Experts Unite in Lisbon to Launch SIMIACCI Project: Commitment to Climate Action and Cultural Heritage Preservation

Last week, around 30 experts from diverse fields gathered in Lisbon for the kick-off meeting of the SIMIACCI project. This new Horizon Europe-funded initiative, led by CERENA and CEGIST, officially launched in January. The project brings together a consortium of specialists in museology, conservation, engineering, business and air conditioning who will collaborate over the next four years to develop a new family of air purifiers aimed at revolutionizing indoor air quality management in cultural heritage institutions.

Traditionally, museums, libraries, galleries, and archives require substantial energy to control volatile compounds and humidity levels, which can be harmful for cultural heritage artifacts. The SIMIACCI project aims to build a prototype that will monitor and control indoor air quality, thereby reducing energy consumption in these institutions. To support the transition to climate-friendly practices, which is a pressing demand across all sectors of the EU economy, the consortium has been awarded a €4 million grant. The project is coordinated by IST-ID Units CERENA and CEGIST, both based at Instituto Superior Técnico.

CERENA scientists will model the distribution of pollutants in the air and study innovative materials for air filters to capture pollutants that are harmful to artifacts. The role of CEGIST will be to assess the environmental impact of the new product, ensuring it fulfils its purpose to help partner institutions achieve their climate strategies.

“We are happy and proud that Museums and Monuments of Portugal (MMP) will serve as a pilot case for such a promising and important project,” said Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais, president of MMP, welcoming the partners on the first day of the SIMIACCI kick-off meeting. The attendees were received at the new Museu Nacional dos Coches in Belém, where they visited the archives and the museum's installations. During the visit, the group, which included partners from Denmark, France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Belgium, had the opportunity to see firsthand the real issues that the collaborative project aims to address, envisioning its potential impact.

Prof. Moisés Pinto, from IST and CERENA, is the coordinator of SIMIACCI. Reflecting on the successful meeting, he expressed pride in the team's commitment to build practical solutions for climate action and cultural heritage preservation. “We are confident that SIMIACCI will build something useful not only for museums but also for the sustainability and efficiency of other buildings across Europe,” he said to the partners.