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Project facts

Duration: 2015-07-01 - 2018-02-29
Project coordinator: Durham University (UK)
Project consortium: Bibracte EPCC (France); Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain); Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (UK); Cotswold Archaeology (UK); Réseau des Grands Sites de France (France); Parc naturel du Morvan (France); Diputacion Provincial Avila (Spain)
Funding bodies: JPI CH
Subject areas: Archaeology, History, Tangible Heritage, Natural Heritage, Cultural Landscapes, Methods/procedures, Ecology, Sustainability, Heritage Management
Budget: 508.578.56€
Website: www.refit.com

Presentation

  • Through research focusing on some of the most significant monuments in European history (Late Iron Age oppida: c.200BC-AD60), this project will explore how communities (including farmers, SMEs, wildlife organizations and residents) understand and experience cultural landscapes.
  • The REFIT project maximizes existing expertise on oppida through cooperation between three project partners.
  • The project recognizes that the ecology, heritage and wildlife of these landscapes cannot be divorced from each other or their economic value.
  • We aim to develop a broader understanding of the perceptions and needs of stakeholders whilst integrating them into archaeological research.
  • Building on best-practice, we are implementing a range of engagement strategies and resources for 4 case study sites: Bibracte (France), Ulaca (Spain) and Bagendon & Salmonsbury in the UK.
  • Through this, the REFIT project aims to enhance knowledge transfer and develop the sustainable management of these cultural landscapes.

Impacts & Results

  • Sustainability: This project directly addresses the call for sustainable strategies for managing cultural heritage and the use of this heritage.
  • Addressing societal challenges: the project directly addresses the aim of meeting social challenges by developing methodologies to integrate frequently neglected stakeholders (rural SMEs, ecologists, NGOs) in the presentation and management of cultural landscapes.
  • Narrowing the gap between heritage research (in this case, archaeological) and the values/interests of other stakeholders to solve the problems faced in managing, protecting and engaging people with cultural heritage.
  • Interdisciplinary and collaborative: the project fits the aim to maximize the value of research by integrating organizations outside the academic community.
  • Interactions and partnerships: engaging and communicating between cultural heritage researchers and a variety of user groups and stakeholders.
  • Creation of innovative tools such as digital field guides that integrate value information (wildlife, ecology, farming strategies).
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