Uni’sstudy ofukraine wareffects

Stirling University heritage experts are to study responses to protecting cultural heritage and monuments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

They are part of a new international project exploring how cultural heritage, monuments and the professionals involved in their safeguarding, can be better protected during times of war.

The Stirling academics will be joined by colleagues from Norway and Spain.

The University of Stirling research team is led by professor of heritage and director of the Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy, Siân Jones.

The project - Destructive Exploitation and Care of Cultural Objects and Professional/public Education for Sustainable Heritage Management (DECOPE) - has been funded by €674,000 from the European Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPICH).

The main goal of the project is to identify national and international responses that aim to safeguard heritage and heritage practitioners during the war, helping to create more effective and targeted support.

Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) researchers and Stirling University will track support initiatives and networks of cooperation across Europe, investigate their impact, and identify the challenges of providing helpful aid and assistance in conflict and post-conflict environments.

Professor Jones said: “Through online and face-toface fieldwork, we will work with Ukrainian heritage professionals, NGOS and lay communities to understand the challenges they face, and how they have mobilised to mitigate damage to both the heritage they manage and their professional lives.

“Together, we will also examine the impact of external support in order to create more effective and sustainable collaboration between international and national organisations outside Ukraine and those working with heritage ‘on the ground’in conflict situations.”

The third DECOPE research partner, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) in Spain, will focus on illicit trafficking and the traceability of sales of antiquities.

The Ukrainian organisations Museum Crisis Center and the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe are associate partners in the project, together with the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland.

The project, which runs for two years from 2023 to 2025, is led by Josephine Munch Rasmussen, Senior Researcher at NIKU in Norway.