Welcome to this new blog site. Here we will write about a new research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) exploring climate change adaptation and cultural heritage. We are so excited about this new project and we hope this space will provide an opportunity for us to share our progress, ideas and updates with you.
What’s the project called?
CRITICAL: Cultural Heritage Risk and Impact Tools for Integrated and Collaborative Learning
Who is part of the team?
Our team includes researchers in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Scotland and Indonesia!
The team at the University of Edinburgh include Dr Kate Crowley and Dr Rowan Jackson. In South Africa research looking at food heritage and vulnerability is being led by Prof Siona O’Connell and Dr Dominque Wnuczek-Lobaczewski. In Sri Lanka, Dr Dulma Karunarathna is working on traditional climate change adaptation and finally, in Indonesia Dr Arry Retnowati and Esti Anantasari are examining cultural landscapes and natural hazards. We represent communities from all over the world and hope to share our understanding of the relationship between cultural heritage, disasters and climate change.
Why is it important to understand risk?
There is an urgent need to support the world’s most vulnerable populations to adapt and thrive to rapid environmental change. Understanding climate change and disaster risk is the fundamental first step towards building resilience. This involves understanding both the hazard but also the people and assets exposed to that hazard.
Why should we care about cultural heritage and risk?
Cultural Heritage shapes our identity, delivers capacities and exposes vulnerabilities yet cultural value and vulnerability are missing from conventional risk assessments that support sustainable development and growth. Fundamentally, this means that the things that motivate people, build their resilience and in some cases make them susceptible to hazards is missing from decisions about adaptation and emergency management.
Understanding the vulnerability and value of cultural heritage (e.g. beliefs, buildings, and traditions) is vital to building resilience globally.
What are we going to do?
Until November 2021, we will be working in partnership across Indonesia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka this project will combine heritage management, cultural geography and climate risk research to form a community of practice focused on Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Our diverse team aim to identify and develop interdisciplinary methods to capture the ‘invisible’ vulnerability and value of CH and incorporate this within risk assessment.
Crucially, this project will collate and share diverse experiences, knowledge and skills to build a portfolio of pilot case studies from the three LMICs on cultural value for climate and disaster risk assessment and management.
Watch this space for updates, resources and ideas!
(Kate Crowley)
(Kate Crowley)
