european acoustic memory

EUROPEAN ACOUSTIC HERITAGE

Detailed description of the project

Strand 1.2.1 - Cooperation measures. Culture Programme 2007-2013

September 2010

Contents of the document:

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 1

General concept and objective of the Project ................................................................................................................ 2

Activities and results ...................................................................................................................................................... 3

Calendar and milestones ................................................................................................................................................ 8

Acoustic Environment as a part of European Culture Heritage ..................................................................................... 8

Introduction

“We are what we sound”. This is what the sound environmentalist Murray Schafer has so clearly

expressed. And how do we sound nowadays? What is the sound of Europe? How are our memories and

history expressed through the sound?

According to UNESCO, the “intangible cultural heritage” means the practices, representations,

expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces

associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of

their cultural heritage. The processes of globalization and social transformation favour the trend of

deterioration, disappearance and destruction of the intangible cultural heritage.

Within this intangible culture, usually not preserved in tangible media, there is an audible culture. It is

made up by the sounds that composed our memories, bringing the atmosphere back from the past as

well as “travelling” to innovative contemporary places. This enhances the value

of an acoustic space and audible environment in urban context. Paying attention

to this aspect of urbanism helps to prevent from its disappearance and gives

living spaces a new quality. Defining the audible environment or soundscape as a

part of our cultural heritage means, besides the recovery of an important part of

it, learning to listen better. Related to this objective it is important to train the

audience of the future, by making the children aware of it and training them on

how learning to feel the audible dimension of their environment.

The coordinator of the idea is Axencia Galega das Industrias Culturais (AGADIC), a regional public agency

aimed to support the cultural industry from Galicia, Spain. Together with the coorganisers it will develop

a work programme during two years addressed to research on the European acoustic heritage, to

preserve it by new techniques and to define and disseminate it. Partners are as follows: the University of

Applied Sciences of Tampere, with a wide and important knowledge on acoustic environments

throughout Europe; the Centre de recherche sur l'espace sonore et l'environnement urbain (CRESSON) of

L'École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Grenoble and member of the International Ambiances

Network, with a long research background and publications about the audible dimension of architecture

and urban space with multi-disciplinary methods; the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften by

the Phonogrammarchiv, with a valuable sound recordings archive and extensive documentation on the

topic, including conceptual work. Fundación Illa de San Simón was created to preserve and promote

values and activities of cultural and environmental heritage, including education and cultural

exhibitions. Besides these direct members and participants the idea was born in close cooperation with

other institutions and groups from different countries.

From an intercultural and interdisciplinary point of view all of them will work jointly to define a first

European Acoustic Heritage map of sounds, through the history and through the geography. How could

we attract the attention to the soundscapes and acoustic heritage of the European contemporary

society?

General concept and objective of the project

The “European Acoustic Memory” is aimed at discovering and enhancing the “soundscapes of Europe,

the different sounds that make up the imaginary world and personality of the places and environments

as a part of the European common cultural heritage. Through this unity in diversity, the respect for

cultural and linguistic diversity and the promotion of a common cultural heritage, as it is proposed by

the European Cultural Agenda.

The project will provide bibliographical references about the audible aspects of the cities, recordings of

the audible landscape from several places as well as documents that analyse the gathered material. It

will also contribute to strengthen and disseminate the common heritage through actions addressed to

the widest diffusion and visibility of the results all across Europe.

The production of all these contents will provide an opportunity to consider the sound as a living

heritage, which must be preserved and enhanced because of its fragility. Furthermore it will show the

importance of the sound of human spaces as a piece of the European culture, such as the sound of the

squares, the parks, the human voices and the sound of children playing at the schoolyard, the sound of a

street in a rainy day, the sound of an industry area or transport and more human activities.

The “European Acoustic Heritage" will help to generate experiences in different places throughout

Europe that define audible identities and common spaces. Supported by the technology and the

communication tools the organisers will disseminate the results reached by the project, as well as the

work with other groups and associations.

Return to the acoustic ecology. Following the steps of Murray Schafer and WSP

The term soundscape was coined by the Canadian composer and environmentalist, R.

Murray Schafer. It refers to an audible environment formed by three dimensions, made up

with elements like natural sounds and sounds created by humans through musical

composition, sound design, conversation, work, and sounds of mechanical origin resulting

from the use of industrial technology. In the late 1960s he found the World Soundscape

Project (WSP) at Simon Fraser University. This international research project is focused on

finding solutions for an ecologically balanced soundscape where the relationship between

the human community and its sonic environment is in harmony.

