ICOMOS and Europa Nostra to develop “European Heritage Green Paper”

Cityscape

ICOMOS and Europa Nostra have announced a new collaboration to develop a “European Heritage Green Paper” on the issue of cultural heritage and climate change. The Paper focuses on the role of cultural heritage in achieving the ambitions of the European Green Deal (EGD).

Andrew Potts, coordinator of the ICOMOS Climate Change and Heritage Working Group (CCHWG), leads this project, working closely with a panel of Expert Advisers invited to provide guidance on specific EGD policy initiatives.

Philosophy of the Project 

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is crucial to Europe and crucial to safeguarding cultural heritage. The European Green Deal brings the 1.5°C temperature goal within reach, which is why Europe’s cultural heritage needs the Green Deal to succeed. At the same time, there are significant cultural dimensions to every aspect of the European Green Deal, from circular economy to building renovation, ‘farm to fork’ to biodiversity. The European Green Deal needs cultural heritage to succeed.  Yet ‘art’, ‘culture’ and ‘heritage’ – none of these words currently appear in the EGD. We cannot afford this omission. This project aims to help place Europe’s culture and cultural heritage at the heart of the EGD.

Methodology for the Project 

In 2019, ICOMOS issued a report entitled ‘The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action’, outlining a positive, policy-based vision of the role of cultural heritage in responding to climate change.

The European Heritage Green Paper will correlate the relevant competencies of cultural heritage set out in the ICOMOS report to the topics of the EGD. The intention of the “European Heritage Green Paper” is to discuss heritage using the logic and vocabulary of climate action and climate science.

The project will conclude with an online forum on cultural heritage and the European Green Deal in Autumn 2020. 

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See also

Picto GO TO link Our other work on climate change

Picto GO TO link Become a member of the Climate Heritage Network

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Picture: The biggest vegetal wall of Europe, London, created by architecture firm Sheppard Robson / © Sheppard Robson.