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There is a lack of homogeneous preventive and reactive measures to protect documentary heritage in Europe, in particular towards natural and man-made disasters. This includes the consequences of Global Warming on archives, which could lead to a damage and even disappearance of the heritage.
In parallel, archival institutions have to reduce their carbon footprint in their day-to-day activities of conservation, digitisation, and promotion of European heritage and History. SAGA aims at preparing, improving and testing archival institutions with regard to resilience and recovery against disasters and climate change, developing pilot solutions and joint recommendations for the protection and management of documentary heritage while fostering the adoption of more sustainable practices. The main purpose of the project is:
- To strengthen the preparedness of archival institution towards potential natural and man-made threats.
- To develop pilot preventive and reactive methodologies for the archival institutions to apply against unexpected events by implementing new digital tools and policies to reduce damages and safeguard their heritage.
- To promote a change of mindset and offer the necessary skills to smoothly move to greener approaches.
Thanks to the collaboration between cultural institutions and scientific and academic sectors (architectural, microbiological, sustainability, energy efficiency, and socio-economic experts), the partnership will assess disaster effects on archives/documents, buildings, and staff (humidity levels, fungus, health affections etc.). It will explore how to improve their management methods to be in line with more sustainable practices and the European Green Deal, including promoting the consumption of proximity goods and using sustainable raw materials (biodegradable or recycled) for new merchandising campaigns, in addition to creating public awareness and visibility around these topics.