The European Acoustic Heritage project will follow the work carried out by international

teams, some of them participants of this project and with valuable resources of European

soundscape recordings and research. With a similar philosophy and educational aims, our

goal will be to develop the European Acoustic Heritage and to create the European Study

Workgroup to improve the exchange and disseminate these cultural values.

A European Net for an acoustic heritage will be launched by means of this project, in order to transfer

the experience to other countries in the EU, through the contact with other institutions that are working

on the topic. One way to spread the idea and the result will be the international nets, such as the World

Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE), through the Suomen Akustisen Ekologian Seura (Finnish Society for

Acoustic Ecology) (FSAE), that cooperate with the proposal since the beginning. The International

Ambiances Network aims at structuring and developing the research field of architectural and urban

environments. One of its members is the Cresson Laboratory.

European

Acoustic

Heritage

Activities and results

The project will be structured in 5 phases, with a 6th

phase dedicated to the general activity of

coordination and management of the project:

1ST

PHASE: JOINT ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN SOUNDSCAPES IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES

2ND

PHASE: EUROPEAN ACOUSTIC HERITAGE IDENTIFICATION

3RD

PHASE: TRAVELLING EXHIBITION

4TH

PHASE: PEDAGOGICAL ACTIONS

5TH

PHASE: TRANSFER

6th

PHASE: COORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT

1ST

PHASE: JOINT ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN SOUNDSCAPES IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES

1. The first step to start up the European Acoustic Group will be to set up the study- group in each

participating country, involving technicians and scientists of each member institution. Therefore, at the

beginning of the project (at the end of May 2011), a first meeting will take place to define together the

fields to work and research and the archives available. The contents and objective of this first activity is

to make up the study group by each partner, identifying members and collaborators, and to define

together the elements that make up and symbolize the European Acoustic Heritage from a geographical

and historical perspective to focus the analysis and study. There is a huge number of archives and

recordings, as well as knowledge and analysis already on the topic of audible environments. The project

will start taking the materials and advances achieved in several previous studies, which help to define

and feed the study of a European Acoustic Heritage and make progress on the research, and focus the

field work on unrecorded sounds.

2. Once the lines and themes are defined, the second activity called "Analysis of the contemporary and

historic soundscapes" is addressed to analyse the archives with old recordings and to bring some new

soundscapes. It will be necessary to carry out a work to improve the quality and preservation of old

archives through the new technologies, regarding the recordings of the past. And a fieldwork carried out

by technicians of new soundscapes will also be needed to complete the general heritage.

The specific objectives of this activity are:

� To get fieldwork recordings that will represent the acoustic environments of the cities and the

acoustic domestic space.

� To recover the most important sounds that belong to domestic and social environments that

disappeared during several stages of the history: Iron Age, Roman Age, Mediaeval Age, Modern

Age and Industrial Age.

� To register and identify those recorded sounds that are probably to disappear or being taken

over.

� To define several sounds by each one of these categories: natural, traditional occupations,

mechanic, industry, acoustic tones, social interaction, silence, sound events, etc.

� To prepare technical cards for each soundscape registered in the fieldwork.

3. This phase includes a third activity, the creation of a Web Platform for the European Acoustic Net. Its

objective is to serve as a tool to upload information and as a way to communicate among partners and

collaborators. Since the beginning of the project this website will also allow the general public to know

the aims and expected results of the project, to participate in it and as a contact point. It will also

include a newsletter to keep in contact and spread information about soundscapes research and

acoustic environments.

In order to contribute to disseminate the project and the European culture, this platform will include a

part related to cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. Selecting some results of the different

project’s phases, on this page a map of soundscapes of Europe will show the value of cultural diversity

and promote the cultural exchange and knowledge of each other. Besides there will be another part

focused on creativity, a space for information and contact between associations and artistic groups that

work on sound composition and audible spaces creation to contribute to the cross-border dissemination

of works of art.

2ND

PHASE: EUROPEAN ACOUSTIC HERITAGE IDENTIFICATION

The second phase of the project is aimed to bring together the results of the analysis of each study

group and to define what would be a composition of European soundscapes and acoustic heritage,

through history and through contemporary spaces and human activities.

