IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section B
Abstract
Climate Change poses significant threats to cultural heritage, leaving both citizens and experts often feeling powerless to address these challenges. The “Simvadizoume” project, developed in Greece, sought to restore a sense of control and responsibility, enabling citizens, through education and cooperation with cultural professionals, to actively care for and protect their local monuments. The project’s primary scope was to create a common knowledge and ground that would stimulate effective collaboration between heritage professionals and local communities for the protection of monuments from climate change threats. For this ambitious endeavor to succeed, it was essential to activate mutual understanding between those different stakeholders and target audiences. To accomplish this, a diverse range of educational activities was developed and tailored to suit groups of various ages and backgrounds. The abovementioned educational activities led to hand on practices, namely voluntary actions -designed and implemented by local communities- in order to protect monuments from extreme weather phenomena. The defining characteristic of the project was the clarification of roles, responsibilities, and limits of action between professionals – authorities and active citizens. Having a well-defined project “message” we were able to create non-formal educational content and deliver a training toolkit that can be easily scaled and adapted for future activities. Overall by going beyond theoretical approaches and traditional awareness campaigns, and instead embracing innovative, hands-on practices, the project successfully established a strong foundation for collaboration between different groups of people, emphasizing that together we always achieve more.
Laura – Melpomeni Tapini: Conservator of Antiquities and Heritage Consultant with over 20 years of experience in Europe, Asia and Africa. Trained in Conservation in Italy, with an MA(Hons) in Buildings Conservation, York, UK, and further trainings at ICCROM and the Getty Conservation Institute. Co-founder and Managing Director of DIADRASIS, an educational NGO for the protection of unrevealed cultural heritage. Through DIADRASIS, which collaborates with various institutions and involves participants from 62 countries, she continuously fulfills the vision of training more people in saving heritage for the benefit of all.
Lydia Drolia: Educational Program Manager and responsible for the Awareness activities of Diadrasis. Studied Cultural Heritage Management and New Technologies at the University of Patras and later fulfilled her Master’s studies at Harokopio Univerity of Athens, Postgraduate Studies Program “Education and Culture”. Lydia’s experience includes leading public engagement strategies for heritage projects, where she applies creative methodologies to foster awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage reflecting her commitment to lifelong learning and an ability to inspire audiences to connect with and preserve their shared cultural legacy.
Ourania Kordali: Studied Conservation of Works of Art and Antiquities at UNIWA and holds a master’s degree in Cultural Heritage Materials and Technologies from the University of Peloponnese, Greece. Her research interests include the analysis of inorganic archaeological materials, contemporary curatorial trends in archaeological collections, and the conservator’s relationship with the artist/creator. She has been active in the conservation profession since 2014 and has worked on re-exhibitions, restoration projects, and excavations.
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Thursday 26th June, 2025