The CRHIMA-CINP project will be developed through the following main activities:

1. Opening Workshop

   The project will start off by organizing a trans-national workshop during which all the partners will share information and researches on the rupestrian culture already carried out. In particular, they will assess which States of the Mediterranean area are concerned and how many data are already available.
   The workshop will also host experts, researchers, representatives of the political and cultural institutions. It will take place in a rupestrian site near the city of Palagianello (Italy, Apulia) and will last one day. During this activity will be carried out an educational tour (2/3 days) for international experts and participants (by press paper) to demonstrate the different rupestrian settlement in Apulia Region.
   Local Administrators and local cultural associations will be involved to promote in that period, with appropriate tools, the knowledge of settlements and the cultural local traditions by events and demonstrations.

2. Census in Italy, Turkey, Greece, France and Spain - Census of the rupestrian settlements which haven't been studied yet, located in Cappadocia (TR), in the area of the Taranto province (IT), in the Cefalonia Island (GR), in Andalucia, the Comunidad Valenciana and the High Ebro Valley (ES) and in Loire Valley (FR).

   The census will consist in land reconnaissance and definition of thematic maps; Analysis and cataloguing of the architectonic, structural and artistic characteristics of houses, churches, graves, etc. find in the studied rupestrian settlements.
   The partners involved in the activity will be: the University of Florence and the association 'Archeogruppo' for the census carried out in Italy; the 'Kadir Has' University of Istanbul, in cooperation with 'Archeogruppo', in Turkey; the Polytechnic of Athens in Greece, the Ecole Superieure Nationale of Paris La Villette in France and the Polytechnic of Valencia in Spain. Considering the weather conditions, the census in Italy, Greece, France and Spain will take place in Autumn and Spring period. In Turkey the census will be carried out in Spring (April-May 2011) by the University of Istanbul and will be completed by the Archeogruppo in Sept./Oct.2011.

3. Structural Study of some rupestrian settlements of France, Italy, Turkey, Spain for new perspective of landscape restoration in the observance of European Landscape Convention The researchers of the Ecole Superieure Nationale de Paris La Villette will analyze structural aspect of rupestrian settlement in Italy, France, Turkey, Spain, to emphasize perturbations and characteristic elements to design future master plan of architectonic and landscape development.
   

   This study will analyze Structural aspects of settlement: central, linear, alone aggregation and their perturbations; Infrastructure of mobility: simple, complex; Technology Infrastructure: works of hydraulic regimen of rivers and waterworks defense of settlement and soils and their perturbations; Production and economic Structures: monoculture or a lot of coltures, place of quarrying, urban system in extensive area or single settlement.
   These studies will became the support for master plan of reconversion of settlement in the key of rupestrian parks. The result of the comparative study in Mediterranean Area (Loire Valley, next to the confluence of the Loire and the Dear, Anjou-Poitou-Touraine Region in France; Apulia Region In Italy; Goreme Valley, Cappadocia Region in Turkey, High Ebro Valley in Spain) will be promote to local Authority of these regions in order to involve new shared perspectives of development.

4. Seminars for Turkish students A team made of Italian, Greek Spanish and French researchers and experts belonging to the Coordinator and the Co-organizers will train the 'Kadir Has' University students about the new techniques of architectonic survey in these particular kind of architecture - landscape (laser scanner 3D), in order to give them useful knowledge to carry on the investigation and the enhancement of the Turkish rupestrian settlements even after the end of the project activities.
   

   The seminars will consist in indoor training and practical applications of the new technologies for surveying and managing data: in particular, will be examine closely techniques for the direct and environmental survey and the thermo-hygrometrical analysis.
   The training activities will have a trans-national value and acknowledgement. They will take place in Sept./Oct. 2011 period and will last six days. The seminars will be preparatory to the survey of a rupestrian settlement in Turkey (ACT. 5).
   The high specialization of participants will help to increase and to spread the good practices and the use of instrumentations and more modern methods of investigation, as well as the use of the new communication tools as mean to spread and to enhance the cultural heritage.

5. Architectonic surveys in Turkey, Italy and Spain The research activities about the rupestrian settlements will be deepen through the survey of physical and architectonic characteristics of some settlements in the same areas already concerned by the census. Five sample settlements will be determined and survey: one in Turkey (in the Goreme Valley), one in Italy (in the area of the Taranto province) and three in Spain (in the area of Valencia, Granada and the Ebro Valley).
   

   In Italy and Spain the architectonic survey will be carried out by a scientific team of the Polytechnic of Valencia. In Turkey it will be realized by the 'Kadir Has' University, through the technical support the Polytechnic of Valencia and University of Florence. In this way, the transmission of scientific informations and technical skills already begun with the seminars (ACT. 4) will be carried on. In Spain the survey will take place in June 2011, in Turkey in Sept./Oct. 2011, following by the survey in Italy.
   Special attention will be paid to the integration among different techniques, in order to optimize the survey on the field and the following graphic representation.