4. With the 4th

activity the different study-work groups will be integrated in one permanent European

study/work group. A meeting will take place in September 2011 with the members and the

collaborators that participate in the first phase. In this meeting each member will bring the research

made to define and identify together the most representative sounds and acoustic environments of

Europe, based on archives and new recordings, and reached during the previous months. A second

meeting will be organised at the end of this phase, in February 2012, in order to validate and review the

results before the final publication.

5. The next activity consists of a definition of the “European Acoustic Heritage”. Once the work of data

and recordings compilation was made and the elements and the outlines were decided in the European

group, the coorganisers will be in charge of defining the soundscapes and contents of the European

Acoustic Heritage in several fields and ages, with selected technical cards for every kind of soundscapes.

It would include a scientific and technical work to explain and describe the value of this sound collection

to integrate an “audible picture” of the diverse and multicultural Europe.

6. The last activity in this Phase will be the publication of a study with the results obtained in the work

carried out by the national groups and validated in the European group. The study would explain the

methodology, analysed archives, fieldwork recordings and the description of the process of definition. It

will show the final conclusions of selected soundscapes of Europe, bringing together sounds in urban

and social environments from different places and ages of the history. It will also describe the

contributions of archives, fieldwork recordings and exchange of information with other institutions,

study groups and collaborators. Phonogrammarchiv and TAMK will lead this activity, with the help of the

rest of the partners and study groups to provide information. It includes translation at least into English

and publishing costs. The best medium is an audio book, containing digital recordings and the

explanation of the soundscapes as pieces of cultural heritage. This product will be presented to the

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency to introduce the work carried out in the European

study work and the results of our proposal of European Acoustic Heritage.

3RD

PHASE: TRAVELLING EXHIBITION

7. This phase is aimed at creating and showing an exhibition with the representative soundscapes of

Europe. The first activity will be the design of an audiovisual exhibition, which will show the “European

Acoustic Heritage” and its distinctive features. AGADIC and Fundación Illa de San Simón will be in charge

of the design and creation of the exhibition, with audiovisual materials that can hold the sound

recordings selected, and present them in the best way to express and communicate the soundscapes to

the public, so the visitors can feel the different environments across the time and through different

places, and they can thus travel across the European diversity and cultural values. The exhibition

contents will also be considered in the meeting of Vienna (February 2012) and will be designed based on

the materials of the first two phases.

8. The partners will search for exhibition halls in their countries as well as in other countries if possible.

This activity is addressed to involve museums or exhibitions centres to hold the exhibition, so that it

could be visited in several locations. Thus the exhibition will be travelling through the different

countries. The first proposal for the route of the travelling exhibition is San Simón Island (Spain),

Grenoble (France), Tampere (Finland), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and if possible in Thessaly

(Greece), thanks of the relation between Cresson and University of Thessaly. If it is possible, the

partners will try to contact and involve more exhibition halls to show it in more locations throughout

Europe.

9. While the exhibition is being shown in the countries the members will organise and hold conferences

and seminars at the museums and exhibition halls in order to disseminate and advertise the

Audiovisual Exhibition. The coorganisers that participate in this activity are Fundación Illa de San Simón

(ES), Laboratoire Cresson (FR), and TAMK (FI). By means of these seminars the speakers will explain the

contents of the exhibition and the soundscapes shown, the research work and its results (phases 1-2). In

the conference technicians of the entity as well as external experts or artists from other countries will

take part. Furthermore each event involves a communication and publicity task. It will include

advertising materials, such posters, flyers, press releases, etc.

10. The last activity is addressed to publish a multimedia book to be distributed in libraries and educational

centres and schools. This product is as a way to show the results of the research of Phases 1 and 2. With

a less "technical" content and a more creative-artistic product it will disseminate the results and make

them attractive to the general public. It is aimed at showing the audible environments and soundscapes

of Europe, and at promoting cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. It will be available in the halls

where the exhibition is placed and will be sent to cultural and education centres. Although the leader of

the activity will be Phonogrammarchiv all the partners will contribute to disseminate it.

