The Odeuropa project focuses on the key scents, fragrant spaces, and olfactory practices that have shaped European cultures.
The project bundles academic expertise from across many disciplines with additional expertise from cultural heritage institutes, heritage organisations, policymakers, and the creative and fragrance industries.
The historical scent data will be curated and published in an online Encyclopaedia of Smell Heritage, describing the sensory qualities and meanings of the scents and tracing the storylines of key scents, fragrant places, and olfactory practices.
This database will serve as an archive of Europe’s olfactory heritage, enabling future generations to access and learn about its scented past.
In addition, a selection of European smells will be preserved and ‘reconstructed’ using heritage science techniques.
The ultimate goal of the Odeuropa project is to demonstrate that critically engaging with our sense of smell and our scent heritage is a necessary and viable means of connecting and promoting Europe’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
(Source and further information: www.odeuropa.eu).