Environmental and social impact assessment of cultural heritage restoration and its application to the Uncastillo Fortress

Abstract

The restoration of cultural heritage, like in other production sectors, requires an innovative approach to integrate the principles of sustainability into processes. The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate that an integrated environmental and social impact assessment of restoration works can be conducted through the use of an operational model, which for the first time is applied to a real case of public private partnership (PPP) in the cultural heritage sector. The evaluation of the proposed strategy is carried out through an approach based on life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, which takes into account environmental and social aspects. An environmental LCA analysis was conducted on a case study, assessing the effects of an intervention of a historical site that was restored to become a museum. The social effects arising from the intervention were then examined and evaluated with an approach based on the key points of the UNEP/SETAC S-LCA guidelines involving stakeholders, social topics, and performance indicators, thus defining a reference framework that can be adapted to the case study. The environmental LCA analysis identified the phases of the restoration with the most impact as those related to the reconstruction of materials and elements that was necessary when the originals were too damaged to be recovered. The use and periodic replacement of electronic equipment in the museum also had a significant impact in the use phase of the buildings. The evaluation method for the social aspects scored each social theme, outlining the benefits produced by the restoration. The results show that the restoration had several positive effects, particularly in terms of social issues related to the local community. The environmental LCA assessed the advantages and the hotspots in the recovery and reuse of heritage buildings. The framework developed from the guidelines for the S-LCA of products is a suitable tool for the evaluation of social aspects related to cultural heritage interventions, after adapting the methodology of S-LCA to the context and to the reference case study. In some cases, evaluations are based on subjective judgments, but the results provide a reliable overview of the social impact generated.