“Cultural Heritage is a Climate Action Issue. Climate Action is a Cultural Heritage Issue” this is the premise of the event organized by the Climate Heritage Network.
Culture x Climate 2020 is a virtual global forum for arts, culture and heritage-based climate action, presented from 12 October to 27 November, anchored by Climate Heritage Week 2020 (16-22 November).
It is designed to unite all those interested in the role of arts, culture and heritage in tackling the climate emergency and aims to enhance the capacity of these sectors to help build a climate-neutral and resilient world in the time of COVID-19. It promotes new partnerships between cultural actors and stakeholders across sectors and encourages the culture sector to play its part in driving greater ambition at UN Climate Summit (COP26).
Over a 45-day period, attendees will have access to a variety of virtual formats:
A series of three virtual November Dialogues held as part of the UN November Dialogues. This series showcases the often-overlooked role that arts, culture and heritage play in achieving a climate-neutral and resilient world.
A series of five Climate Heritage Network Regional Forums will spotlight the work in each CHN region of the world to mobilise arts, culture and heritage for climate action. The Regional Climate Heritage Forums are being presented during Climate Heritage Week 2020.
A series of seven virtual Climate Heritage Mobilisation Webinars held in partnership with Historic England’s Climate Friday.
On November 16, the Climate Heritage Network will hold an action-oriented Annual General Assembly, that will bring together Climate Heritage Network Members and Invited Observers, with the aim of organizing, planning and preparing to bring the voice of arts, culture and heritage to the next UN Climate Summit (COP26).
More information:
https://www.culturexclimate.org/
SoPHIA is a two years project started on January 2020 which aims at proposing a holistic impact assessment model for historical, environmental and cultural heritage in Europe. With the term holistic it understands that the economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions necessary to any intervention on heritage must be addressed comprehensively. The Platform will identify the most important challenges and opportunities linked to cultural heritage interventions in Europe. It will explore the general topic and the current situation as regards policies, assessment and quality of interventions, including best practices, and the creation of a draft holistic impact assessment model. It will also analyse specific case studies, focusing on people, domains and time. To achieve its goals, the project will bring together stakeholders from different fields who will define guidelines for future policies. UNCHARTED and the SoPHIA Platform has recently started a cooperation that will be increased by future common initiatives and mutual support. Surfing the waves of the pandemic, SoPHIA – Social Platform for Holistic Heritage Impact Assessment – held a first workshop online last June 25 and July 2 with its newly formed community of practice. The aim was to present the initial findings of the project, assess and exchange knowledges and practices, and spur the debate.
SoPHIA is currently bridging its first theoretical phase, during which it has collected and analyzed the literature and policies related to heritage impact assessment models and methods, with its second practical phase that foresees the design of an impact assessment model to be tested in selected cultural heritage sites, practices and events. The first phase has highlighted, among other things, the lack of models that duly address the four dimensions considered as fundamental when dealing with heritage interventions, namely the social, economic, cultural and environmental dimensions; the priority given to the economic dimension at the expense of other fundamental dimensions; the lack of consultative and participatory processes that provide for a sense of ownership by the communities; as well as the need for assessment models that take into account the long term impact of interventions, especially after so-called big events.
SOPHIA is a two years project started on January 2020 which aims at proposing a holistic impact assessment model for historical, environmental and cultural heritage in Europe. With the term holistic it understands that the economic, social, environmental and cultural dimensions necessary to any intervention on heritage must be addressed comprehensively. The Platform will identify the most important challenges and opportunities linked to cultural heritage interventions in Europe. It will explore the general topic and the current situation as regards policies, assessment and quality of interventions, including best practices, and the creation of a draft holistic impact assessment model. It will also analyse specific case studies, focusing on people, domains and time. To achieve its goals, the project will bring together stakeholders from different fields who will define guidelines for future policies.
In the first place, the context of the SoPHIA project was presented. This was followed by a series of keynote speeches that set the framework for the issue at hand: Annalisa Cicerchia, Roma Tre University, presented “Impact Assessment Methods” and Beatriz García, Institute of Cultural Capital, University of Liverpool, shared her views on “Why do present Impact Assessment Models prove inadequate”. The gaps and opportunities identified regarding heritage impact assessment models were also presented with a summary of guidelines and programmes from the EU and other world regions. Participants debated in small groups and, based on their experiences, contributed different perspectives that will be taken into account in the drafting of the SoPHIA impact assessment model. All the material of the Athens Virtual Workshop will be shortly made available for download from the SoPHIA website.
Cultural Heritage, Resilience and Sustainable Urban Regeneration are the focus of the session “Re-Inventing Heritage for Sustainable Urban Regeneration’, which will be held the morning of the third day conference from 9:30 to 11:00 CET. The session will explore how cultural heritage has the potential to enable new forms of collaboration and cultural production, to support cities to cope with future challenges, creating the conditions to carry out sustainable adaptive reuse projects. Participants will also discuss how cultural heritage can contribute to strengthening the resilience of communities. In this contest, ROCK experience with sustainable urban regeneration will be presented by Erica Albarello. The speech will focus on Turin’s views on how heritage, culture and creativity are relevant for the sustainable development of the City, specifically looking at the examples of adaptive heritage reuse initiatives co-developed together with local community groups. Cristina Garzillo, will co-moderate the session.
