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Interview with Francesca Benetti – Co-founder of Hild LTD

Here we are with Francesca Benetti, Co-founder of Hild LTD, a British company that focuses on the preservation of cultural heritage. With her we will discuss the recovery of ancient ways of managing territories and knowledge, AI, and change management. Happy reading!

How much have your method and working techniques undergone changes in recent years as a result of climate change, and how important will it come to be within your projects?

Climate change plays a major role in the field of cultural heritage, both in terms of topics and methods. Cultural heritage is certainly affected by climate change (just think of Venice!) and its preservation presents us with ethical dilemmas as, unfortunately, something will be forcibly lost. However, the cultural sector can also be a positive factor: it can give us insights into designing a more sustainable future with local communities and, being a sector with a large ‘audience,’ it can serve as an example to spread good practices. At Hild, environmental sustainability is an important factor: I am certified ‘Carbon Literate’ by the Carbon Literacy Trust and we take carbon emissions into account when choosing our methodologies, starting with small everyday actions such as using digital instead of paper, or storage policies that limit the use of ‘web’ space on servers.

Looking into the future, what role might artificial intelligence play within your work?

Without looking too far into the future, the use of AI is already here. Within our work it is mainly used for data management, transcription, and risk prediction. For example, its use is being experimented with for managing archaeological potential (or risk) in land use planning (e.g., to decide where to run a road or plant trees for environmental sustainability, to choose areas where there is a low probability of finding buried archaeological heritage). AI through data analysis can tell us the “safest” areas to avoid a conflict between environmental and historical capital. It does not play a key role to date, but certainly, especially in the coming years, it will become very important.

Could “sustainable heritage” benefit from policies and regulations that promote sustainability? If so, how and to what extent? 

The public sector and institutions (at least in the UK) are also increasing their focus on green because of the goals set by policy including, most importantly, the 2050-oriented net zero. Institutions, by making very important stances in this regard, have provided cues to companies allowing them to structure clear and realistic strategies, including supporting them by allocating funding. However, it remains to be seen whether and to what extent these incentive and financial tools are sufficient to support the transition to a greener world. In fact, if we consider that cultural heritage is not only made of objects and buildings, but also of landscapes, built by man throughout history (and constantly changing!) we understand how huge the financial scale is and how many “actors” are involved, largely private. Collaborations with third sector entities would not be sufficient to sustainably manage this heritage.

What is the main advantage and disadvantage of involving researchers, institutions, NGOs and using open-source technologies in your field?

There are some projects aimed at improving collaboration between organizations, researchers and institutions by implementing data sharing in a positive way. This can lead to the creation of larger databases, more information and shared know-how. On the other hand, profitable and efficient use of these open data and open source is very difficult to achieve: the data are often partial or difficult to access, not available to all organizations, or the stakeholders do not have the skills to use the tools needed to manage this mass of data.

How has the imagery related to cultural heritage changed in recent years and what will be the next work scenarios?

The cultural heritage sector is very much alive, and this has led in recent years to the creation of new collaborations, inclusive projects, new skills and new working models. However, there is often a lack of knowledge about a range of knowledge that complements the technicalities of the sector (digital, business modeling, sustainability) that is not yet widespread enough. Hild’s mission is precisely this: to support actors in the “cultural heritage” sector with a tailor-made approach to support, among other things, the facilitation of collaboration, data collection, data management, and evaluation in a dynamic way, helping to implement cultural heritage preservation and enhancement projects that truly look to the future. 

Would you have a book or film to recommend in order to explore the relationship between the environment and cultural heritage?

To explore how our past is useful for better designing our future I recommend ‘Reinventing Sustainability. How Archaeology Can Save the Planet’ by Erika Guttmann-Bond.

Instead, to find out how cultural heritage in the English context is already mobilizing to build a greener world, I recommend ‘Heritage Responds’ (2022), a report containing several case studies.

NB: The interviews reported here are not part of paid commercial services. They are for the sole purpose of sharing ideas, projects and reflections among De-LAB newsletter subscribers.a gli iscritti alla newsletter De-LAB.