4TH

PHASE: PEDAGOGICAL ACTIONS

11. This phase is addressed to develop pedagogical actions with children from several of the participating

countries. The first step will be the design and planning of the pedagogical actions addressed to the

students from the participating countries. The lead partner in the activity is Fundación Illa de San Simón,

who will suggest materials and a programme of activities that can also be carried out by the

coorganisers and collaborators in France and Finland. Among the suggested activities there will be at

least a guided tour, so that the groups of schoolchildren can visit the exhibition, and pedagogical actions

in the streets. It includes the management and monitoring of all the pedagogical actions by the

technicians of the participating partners.

12. One of the actions addressed to the dissemination among the youngest public will be a guided tour to

visit the Travelling Exhibition through the participating museums. With this activity the contents and

elements of the exhibition will be explained, and the importance of the acoustic environment for the

people that live in urban context will be shown. The historical dimension by means of retrospective

soundscape compositions is also an innovative way of learning history. Finally, the geographical

dimension will be explained and listened, with the aim of travelling “through the ears” across the

borders of Europe. This action will be developed by Fundación Illa de San Simón, Laboratoire Cresson,

and Tampere University of Applied Sciences, contacting education centres as collaborators for the

visiting groups.

13. The other activity addressed to children and youth are the Pedagogical actions in the streets. Based on

the pedagogical actions designed by the activity 11, AGADIC will lead this action. It will subcontract a

specialized artists group to develop materials and activities in the streets of Santiago de Compostela,

Vigo, Grenoble and Tampere. With a high visibility it will be made at the same time than the guided tour

and while the travelling exhibition is visiting the cities. It is aimed at showing in the streets near the

exhibition halls some elements of the exhibition that can allow to introduce the topic for young

audiences.

5TH

PHASE: TRANSFER

The phase has the objective to spread to more countries the actions taken by the project.

14. The first activity is aimed at exchanging information with other sound environment groups and

European institutions. The partnership will try to involve more institutions and associations that work in

the field of soundscapes and environments recording, from a multidisciplinary perspective (architecture,

creativity and music composition, acoustic ecology, recording collections and archives) as a way of

cultural preservation. In February 2013 AGADIC and the partners will organize a meeting with the

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency in Brussels to present the products developed

related to the European Acoustic Heritage and to study the way of sharing and transferring them to

more agents after the end of the project.

15. The increase in the number of works of the Travelling Exhibition will be a specific activity to spread the

project to more countries and institutions, and to promote the joining and visit in other European

countries. The partners will use the contact and joint work with more institutions to discover more

works that could be added, as a way to cooperate with some others bodies and increase the value and

contents of the exhibition.

16. In the summer of 2012 both the Laboratoire Cresson and the Tampere University of Applied Sciences

will organize summer courses about the audible environments in Europe. During several days

conferences and listening sessions will be organized, showing the production and research obtained in

the project. Both institutions will also try to invite technicians and researchers from another countries.

Furthermore each event involves a communication and publicity task. It will include advertising

materials, such posters, flyers, press releases, etc.

6th

PHASE: COORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT

17. The coordination will be supported by permanent communication between partners, and by regular

meetings. In the meetings all the members of the partnership will take part, as well as collaborators if

necessary, and they will often coincide with some of the project milestones. The main contents of the

meetings will be the technical development of the work programme, the agreement of the methods,

tasks and calendar and exchange of information in order to achieve the optimal use of resources and

knowledge.

The method of working will be implemented always trying to achieve the highest quality and excellence

in the products, guaranteed by the experts working in the groups and the wide experience and

specialization of the participating institutions.

18. During all the life of the project the coordinator and the coorganisers will carry out the administrative

tasks related to the project execution and accounting. AGADIC, as the coordinator, will also contract the

services of accounting and finance control and the audit to certificate financial statements.

Summary of the activities and results of the Project

PHASE ACTIVITY ENTITY OUTPUTS & RESULTS

1

1. Setting up of the study-work

group in every participating country

AGADIC, Fund. Illa S Simon,

Phonogrammarchiv, CRESSON, TAMK

4 national study/work groups

2. Analysis of the contemporary

and historical soundscapes

AGADIC, Phonogrammarchiv,

CRESSON, TAMK 4 fieldwork teams research

3. Web platform AGADIC 1 web platform & 8 newsletters

2

4. European study-work group AGADIC, Fund. Illa S Simon, Phonogrammarchiv, CRESSON,

TAMK

1 European study/work group. 2 work group sessions (FR,AT)

5. Definition of the “European Acoustic Heritage”

Fund. Illa S Simon,


European audio-archives by categories

6. Publication of the study with the results

Phonogrammarchiv, TAMK 1 study with the results of research

3

7. Design of a Travelling

soundscapes exhibition AGADIC, Fund. Illa S Simon 1 Travelling Exhibition with 20 works of

acoustic spaces

8. Involvement of the museums

& Starting up of a Travelling Exhibition

AGADIC, Fund. Illa S Simon, CRESSON, TAMK Number & locations: 2 ES, 1 FR, 1 AT, 1 FI

