and intangible elements, based on the dominant logic of service, generating hypotheses that describe multiple relationships between the constructs research. In the current context of digitalization, the (co)creation of value for innovation processes in tourism services becomes essential for participation in online communities and, implicitly, must become the first priority objective for organizations and companies in the tourism industry to develop in the online environment, as a region or tourist destination brand and/or as a company/organization brand. Against this background, the dynamics of co-creation, service innovation and competitive advantage in smart destinations are analyzed through the adoption of information and communication technologies and by capitalizing on the moderating effects of trust.
Full description of the project
«UNITBV-USMB-02.pdf» (298.5 Ko)
Supervisors
Gheorghe Epuran (UNITBV)
Elodie Manthé (USMB)
UNITBV -UNIZAR-7.4.25 : Remote Sensing Data Analysis for Agriculture and Archaeological Crop Marks
Recruiting university : UNITBV (Romania) / Co-supervising university : UNIZAR (Spain)
Summary
A large number of archaeological remains and even entire sites are still there to reveal. Being covered with ground, agricultural crops, forests or built-up areas, they are very difficult to detect based on purely historical data. With the latest technologies in the remote sensing domain, the multitude of sensors and the possibility to scan large area from various altitudes, there became a standard approach to search for buried archaeological remains. However, the locally-specific approaches may not work when applied in a different context, thus the necessity of designing new approaches that can work at a global scale. In this project we propose a hybrid vision between remote sensing and archaeology, which is aimed at developing non-invasive approaches based on remote sensing / EO data analysis for the purpose of supporting the detection and interpretation of buried archaeological remains. The hypothesis is that the water stress of agricultural crops can be a very good indicative of buried archaeological remains. By using a combined multisource, multiscale and multitemporal use of information through satellite data, together with an extensive use of drones with visible, multispectral and thermographic sensors, possibly terrestrial LiDAR technology for greater details, in order to cover large areas that allow comparison in different growing seasons. By the joint collaboration between a Romanian and Spanish research labs and universities, we aim at making steps towards the development of global solutions, which are independent of the specific location of the particular type of studied area or agricultural crops.
Full description of the project
«UNITBV-UNIZAR-01.pdf» (218.6 Ko)
Supervisors
Mihai Ivanovici (UNITBV)
Jorge Angas Pajas (UNIZAR)