[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/13593\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EResearchers revive Europe\u2019s historical scents, including \u2018the smell of hell\u2019\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat do you think hell smells like? British researcher Dr William Tullett has faithfully recreated its foul odour \u2013 or at least how our forefathers imagined it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to an EU-funded research initiative called ODEUROPA, which ran from 2021 to 2023, Tullett did not need to spend years scouring archives across Europe. Instead, the information was accessible in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/explorer.odeuropa.eu\/\u0022\u003EODEUROPA Smell Explorer,\u003C\/a\u003E a unique, easily searchable database of historical smells, including more than 2.4 million individual instances or mentions of different smells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHell and its symbolism play a major role in European and Christian culture,\u201d said Dr Tullett, an expert on the history of smell and senior lecturer at the University of York in the UK.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo reconstruct this particular smell, he collected relevant references from 16\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E- and 17\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E-century sermons. These ranged from the expected sulphur and brimstone to more evocative descriptions like \u201ca million dead dogs\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis infernal scent was just one of a dozen historical scents presented at the 2025 World Expo\u2019s European pavilion in Japan. Also featured were frankincense, myrrh and the scent of Amsterdam\u2019s canals \u2013 each with their own emotional, cultural and historic connotations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll were recreated by the ODEUROPA team\u2019s researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Inger Leemans, cultural historian at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands who coordinated the research team, said the World Expo was a vivid demonstration of how subjective and dependent smells are on historical context.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile some Europeans found the scent of hell strangely attractive because the smokiness reminded them of grilled meat, Japanese visitors in Osaka found it \u201ccompletely revolting\u201d, she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EPreserving scents with AI\u2019s help\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOlfactory heritage \u2013 smells that hold cultural or community value \u2013 remains underexplored and difficult to document. While research into scent as a cultural phenomenon has been growing for some time, the work was previously scattered across various disciplines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis project was able to bring together expertise about scents from different domains like history, art history, chemistry and heritage science,\u201d Leemans said of the work done by researchers based in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and the UK.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EMost people have a lot of nose knowledge that they don\u2019t normally tap into.\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EInger Leemans, ODEUROPA\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd it went well beyond recreating the brimstone of hell. The ODEUROPA team developed an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/odeuropa.eu\/olfactory-heritage-toolkit\/\u0022\u003EOlfactory Heritage Toolkit\u003C\/a\u003E containing a list of olfactory practices, smells and \u201cfragrant places\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe aim is to help heritage researchers and policymakers acknowledge and safeguard significant scents and smellscapes \u2013 scents or odours that characterise a particular place, environment, or moment in time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn a practical note, Tullet said, smell can be a powerful tool to help people connect with history. Museums and heritage sites can use scent to make exhibits more immersive and memorable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSmell allows people to have a tangible, authentic and real engagement with the past,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMuseums and heritage sites are already taking notice, and curators are increasingly turning to smell as a way to engage visitors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the ODEUROPA team helped create a scent-based tour at the Museum Ulm, a museum of art, archaeology, and urban and cultural history in Ulm, Germany.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey also produced a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/citysniffers.odeuropa.eu\/\u0022\u003Eself-guided tour of Amsterdam\u003C\/a\u003E with scratch-and-sniff maps, and an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/odeuropa.eu\/the-olfactory-storytelling-toolkit\/\u0022\u003EOlfactory Storytelling Toolkit\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 a how-to guide for working with smells in museums and heritage sites.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo unearth historical knowledge and \u201cnose-witness accounts\u201d from some 43\u0026nbsp;000 images and 167\u0026nbsp;000 historical texts in 6\u0026nbsp;languages, researchers trained AI models to find smell and scent references in texts and images from the 16\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E to the early 20\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E century.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the basis of that, they produced knowledge graphs \u2013 a structured network of interconnected information which interlinks the data and puts it in context.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis cutting-edge use of AI supports the EU\u2019s wider ambition to make cultural heritage more impactful and accessible, including through \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/en\u0022\u003EEuropeana\u003C\/a\u003E, Europe\u2019s platform for digitalised cultural content.