Odeuropa literally and figuratively put scent on the map as a valuable cultural heritage. Using artificial intelligence, the research team sniffed through 43,000 historical images and 167,000 books in six European languages to track down scents and olfactory experiences from the past. The result: the European Olfactory Knowledge Graph, a huge database containing some 2.5 million references to scents, from rose oil to city smells, from 1600-1920.
The international research team, led by the KNAW Humanities Cluster (Netherlands) with lead researcher VU Professor of Cultural History Inger Leemans, worked with museums, perfumers, heritage institutions and local communities. Their aim was to recognise scent as a full part of cultural memory. Not only because scent evokes strong emotions, but also because it connects us to the past in a unique, sensory way. Leemans was inspired by scent researcher Caro Verbeek for the scent research at VU Amsterdam, for example.
The project produced three practical digital tools for museums and researchers: the Odeuropa Smell Explorer, the first database in which heritage is searchable by smell; the Encyclopedia of Smell History and Heritage, an online reference work on smell in European history; and the Olfactory Storytelling Toolkit, a guide to using historical smells in exhibitions.
Impact
Odeuropa is having an unprecedented impact. Museums and heritage institutions in Europe and beyond are adopting the project's guidelines and applications. In 2023, Odeuropa organised the international Smell Culture Fair in Amsterdam, where museums, scientists and artists collaborated around scent and storytelling. The project created an online teaching module and more than 750 students attended training sessions. Currently, the project is highlighted at World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. In addition, Odeuropa led to policy recommendations, such as the recognition of scent as heritage in Friesland.
The results remain available and provide a lasting source of inspiration and input for research, education and public programmes.
The jury about Odeuropa
The jury praised Odeuropa for its innovative approach and impact:
"Odeuropa's multidisciplinary research within the new field of geurerelated heritage fills a gap in scientific knowledge and standards."
"The project's educational initiatives - including an online teaching module and other strong dissemination strategies - support the integration of scent into museum practices extremely effectively."
Public Prize and Award Ceremony
The award ceremony will take place on 13 October in Brussels, as part of the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2025. Here, the winner of the Public Choice Award 2025 will also be announced: an additional prize awarded by the public, who can vote online for their favourite project until 12 September 2025. The winner will receive a cash prize of €10,000.
About Odeuropa and the research team
Odeuropa is the first major research project focused on European olfactory history. Odeuropa was conducted from 2021 to 2023, with funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme (€2.8 million) led by Inger Leemans from the KNAW Humanities Cluster - a partnership of three humanities institutes, including the Meertens Institute. The project brought together 35 researchers from six countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the UK), with combined expertise in history, heritage science, computer vision, semantic web, computational linguistics, museology and digital humanities.
About the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards were launched by the European Commission in 2002 and have been organised by Europa Nostra ever since. For 23 years, the Awards have been an important tool for recognising and highlighting the multi-faceted value of heritage for European culture, society, economy and environment. This year ' s jury consisted of 11 heritage experts from different European countries. From the 251 entries, they selected 30 winners in five different categories.