Transdisciplinary Digital Heritage Research Centre Development: Applied Research Towards a More Resilient Environment

The digital heritage research centre (DHRC) was established in 2022 to foster transdisciplinary and industry-engaged research to meet the challenges of housing intensification, climate change and natural disasters contributing to the continual loss and degradation of New Zealand’s cultural heritage. Founded by three researchers, it currently engages with 35 internal and external researchers, industry, and community partners. To respond to the emerging heritage crisis, we are utilising the expertise of a transdisciplinary team of national and international academics, industry practitioners, and experts in architecture, engineering, seismic strengthening, digital technologies, and intercultural relations. Regulators, government bodies, and the private sector widely support our work. It is guided by an Advisory Group of industry and public sector end-users, leading experts, and a Kāhui Māori who are the guardians of the projects aspirations around Vision Mātauranga. We intend to transform the disparate knowledge sets, standards, and legislation currently relied on by regulators and industry professionals, utilising tangata Tiriti and tangata Whenua knowledge systems to address the current lack of synchronisation between those working in the heritage sector. Since its establishment, DHRC has submitted two national funding applications for contestable funds from the central government organisation and had several successful fundings secured by the industry, which required extensive communication and coordination with multiple stakeholders. This paper will provide an overview of the applied research towards a more resilient environment that we are working towards within the Digital Heritage Research Centre. It will focus on the strengths and challenges of the development of transdisciplinary research and the first results we have developed so far.