   Characteristics of the survey

   The survey will be characterized by the integration between data about the physical-environmental conditions of the settlement and those about the historical urban and architectonic system of the area in which it is located. That kind of approach will give the possibility to gain a multi-faced knowledge of the rupestrian culture, that will be following spread through innovative communication tools (ACT. 6, 7 and 8).
   The activity will consist in the following actions: an on-the-spot inspection in order to evaluate the subsequent operative actions; organization of the settlement; survey; processing of the survey data; graphic representation. The survey will be carried out using tools such as: laser total station, professional camera, digital camera, software for the photo-grammetric representation, laser reader. Data gathered through those tools will complement the data obtained thanks to the laser scanner 3D.
   This tool will give the possibility to represent the settlement through tri-dimensional digital images, useful to the virtual exploration of their architectonic and environmental characteristics. In addition, from the virtual representation will be developed the volumetric and bi-dimensional graphic representations.
   During the surveys in Turkey, the Polytechnic of Athens team will integrate the architectonic data with those referring to the physical, anthropic and bio-architectonic ecosystem of the studied settlement. The historical and cultural characteristics of the settlement will be also analyzed and complemented considering the information already gathered by the 'Archeogruppo' experts.
   The results will be useful for the local authorities and University of Istanbul in order to plan following initiatives of eco-sustainable recovering of the settlements, in accordance with the principles of bio-architectonic and the historical cultural aspects of these places analysed by researchers of the Ecole La Villette.
   The surveys carried out in Italy and Spain will deepen the knowledge of the rupestrian settlements in the studied areas. In this way, more virtual 3D representations will be available.

6. Production of a video documentary titled 'Journey through the rupestrian culture'
   The video will be developed by the University of Florence. It will gather animations and 3D images coming from the processing of the integrated survey data (ACT. 4) and will offer a virtual tour through the studied rupestrian settlements, from Italy to Turkey to Spain and France.

   Furthermore, it will describe, thanks to the shootings of the settlements and the survey activity, the architectonic and religious history, the human elements and the common culture linked to the Mediterranean rupestrian culture, so fostering the reduction of the physical and cultural barriers.

7. Production of a guide-book titled 'The rupestrian settlements in the circum-Mediterranean area'
   The guide-book will be realized on the base of the data coming from the census (ACT.2/3) and the surveys (ACT.5). It will be developed from the University of Florence, in cooperation with all the Co-organizers.

   It will consist of three thematic sections, Historical and cultural introduction; Monographic studies about the rupestrian settlements in the four States involved in the project, containing pictures, maps and orthographic sections;Thematic studies about the rupestrian culture, the rupestrian colour - techniques, conservation and enhancement; the rupestrian settlements - analysis of the physical and environmental conditions - Suggestions for eco-sustainable actions inspired to the principles of bio-architecture;the survey - new techniques for gathering data, the representation of settlements through tridimensional images. Rupestrian settlement- structural aspect to preserve and new perspective of rehabilitation. The publication associates scientific and popular purpose to develop a common European identity that goes over the national lines, religions.

   The guide-book will be in English, in order to guarantee a wide circulation in an European contest. The monographic studies (section 2) will be also translated in the languages of the States involved (Turkish, Italian, Greek, Spanish, French, English).

8. Production of a cd-audio titled 'Sounds from the rupestrian culture' The guide-book (act.6) will contain a cd audio that will propose the voices, sounds and songs of the rupestrian culture in Turkey, Italy, Greece and Spain. It will be realized by a musicologist of the University of Florence, who will investigate in the above-mentioned areas and will gather songs and voices from residents, in particular elderly persons, and old audio materials.

   The video, the guide and the cd-audio will be the consequential artistic products from searches spread in the Countries partner to wake up again the interest for these places, both from the historical-cultural point of view, but also in key of connected sustainable development with the tourist itineraries. In this way a process of studies and exploitation of the sites it would be activated able in the time.

9. Construction of the project web site The web site will be a tool useful to promote the project activities and the circum-Mediterranean rupestrian culture.

   In addition, it will contain a database about all the information gathered during the census and the surveys (ACT. 2/3/5).

   The information will be organized in rupestrian settlements geo-references;documents organization on the base of the scale object/sub-object;organization of the settlement characteristic and meta-data;database implementation; database availability by web. The database will be available through a graphic software WEB-GIS.
   The site will be adjourned with the activities finalized to the knowledge and exploitation of the studied sites, organized from the local Authority by Country's partners and from the local active associations.
   The web site will be developed using Open Source software and in according with the legal regulations about accessibility.
   This activity will be carried both by Polytechnic of Valencia and University of Florence.

10. Final Workshop At the end of the project activities, in June 2012, a trans-national workshop will be held in Istanbul. Researchers and experts of the project partners will take part. Representatives of scientific, cultural and political institutions of the States involved in the project will be also invited.

    The workshop goals will be to present the results of the project activities: publications, video documentary, cd-audio and web site; to share information and techniques developed during the project; to lay the foundations of a European network of the Mediterranean rupestrian settlements, that would contribute to their cultural and tourist promotion. The network would carry on the project activities and sustain their further development.

11. Rupestrian Documentary Centre This action consists in the preliminary necessary activities to the realization of a centre for the documentation of the rupestrian heritage: defining of the location in Taranto Province (Massafra), organisation of furniture and postings PC in which to adjourn the site of project, and to connect with others organisations, filing of all the multilevel publications, all cultural products of project and other initiatives. A room will be organised for meetings and workshops.

    To promote the Centre will be organised some events in accordance with local Authority and local cultural associations from June 2012 to September 2012. The sustainable of this activity will be guarantee by co financing of local cultural Associations and Municipality, voluntary works by signed an official Agreement.

12. Rupestrian Day The day of promotion will be organized in Italy as started up place at the end of all the activities of project, thanks to the collaboration of partnership (September 2012).

    This annual initiative, to promote in every country participant to the project, will be carried out through the awakening of the local communities to the necessary contributions and the collaborations.

    This event will give the possibility to promote the various cultural products of the project to a large public and to organize performances that reproduces the traditions and the culture of the places. Craftsmanship, art, lectures will be the principal events of the day. Besides will be possible to visit less known cave thanks to the voluntary initiatives of the cultural associations and the experienced archaeologists.

    The project coordination will be carry out by a Trans-national Technical Committee, composed of the partners representatives, leading by the University of Florence. The Committee will also oversee the administration and the final assessment of the project activities.