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Dr. BegoƱa Sanchez-Royo is the Principal Investigator of ICH-BILDUNG which aims to assess the impact of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in formal, non-formal and informal education and its contribution to the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning in the European Union Reference Framework.

My research interests

My research interests are focused on the complexity of assessing the value of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in terms of social, economic and individual impacts. I am also interested in Big Data applied to the field of cultural heritage and the ethical issues that arise with practical use of Data Mining techniques in the learning context within the cultural experience.

My current areas of work include the following:

  • Impact evaluation in the field of cultural heritage
  • Ethics and learning analytics for ICH projects
  • Education-led projects for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage according to the 2003 UNESCO Convention

Brief Biography

My research during my PhD in Spain focused on the socio-economic impact of intangible cultural heritage using economic assessment techniques such as Contingent Valuation (CV) and Multi-Attribute Valuation (MAV). My professional career started with R&D projects at the Institute of Robotics and Information Technologies in the University of Valencia (Spain). I then moved to a multimedia consultancy for over 12 years focusing on culture-led projects at a national and European level. This has given to me a strong foundation in the practical development of impact evaluation studies in cultural and research institutions. I have also combined my academic and professional work with lecturing at the University of Brighton (UK), the University of Valencia and the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain in economics, management and cultural tourism.

Since taking up my Marie Skodowska-Curie fellowship in Brighton, I have broadened my research focus to include business evaluation of data mining projects in cultural institutions. The advantages of data mining in this sector are as yet poorly understood and exploited. This emerging technology can assist cultural institutions to optimally target fundraising and marketing efforts and potentially offset drops in public funding.