Sustainability

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Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability is a crucial concept in all aspects of modern society, including cultural heritage conservation. In this particular field, it involves the development and implementation of strategies that ensure the long-term preservation of cultural heritage while minimizing the negative impacts of conservation activities on the environment and society.

The need to achieve this goal has resulted in a multitude of efforts that span throughout all areas of cultural heritage as sustainability considerations are now being integrated not only into conservation but also into the management of cultural heritage sites, including the monitoring and reduction of water and energy consumption, waste management, and the promotion of sustainable tourism. There is still, however, a long way to go.

This special Issue, encouraged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG 11 target 4: strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage) and by the twelve principles of Green Chemistry, is designed to shed light on these recent advances and to provide a stage where they can be presented, discussed and hopefully become a source of inspiration for further improvement and dissemination.

We welcome contributions presented as original articles, reviews and case studies. Research areas may include, but are not limited to:

- New and greener materials and treatments in Heritage Conservation;

- New and greener synthetic methods;

- New methodologies, processes and/or methodologies aimed at increasing sustainability in Cultural Heritage.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ana Catarina Pinheiro
Prof. Dr. Cristina Galacho
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainability
green
conservation
tangible heritage

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

22 pages, 3554 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Plant Diversity in Archaeological Sites and Its Bioindication Values for Nature Conservation: Assessments in the UNESCO Site Etruscan Necropolis of Tarquinia (Italy)

by Giulio Zangari, Flavia Bartoli, Fernando Lucchese and Giulia Caneva

Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16469; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316469 - 30 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 665

Abstract

In archaeological sites, plants can be a risk for monument conservation. However, in these sites, a refugium for plant biodiversity is often detected, such as in the UNESCO site Etruscan necropolis of “Monterozzi” in Tarquinia, which still holds a Special Protection Area for bats. In this site, we previously evaluated the positive and negative effects of vascular plants on the conservation of the hypogeal tombs. To contribute in assessing the role of archaeological sites in supporting plant diversity and interpreting its bioindication values for nature conservation, we analyse in this relevant place the floristic interest and richness and the plant communities growing on tumuli, trampled, and less disturbed areas. The results revealed the presence of several plants with high naturalistic interest, such as the community’s representative of synanthropic and natural Mediterranean grasslands, which arise both from the present and the past uses of the area. The high naturalistic values of the site are also assessed, considering its remarkable richness of species/area compared with the well-known archaeological sites of Rome. These findings further indicate that plant diversity needs to be considered in planning management activities in archaeological sites to also protect their natural values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Cultural Heritage Conservation)

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Review

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16 pages, 638 KiB

Open AccessReview

Plant Essential Oils as Biocides in Sustainable Strategies for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage

by Roberta Russo and Franco Palla

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8522; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118522 - 24 May 2023

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2183

Abstract

Biodeterioration is a complex network of interactions between macro/micro-biological systems and organic/inorganic substrates involving physical and chemical alterations, strictly related to their metabolic activities. Concerning microbial deterioration, finding a correct approach to counteract this process is often difficult, requiring an understanding of the kind of alterations and the use of methods that respect artwork and human and environmental health. Specific conservative and remedial methods are used for this aim. They comprise physical, mechanical, and chemical methods, as well as, frequently, synthetic chemical biocides, which have obvious limitations because of their toxicity to operators or because they contain polluting substances that persist in the natural environment. New and alternative research has strongly focused on strategies to replace the use of toxic methods with natural products that do not have undesired effects, as well as implementing safe, novel compounds. Several plants contain natural chemical compounds such as oils, phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, coumarins, tannins, etc., commonly used as drugs, bioactive molecules, and nutrients. Essential oils extracted from plants can be the correct way to prevent the biodeterioration of cultural heritage in a safe manner. This review aims to summarize the latest research on the use of natural essential oils in restoration procedures for cultural heritage, considering them sustainable means with respect to the environment and human health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Cultural Heritage Conservation)

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