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EInspired by Japan\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven before the World Expo, the ODEUROPA researchers had been exchanging ideas with counterparts in Japan and were inspired by Japan\u2019s pioneering efforts in scent preservation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cJapan has been an inspiring example of thinking about smell in terms of heritage,\u201d said Leemans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003ESmell allows people to have a tangible, authentic and real engagement with the past.\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EDr William Tullett, ODEUROPA\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2001, Japan\u2019s Ministry of Environment created a list of the country\u2019s 100 notable smellscapes \u2013 from the sea fog that envelops the Kushiro region in cool summers to the white peaches of the Kibi Hills and the scent of Korean cuisine in Osaka\u2019s Tsuruhashi neighbourhood.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis inspired the ODEUROPA team to think more broadly about how smellscapes can reflect identity, place and memory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSmellscapes are important spaces that should be safeguarded and have a specific value,\u201d said Leemans.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESmell used to be a much bigger part of Japanese culture, according to Maki Ueda, a pioneering Japanese olfactory artist whose work also inspired the European team.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the Heian period, over a thousand years ago, scent was not only used for fragrance, but also as a form of social signalling and information, she explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t have that nowadays, that delicacy and sensitivity to scents.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUeda stressed that engaging with olfactory art is a meaningful and educational experience. \u201cPeople realise that they had forgotten how powerful the sense of smell can be.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEngaging the forgotten sense\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELeemans agreed that smell has been undeservedly overlooked, but argues it may now be making a comeback.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMost people have a lot of nose knowledge that they don\u2019t normally tap into,\u201d she said. \u201cThey might have trouble finding the words, but if we help them, they can actually bring that knowledge together.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo keep the conversation going, Leemans left behind an AI avatar of herself in Osaka. The digital version of her will continue to present ODEUROPA\u2019s research and answer visitors\u2019 questions for the remainder of the World Expo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer team has also been discussing potential future collaborations with Japanese partners, who are doing interesting work in collecting, documenting and presenting scents.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are so many different ways in which we can move forward together and learn from each other,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU\u2019s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don\u2019t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022text-center bg-bluelightest p-12 my-12 -mx-16\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch3 class=\u0022font-sans font-bold text-blue uppercase text-lg mb-8\u0022\u003EShowcasing EU research at the World Expo\u003C\/h3\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022inline-block w-1\/6 h-1 bg-blue mb-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOsaka, Japan\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E13 April - 13 October\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:justify !important;\u0022\u003EThis summer, millions of people from around the world will head to Osaka, Japan, for \u003Cstrong\u003EExpo 2025\u003C\/strong\u003E. At this global gathering, countries and regions will share how they\u2019re tackling some of today\u2019s biggest challenges, from sustainability and digital connectivity to inclusivity and security.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:justify !important;\u0022\u003EThe central theme of this year\u2019s event is \u003Cstrong\u003EDesigning Future Society for Our Lives\u003C\/strong\u003E. Visitors will get a chance to see how \u003Cstrong\u003EEU-funded research\u003C\/strong\u003E is helping shape that future. The EU\u2019s \u003Cstrong\u003ENurturing Tomorrow\u003C\/strong\u003E pavilion reflects Europe\u2019s commitment to building a greener, more connected and inclusive world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:justify !important;\u0022\u003EThe EU pavilion is hosting exhibitions, talks and interactive experiences that spotlight \u003Cstrong\u003Ecutting-edge EU research and innovation projects\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 all aimed at solving real-world problems and building international cooperation. Whether you\u2019re curious about the future of clean energy, digital tech, or inclusive design, there\u2019s something for everyone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:justify !important;\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVirtual visit\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:justify !important;\u0022\u003ECan\u2019t go to Osaka? Explore the Expo online at:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.expo2025.or.jp\/en\/future-index\/virtual\/virtual-site\/\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.expo2025.or.jp\/en\/future-index\/virtual\/virtual-site\/\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n            \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n      Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-bjo2wph5pug-ietsahg0zbyexlrkqiy78mt1ufwinya\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-bjO2WPH5pUG_IETsAHG0zbYeXlRKqiy78Mt1ufwInyA\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]