Cultural Heritage and Social Cohesion

Funding: MTA TK

In 2010 the European Commission launched a research and innovation strategy for strengthening Europe in a changing world, so that its societies remained inclusive, innovative, and reflective. Since then, the institution started several calls on culture and cultural heritage, which inspired Imre Kovách to start the project “Cultural heritage and social cohesion”. It aims to explore the factors that help create social cohesion, and what roles place attachment and its connection to cultural heritage play for that purpose.

Beyond mapping best practices for EU bid applications, the researcher plans to develop innovative methodologies to promote innovative research on cultural heritage. It does so using quantitative and qualitative methods, taking advantage of interdisciplinary fields like sociology, architecture, and geography. The project will do a theoretical review will by analyzing secondary data on cultural heritage, place attachment and social cohesion. Best practices will be mapped through case-study analysis. The project aims to build a methodological framework for research on the topic by comparing the relationship between cultural heritage, place attachment and social cohesion.

The project is timely because culture and cultural heritage are a significant resource in development policies; modernization and local heritage are not mutually exclusive. Society benefits from this project because its results will better inform place-making and planning in both rural and urban areas. To raise awareness on the societal relevant of cultural heritage, the project envisions a journal article as part of its dissemination and communication strategy. Workshops held by the researchers will complement this task, and will aim at national and international researchers. Facebook groups and events will be set up to establish an international scientific network, with the goal of applying for H2020 project proposals on culture and cultural heritage.

Principal investigator (PI):

Imre Kovách  
Research Chair 
Researcher profile page 

Contact the PI