Digitisation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the time of Covid. Digital Inventory in El Bierzo
About this good practice
The creation of a Digital Inventory in El Bierzo is a project of the Instituto de Estudios Bercianos (IEB), in collaboration with the UNED (Universidad Nacional a Distancia) and the Biosphere Reserve of Los Ancares in León, whose objective is to safeguard the intangible assets of the area and subsequently contribute to the creation of a broader inventory at a regional level.
The inventory is not limited to monuments and collections of objects, but also includes traditions or living expressions handed down from generation to generation, instilling a sense of identity in the population
The aim of this project is:
- Identify intangible heritage, define and inventory it with the communities that carry it for its protection and identify safeguarding actions and measures, thus facilitating the preparation of (national and international) dossiers.
- To make the inventoried assets visible and show their value as a resource to society.
With COVID-19, damage to intangible cultural heritage is substantial and immediate. Numerous manifestations of the Community's intangible heritage, such as popular celebrations, could not be celebrated. The transmission of intergenerational knowledge is being affected, as are the foundations of social cohesion and collective cultural identities. The losses in economic flows related to the organisation and enjoyment of the manifestations of this heritage are considerable. This project is one of the strategies to enhance cultural and intangible heritage
Resources needed
The Junta de Castilla y León has granted the project a subsidy of 42,000 euros.
Evidence of success
This tool has been made available to the municipalities and neighbourhood councils of Bierzo and Laciana in order to increase the repository and ensure the protection of the assets. When the project was presented to the mayors of the different municipalities in the Reserve, they agreed to collaborate and workshops were held to train trainers in the preparation of inventories, data collection and field work.
Potential for learning or transfer
Creation of a "Heritage Content Manager" that allows the reasoned cataloguing of the intangible assets of the territory. With this manager, research teams can manage in a collaborative environment, with autonomy and without the need for technical knowledge, cultural heritage assets by reusing resources (audio, video, images, ...), using metadata based on standards and generating different output packages (HTML, EPUB3, ...). This web tool has been developed applying the standards of structured or semi-structured data representation, linked data, data analytics, technical standards of interoperability and open data (SPA, REST, NoSQL).
The inventory will be interchangeable with other existing databases and with the future Census of Cultural Heritage of Castilla y León. It will be accessible to the public through a website.
With regard to the COVID-19 policies, its methodology for this type of inventory is novel as it uses the PDNA (Post Disaster Needs Assessment).
Further information
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Saint Mary the Royal Foundation of Historic Heritage