9. Conferences and Seminars at the museums for dissemination

Fund. Illa S Simon, CRESSON, TAMK 3 seminars coinciding with the exhibition, with

10. Publication of a multimedia book

Phonogrammarchiv 1 published multimedia book with the registered soundscapes

4

11. Design and planning of the pedagogical actions

AGADIC, Fund. Illa S Simon, CRESSON, TAMK Plan of the actions and exchange of artist

12. Guided tour to visit the

Travelling Exhibition

Fund. Illa S Simon, CRESSON,

TAMK Number & locations: 2 ES, 1 FR, 1 AT, 1 FI

13. Pedagogical actions in the

streets


CRESSON, TAMK Number & locations: 2 ES, 1 FR, 1 AT, 1 FI

5

14. Exchange with other

institutions & involvement more countries



1 meeting with DGEC in Brussels to present and transfer products

15. Increase of the number of works of the Travelling Exhibition

Fund. Illa S Simon, CRESSON, TAMK

5 works more in the Travelling Exhibition+ 2 locations more (PT, GR)

16. Summer courses about soundscapes

CRESSON, TAMK 2 summer courses about the acoustic environments in Europe

Calendar and milestones

ACTIVITIES May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

1

Setting up of the study-work group in each

participant country

2

Analysis of the contemporary and historical

soundscapes

3 Web platform Nletter Nletter Nletter Nletter Nletter Nletter Nletter Nletter

4

European study-work

group starting up FR AT

5

Definition of the “European Acoustic

Heritage”

6 Publication of the study with the results

7 Design of a Travelling soundscapes exhibition

8

Involvement of the Museums & Starting up of a

Travelling Exhibition ES FR FI ES

9

Conferences and Seminars at the Museums to

for dissemination ES FR FI

10 Publication of a multimedia book

11 Design and planning of the pedagogical actions

12 Guided tour to visit the Travelling Exhibition

13 Pedagogical actions in the streets

14

Exchange with other institutions & involvement

more countries BE

15

Increase of the number of works of the

Travelling Exhibition GR

16 Summer courses about soundscapes FR/FI

17 Coordination meetings ES FR AT FI BE

18 Management & Monitoring

2011 2012 2013

Acoustic Environment as a part of the European Cultural Heritage

The project is inspired by the same objectives proposed by the European Cultural Agenda: cultural

diversity and intercultural dialogue; culture as a catalyst for creativity; and culture as a key component

in international relations. The different phases are focused on cultural cooperation to exchange

knowledge and materials about the “audible picture of Europe”, and to search a joint definition of the

most representative acoustic environments in Europe, by each dimension:

• Research in the sounds from different ages, to recover them as a part of the historical and

cultural past and to show the evolution in soundscapes.

• The audible dimension in architecture and urbanism as a part of the design and life quality in

urban spaces.

• Creation of soundscapes and acoustic environment composition, as a way to explore the artistic

dimension of acoustic environments.

The method of implementation will be working as an open net, in which other institutions and

collaborators interested in the topic could participate and join as a way to spread the results and

contribute to the European Soundscape construction. In the design of this proposal there were already

contacts with artistic groups and institutions, museums, archives and research institutions, and during

the project execution these relationships will go on. So in each one of the dimensions and fields of

acoustic environments and along the different phases of the project there will be a permanent and

interdisciplinary exchange, beyond the direct partners and involving more bodies.

The final goal is to promote the intercultural dialogue and a sense of unity among the diversity of places,

supported with the European study group and a joint European Soundscapes Exhibition and more

materials, which will travel throughout countries and that can be used after the project ends. With

specific actions addressed to the youngest audience, the project will try to make aware and promote the

sensibility for the audible dimension of European urban and social spaces, and to enhance this

intangible value as a part of the culture cross history and geography.

european acoustic memory

Documents