Heritage Conservation of the Future

Rana Tootoonchi is exploring this question. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies on this topic at the University of Bamberg, with funding from the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst - German Academic Exchange Service). She is conducting her research at the Bamberg Graduate School of Smart City Science (BaGSCiS), which was established in 2024.

"The conservation and preservation of our architectural heritage is a major challenge", explains Prof. Mona Hess, first supervisor of Rana Tootoonchi’s dissertation project. "And in the future, this task will be even harder to accomplish, due to factors like climate change and mass tourism. Therefore, projects like Rana Tootoonchi’s are crucial to preparing for the future." 

Awareness for the fact that cultural assets require preventive and not merely curative measures for their preservation has grown in recent decades, as Tootoonchi knows well. However, this preventive approach also means that objects need to be monitored regularly to ensure that preservation measures are taken at the right moment. Tootoonchi is thoroughly exploring this topic in her research project. “I merge technology and heritage conservation. By using the digital twin’s new and creative range of applications in the context of historical buildings, I aim to provide new perspectives on conserving and preserving the heritage of our shared history,” explains Rana Tootoonchi.

By way of example, she is testing her ideas and the applicable technologies in Bamberg’s former Dominikanerkirche (Dominican church), which now serves as an auditorium for the University of Bamberg following extensive renovations in the 2010s. She is creating a 3D model of the building and connecting it with newly developed real-time measurements that make comparisons with data gathered from sensors already installed on site. The collected data are to be transmitted to the digital twin in real time. Based on the provided data, the long-term objective is to in turn create automated responses to detected changes, e.g. when it comes to regulating humidity, temperature or visitor flows. "If this bi-directional data flow is running perfectly, the digital twin can help to improve the management of listed buildings", says Tootoonchi.

Rana Tootoonchi’s research project is affiliated with the Bamberg Graduate School of Smart City Sciences (BaGSCiS). BaGSCiS currently comprises five doctoral candidates and seven professors. In turn, the graduate school is an integrated component of the interdisciplinary Smart City Research Lab (SCRL) network which was established in 2021. 

The SCRL conducts accompanying research for smart city projects in Bamberg and other cities—be it in the form of feasibility studies and academically based recommendations, or via the realisation and implementation of individual sub-projects, measurements and surveys. In 2020, the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen – BMWSB) selected Bamberg as a model smart city. In this function, and with a total budget of €17.5 million and a runtime until 2027, Bamberg is developing exemplary, transferrable and scalable solutions for the mutual challenges of Germany’s more than 10,000 cities and municipalities. The graduate school is a further component in these efforts.

Bamberg Graduate School of Smart City Science members explore and develop innovative applications of digital technologies in local and regional contexts. Their work is characterised by interdisciplinary collaboration. Their aim is to contribute to urban and regional development, and to initiate and foster lasting societal changes. 

"Digitalisation provides significant opportunities for making our cities and regions more liveable, sustainable and efficient", explains Prof. Daniela Nicklas, the graduate school’s speaker and head of the Chair of Mobile Systems. She is also the second supervisor for Rana Tootoonchi’s dissertation project. "The Bamberg Graduate School of Smart City Science not only aims to explore innovative technologies, but also to place focus on their practical application and benefit for society and the environment. Our goal is to actively support communities in their transformation into smart cities. In this context, our research focuses particularly on the transdisciplinary interaction between humans, technologies and localities, rooted in the imperative of ecological, economic and societal sustainability", states Nicklas.

Inclusion in the graduate school provides doctoral candidates like Rana Tootoonchi with financial resources on the one hand, and on the other, a network that supports and enriches her research—not only within the university, but also regionally, nationally and internationally. In addition to Bamberg, Germany has a network of 72 other smart city model municipalities of various sizes and structures. There is also an international network of smart cities. 

Rana Tootoonchi is pursuing her doctorate in the field of Digital Technologies in Heritage Conservation, but initially she studied architecture in her native country Iran. One specific challenge for her is handling the technical equipment used to scan buildings, since she had had no prior experience with it. "The school’s cooperative nature enabled me to participate in workshops and to get to know numerous experts who support me", she states. "Moreover, it is very enriching to exchange ideas with other doctoral researchers. This allows me to expand my thinking and acquire new input, both personally and for my research".

During her early days in Bamberg, she was particularly impressed by the University of Bamberg’s outstanding array of technical equipment for examining historical buildings. "Consolidating the fields of building archaeology, building preservation sciences, heritage conservation, and digital conservation technologies at the Centre for Heritage Conservation Studies and Technologies has enabled us to greatly develop these fields", explains Mona Hess. "We are based at the Humanities faculty but possess a range of hardware and software systems and scientific research methods that are generally only available in an engineering faculty. This is really exceptional—not only in Germany, but also elsewhere." 

Rana Tootoonchi was also quite surprised at how friendly Bavarians are: "In the past, I had always heard the stereotype that nobody speaks English and everyone’s unfriendly. But that’s not true at all." But how did she come to Bamberg in the first place? "Professor Mona Hess is very well-known in the field of digital technologies in heritage conservation—also in Iran. I simply wrote to her and sent her an application", Tootoonchi explains. "She also suggested Professor Daniela Nicklas as my second supervisor. And with two supervisors, I was able to apply for the graduate school’s scholarship." 

Rana Tootoonchi expects to complete her doctoral studies in autumn 2027 after a total of four years—during this period she will also receive funding from the DAAD and BaGSCiS. Subsequently, she hopes to be able to continue working in Germany. The reason she gives: "In the meantime, Bamberg has become my home."