THEMES
HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Community Access and Representation
Heritage Economics, Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Creative Industries
Heritage Education
Post-colonial Narratives
This theme explores cultural heritage as a catalyst for the sustainable development of historic cities, . It considers tangible and intangible heritage through UNESCO and non-UNESCO frameworks, including Creative Cities. It examines how communities engage with heritage through representation, power, and spatial agency, within contexts of tourism-driven development, urban regeneration, and policy planning, while also addressing questions of economic sustainability and resource mobilisation. It also addresses post-colonial knowledge recovery, migratory histories, and shared industrial legacies, particularly between regions like the UK and India.
ON-GOING RESEARCH AND PHD WORK
Simona Cosentino - Community Uses of Tangible and Intangible Heritage Resources for Sustainable Development in India.
Ashna Patel - Investigating the role of tourism in regenerating historic urban cores - the case of Udaipur, Rajasthan.
David Green - Building new pathhways of support for heritage educators.
Conservation and Technology
Heritage Interpretation
Mixed Reality and Visitor Experience
Co-production of Digital Interpretation
DIGITAL HERITAGE
ON-GOING RESEARCH AND PHD WORK
The theme explores how digital technologies reshape the conservation, interpretation, and experience of cultural heritage, situating them as both a tool and a mediator in heritage practice. It focuses on digitally mediated processes, emphasising both technical precision and narrative richness, enabled through mixed reality and visualisation tools. It addresses ethical concerns around digital representation, advocating community-led and co-produced interpretations. By using digital data to inform conservation decisions, it encourages collaborative storytelling and equitable representation, while remaining aware of the risks of community tokenism.
Mrudula Mane - Reimagining Ruins and Rethinking Conservation Approaches.
Zeus Pithawalla - Designing VR Serious Games for Cultural Heritage Awareness.
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Community Participation and Co-curation
Spatial Appropriation and Marginalisation
Linguistic and Oral Histories
Women-led knowledge production
COMMUNITY HISTORIES AND NARRATIVES
Neethu Mathew - Unbound Domesticities: Spatial Appropriation in Chawl Neighbourhoods.
Tamsin Greaves - Art cares. exploring how creative workshops in museum spaces can improve the wellbeing of vulnerable participants.
Sonali Gurung - Unpacking Darjeeling’s Spatial History: Subaltern Narratives, Colonial Legacies, and Re-reading of Visual Materials (1816-1947).
Shashi Mandal - Infrastructure for Everyday life elements of traditional town: supporting needs of old-age people.
ON-GOING RESEARCH AND PHD WORK
ON-GOING RESEARCH AND PHD WORK
This theme centres on amplifying marginalised voices and lived experiences in heritage discourse. It foregrounds indigenous perspectives, labour and women’s voices, and the presence of marginalized groups at World Heritage sites. It explores spatial narratives, private vs. public, domestic vs. social, while advocating for community-led curation, including the role of youth and elderly, house museums, and women’s knowledge production. It further delves into linguistic narratives and oral histories, especially in post-colonial and maritime contexts, are key to recovering silenced memories and understanding how language shapes tangible heritage.
CONSERVATION AND MATERIAL SCIENCE
Material Characterisation
Structural Conservation
Heritage and Material Technology
Material Archives
ON-GOING RESEARCH AND PHD WORK
ON-GOING RESEARCH AND PHD WORK
The theme focuses on the technological and scientific study of building materials to inform heritage conservation, particularly in the context of 20th-century modern architecture. It emphasises the analysis of building fabric, including materials like concrete shells, finishes, and the study of degradation phenomena such as salt efflorescence. It views material properties as historical evidence, using them to trace architectural practices, innovations, and transformations over time. It highlights the growing need for conservation strategies tailored to modern materials, ensuring the preservation of lesser-recognised yet historically significant architectural forms.
Nigar Shaikh - Hygric properties of historically used lime-based binders.