The Agenda 2030 includes a set of targets that need to be achieved by 2030. Although none of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focuses exclusively on cultural heritage, the resulting Agenda includes explicit reference to heritage in SDG 11.4 and indirect reference to other Goals. Achievement of international targets shall happen at local and national level, and therefore, it is crucial to understand how interventions on local heritage are monitored nationally, therefore feeding into the sustainable development framework. This paper is focused on gauging the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals with reference to cultural heritage, by interrogating the current way of classifying it (and consequently monitoring). In fact, there is no common dataset associated with monitoring SDGs, and the field of heritage is extremely complex and diversified. The purpose for the paper is to understand if the taxonomy used by different national databases allows consistency in the classification and valuing of the different assets categories. The European case study has been chosen as field of investigation, in order to pilot a methodology that can be expanded in further research. A cross-comparison of a selected sample of publicly accessible national cultural heritage databases has been conducted. As a result, this study confirms the existence of general harmonisation of data towards the achievement of the SDGs with a broad agreement of the conceptualisation of cultural heritage with international frameworks, thus confirming that consistency exists in the classification and valuing of the different assets categories. However, diverse challenges of achieving a consistent and coherent approach to integrating culture in sustainability remains problematic. The findings allow concluding that it could be possible to mainstream across different databases those indicators, which could lead to depicting the overall level of attainment of the Agenda 2030 targets on heritage. However, more research is needed in developing a robust correlation between national datasets and international targets.

This paper presents the most significant results obtained within a broad range of experimental tests aimed at evaluating both the effectiveness and robustness of the Base Isolation (BIS) and Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) combined control strategy (BIS&TMD). After a brief description of the experimental model set-up, the paper describes the identification procedures for the fixed base structure, the base isolated structure and the base isolated structure equipped with a mass damper system. The main experimental results, representing the dynamic response of a small-scale model to scaled recorded earthquake excitations, are later presented and discussed. Finally, the effectiveness and robustness of the combined control strategy is investigated by comparing the model's dynamic response, in particular the reduction in relative displacements and absolute accelerations due to the application of different mass damping systems are evaluated.

A new structural system conceived to control Base Isolated System vibrations under random excitations is analyzed. The new system combines the Tuned Mass Damping strategy with the Isolation concept in order to obtain a new system which principally attenuates the effects of the seismic excitation components with frequencies close to the fundamental natural vibration one. The Random response of equivalent linear Base Isolated Systems controlled by Tuned Mass Dampers subject to horizontal random excitations is analyzed. Considering the superstructure motion described by its first modal contribution, a three‐degree‐of‐freedom linear model subject to stationary Gaussian excitations, modelled by the modified Kanai‐Tajimi power density spectrum, was used in this analysis. The standard deviation response ratio of the new system respect to the one of the base isolated system was evaluated based on a wide range of parameters. Optimal parameters which minimize structural response were also obtained.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of commonalities and differences in the concept of cultural heritage in Europe. This was achieved through a comprehensive academic and non-academic literature review focused on different definitions and conceptualisations related to cultural heritage internationally and in the European context. This is complemented with a comparative study in three European countries. This paper frames cultural heritage using the foundation set up by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It further discusses the European actors involved in defining heritage today. Finally, it focuses on three European countries and verifies that they share an understanding of cultural heritage including classifications, categorisation and heritage values. Findings from the overall study show how the definition of cultural heritage across Europe is reasonably homogeneous, and this is confirmed by the analysis of the three chosen test case studies. This finding is relevant to policy makers as it allows the support of potential common frameworks for heritage management at the European level, including risk management and risk reduction common methodologies. Further studies will shed light on the implementation issues which may arise from the creation of a common European framework for cultural heritage management, with emphasis on risk management and risk reduction of cultural heritage.

SUMMARYAn investigation on the torsional seismic response controlling capacity of dissipation devices in the asymmetric-plan buildings is herein presented. Effects of the plan-wise distribution of supplemental damping on torsionally dynamic behaviour have been investigated by using modal analysis techniques in the state space representation. Parametrical analysis leads to the optimal plan-wise allocation of damping resources on varying the dynamic characteristics of the asymmetric-plan system. Results are also obtained by both applying H 2 and H ∞ norm control methods and by numerically analysing the dynamic response to recorded and synthetic seismic excitations.