Cultural heritage in conflict areas (DECOPE)

In DECOPE (Destructive Exploitation and Care of Cultural Objects. Professional/Public Education for sustainable heritage management), researchers in Norway, Scotland, and Spain have addressed the challenges of providing helpful and appropriate care for cultural heritage in war and conflict environments, focusing on Russia’s 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 has investigated how care is mobilised for cultural heritage during war, 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 and expropriation 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 and local 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 and evacuation. Furthermore, the project found that the use of cultural heritage as a tool for hybrid warfare is expressed in propaganda as well as in its use in financing and incentivizing political violence.

DECOPE explored the contradictions and consequences of nationally-driven cultural heritage policies for heritage management, community involvement and global responsibility.

Care, mobilisation, and manipulation of cultural heritage in conflict areas

Through online and face-to-face fieldwork as well as open-source research we have worked with Ukrainian heritage professionals to understand how they work to mitigate damage both to the heritage they manage and their professional lives. Through cooperation with public administrators, the project has identified bottlenecks and constraints on the one hand and successful practices and cases on the other. From these, we have co-produced guidance and resources to create more effective and sustainable collaboration between international and national providers and receivers of aid and care for culture and heritage.

The research project “Destructive Exploitation and Care of Cultural Objects and Professional/Public Education for Sustainable Heritage Management (DECOPE)” received funding of €674,000 from the European Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH).