Heritage and Climate

Climate change represents the single greatest threat to our cultural heritage globally. Impacts are global and vary significantly, from sea-level rise and coast erosion to desertification and erratic weather patterns. Yet cultural heritage is not just impacted by climate change, it is also a powerful resource for climate action. Members of the Heritage Hub are working on a wide range of projects exploring the intersection between climate change and cultural heritage from recording vulnerable sites and planning for loss and damage, to carbon mitigation in the built environment. They are also exploring climate adaptation and heritage solutions based on historical land management strategies and the traditional ecological knowledge of communities around the world, both past and present. These societies are invaluable repositories of information about climate adaptation. Finally, heritage is a powerful vehicle to stress urgency about climate change in an emotive and engaging way. The role of heritage as a communicative and education tool is an often overlooked yet powerful means to raise awareness about climate change. 

The Heritage Hub at QUB is also a member of the Climate Heritage Network, which was founded in 2019 to bring policy makers, heritage professionals, academics and others together to work on climate change related heritage issues.