Five new research projects have been announced to mitigate climate change and build capacity for climate action.
The projects will examine cultural heritage and environmental policies in countries including:
- India
- Indonesia
- Jordan
- Brazil
Responding to climate change challenges
The projects are funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) with an investment of £270,000 and delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
This is the latest round of an opportunity originally launched in 2020.
It aims to support research on how developing countries can respond more effectively to the challenges for cultural heritage resulting from natural disasters and climate change.
Improved preparedness measures
In the wake of human-made disasters, and the increasing risks posed to cultural heritage by climate change, the need for improved preparedness measures is a key priority for the global heritage community.
This programme has explored preventive and reactive measures, methods and practices that cultural heritage can provide in response to these threats in a broad range of communities across the world.
Projects funded through the programme have helped to safeguard cultural heritage at risk from climate change and demonstrate how cultural heritage can support net zero and biodiversity preservation ambitions.
Protecting cultural heritage
AHRC Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith said:
UK arts and humanities research is vital to showing the critical role that protecting culture and cultural heritage plays in the UK’s international development agenda.
This research will protect cultural heritage at risk from climate change and natural disasters and build disaster-preparedness capacity throughout the world, as also highlighted at COP28.
Spanning a diverse range of methods, regions and disciplines, the projects come together to propose new ways to build capacity for climate action in a way that preserves indigenous knowledge and heritage practices across cultures.
AHRC is proud to work with DCMS in making the case for culture-based climate action.
Heritage Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:
These five new research projects will translate research into policy, developing new international standards for climate resilience and sustainability and ensuring cultural heritage around the world survives to tell our story for generations to come.
Cultural heritage projects across the world
Since 2015, DCMS has worked to deliver cultural heritage projects in official development assistance (ODA) eligible countries across the world with partners including:
- AHRC
- the British Council
- the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- the Victoria and Albert Museum
- the British Museum
Culture plays a role in promoting economic development, peacebuilding, security and stability, as well as building resilience to crises in fragile and conflict-affected states.
That is why it plays such a vital role in the UK’s international development agenda.
These groundbreaking programmes will protect cultural heritage at risk from climate change and natural disasters, building climate resilience and disaster-preparedness capacity in ODA-eligible countries.
Funded projects
The five successful projects are:
Empowering action for climate through collections-based institutions in lower and middle income countries (LMICs)
Project lead: Rodney Harrison, UCL
The project draws on results and methodologies developed as part of:
- the AHRC-funded Reimagining Museums for Climate Action project (2019 to 2022)
- the ongoing UK Research and Innovation underwritten Horizon Europe project Petrocultures’ Intersection with The Cultural Heritage Sector in the Context of Green Transitions (PITCH) (2023 to 2027)
Both projects have largely been developed in anglophone and western European contexts.
The current project aims to explore their wider application in capacity building for climate action within the heritage and museums sector in a number of LMICs.
It works in partnership with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, an intergovernmental organisation focused on:
- heritage conservation
- uses of heritage and training
- working with member states around the world
H2O-STEP: approaching climate-resilience through revitalising historic stepwells and blue infrastructures for climate adaptation
Project lead: Tania Sharmin, Cardiff University
Promoting the restoration and development of green and blue-infrastructure such as canals, fields, parks and wetlands in cities is vital for protecting ecosystem services and human well-being amid rapid urbanisation.
This project aims to explore the role of blue-infrastructure in contemporary cities, focusing on urban heat mitigation and sustainable water conservation and management.
Through research, this project will evaluate how specific forms of blue-infrastructure can contribute to climate mitigation in the hot-arid areas of Jodhpur, located in the Thar desert region of Rajasthan, India.
This research will generate valuable insights into how conserving the tangible-built heritage can inform climate change mitigation and governance policies.
Mobilising UK cultural heritage and climate change research and energising Brazil’s cultural sector ahead of COP30
Project lead: Paul Heritage, Queen Mary University of London
This project will connect policymakers, communities, artists and activists with UK cultural heritage and climate change research.
It will demonstrate the crucial role of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage within climate mitigation, action and adaptation.
It aims to:
- build UK-Brazil knowledge exchange and capacity to capitalise on a key policy moment, COP30 being held in Belém, Brazil in 2025
- energise both nations’ cultural and research sectors in preparation of COP30, so they can inform the debates at COP30
Climate-change related disasters are becoming increasingly severe and devastating and are acutely impacting Indigenous communities in the Amazon region.
It is therefore crucial that Indigenous voices are centred in climate change debates and policy discussions, and that cultural heritage and its preservation are understood as critical to climate change resilience.
This project responds to this need by integrating traditional knowledge, art and cultural perspectives with environmental policy strategies.
Mobilising cultural heritage towards environmental education: a focus on Indonesia
Project lead: Francesca Salvi, University of Nottingham
This research project will explore locally rooted, culturally informed climate solutions to address Indonesia’s reliance on fossil fuels and deforestation and its extreme susceptibility to the impacts of climate change.
Taking an interdisciplinary and participatory approach, the project will highlight Indonesian cultural heritage as a vital resource in crafting climate mitigation and adaptation strategies that are just, inclusive, and contextually appropriate.
The project will engage diverse stakeholders, including primary school communities and local cultural heritage organisations, and incorporate Indigenous knowledge.
It will foster alternative pathways for Indonesia’s transition to sustainability, balancing environmental protection with social equity.
Specifically, the project will generate locally grounded and relevant environmental education resources that support future generations in developing creative and innovative approaches to sustainability, actively contributing to the country’s process of just transition.
Integrating cultural heritage into climate policy in the Middle East
Project lead: Bill Finlayson, University of Oxford
This project will pioneer the integration of cultural heritage and climate policy in Jordan, home to several World Heritage sites, developing a national policy and setting a regional standard for resilience and sustainability.
The integration of these research areas has not yet been attempted in the Middle East and North African region.
This is despite the region’s vulnerability to climate change, especially increasing temperatures and unpredictable changes in rainfall patterns leading to drought and flash flooding, and the presence of several globally significant heritage sites.
The focus of the project will be a workshop half-way through the six months, debating a draft policy presented by the project team with stakeholders including:
- government agencies
- non-governmental organisations
- the local government authorities concerned
- World Heritage site managers
- local communities
The policies will align with the goals outlined in the updated United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization policy document on climate action for world heritage.
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