Concepts

Industrial heritage consists of the remains of industrial culture which are of historical,
technological, social, architectural or scientific and economic value. The motives for protecting the
industrial heritage are based on the universal value of this evidence, and on the singularity of unique
sites. Adaptive reuse of industrial heritage is a culturally sustainable option in urban transformation and
heritage is a potential resource for the regional development. This approach permits conservation
through development– utilization and integration of redundant industrial constructs in the contemporary
urban landscape (Yıldırım & Erdem, 2013). Industrial sites all around Europe and deindustrialisation
processes give rise to social, economic and environmental problems that are resulting from structural
change (Berger, 2019). Therefore, there is an urgent need to find sustainable management models for
overcome these challenges (Veldpaus & Pendlebury, 2019). For the European context, giving industrial
heritage an economic and social meaning in the deindustrialization process has been a priority since
1970s and culminated into significant policy documents over the last years3. Following the
deindustrialisation process, the appreciation for the relics of the industrial culture, as well as how to deal
with them were discussed and conceptualized initially in Western Europe, North America and Australia
through professional organizations (ICOMOS; TICCIH).

CONSIDER aims to answer research questions as listed below:
RQ1: How to improve existing definitions of industrial heritage from the regional, local, economic and
historical aspects?
RQ2: How to ensure that the stakeholders recognize and prioritize public benefit for
industrial heritage development, preservation and the social inclusiveness as part of the European
shared culture?
RQ3: How to measure the balance between economic development and preserving
industrial heritage? How can the principle of “sustainable development through conservation” be applied
through the different approaches to understanding heritage?
RQ4: How does industrial heritage contribute to mobilize knowledge and research in building an innovative Europe? RQ5: How can
industrial heritage and the adaptation of industrial sites help to strengthen local and global partnerships
and to reinforce international cooperation for burning priorities of recovery (economic, social and cultural)
in the era of social distancing and deglobalization? Can the added value of knowledge and research
mobilization benefit to public and if yes, how?

Methods
CONSIDER will adopt multiple research methodologies including literature review, induction and
qualitative analysis methods. This project is conceptualised with a case-based approach (Archer,
Bhaskar, Collier, Lawson, & Norrie, 2013), as a recognised method for Localities Studies through
extensive and intensive research strategies with quantitative, qualitative dimensions. Multiple case
studies based on systematic comparison are the foundations of useful theoretical descriptions of the
world, which allows achievement of a synthesis between cause and meaning (Byrne & Ragin, 2009).
Research on urban history learns from case-based methods, but have also positive impacts on applied
fields such as conservation of cultural heritage.