In DECOPE (Destructive Exploitation and Care of Cultural Objects. Professional/Public Education for sustainable heritage management), researchers in Norway, Scotland, and Spain address the challenges of providing helpful and appropriate care for cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict environments, focusing on Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine.

How is care mobilised for cultural heritage during armed conflict?

The war between Russia and Ukraine firmly locates major challenges relating to heritage, society and ethics in areas of armed conflict in the heart of Europe. Against this backdrop, DECOPE aims to investigate how care is mobilised for cultural heritage during armed conflict, identifying the challenges, impacts and effects of local, national and international responses in order to create more effective, competent and targeted support for the work of professionals and communities.

Trafficking of cultural property under guise of “rescue”.

When national institutions are severely strained in war zones, alternative, ad-hoc structures emerge. These can help accelerate the impact and effectiveness of care and collaboration with international institutions providing aid. Yet, the power void created by severe damage to bureaucracy and opaque processes of rapid response makes cultural property vulnerable to expropriation in the name of cultural patrimony and trafficking of cultural property under guise of “rescue”.

DECOPE explores the contraditions and consequences of nationally-driven cultural heritage policies for heritage management, community involvement and global responsibility. While tracking Ukrainian heritage “rescue” projects across Europe, the project will pinpoint the challenges of providing aid/assistance and reveal how, and by whom, narratives about cultural heritage are produced and used in different local, regional, national and international contexts.

Investigates cultural heritage in conflict areas

Through online and face-to-face fieldwork, we work with Ukrainian heritage professionals to understand how they work to mitigate damage to both the heritage they manage and their professional lives. Through cooperation with public administrators, we identify barriers, bottlenecks and constraints and produce guidance and resources to create more effective and sustainable collaboration between international and national.

The research 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 (JPI CH).