Kuching Declaration: A Shared Commitment to Safeguarding Living Heritage: Respect, Enhance, Accept, Partnership

Preamble

Acknowledging that cultural heritage is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of disasters and conflicts worldwide, and that heritage objects, structures and landscapes of local, national or global significance are at growing risk. While such events cannot always be prevented, their impacts can be anticipated and mitigated.
Recognising the key challenges and priorities identified in the ICOMOS Triennial Scientific Plans on Cultural Heritage and Climate Action (TSP 2021–2024) and Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage: Preparedness, Response, Recovery (TSP 2024–2027), and in light of ICOMOS’ 2020 declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency, we aim to enhance the resilience of cultural heritage by strengthening emergency response mechanisms, crisis monitoring, risk management and preparedness strategies, and by developing and applying best-practice protocols.

We, the participants of the ICOMOS Scientific Symposium 2026, gathered in Kuching, Sarawak, under the overarching theme “Living Heritage: Respect, Enhance, Accept, Partnership”, recognise that heritage is neither static nor isolated. It is a living continuum of tangible and intangible values, knowledge, practices, landscapes, ecosystems, memories and identities, sustained through relationships between people, places, nature and generations.

 

Read the full Kutching Declaration

CALL TO ACTION

On behalf of the global communities we serve, ICOMOS addresses this Declaration to the United Nations, UNESCO, international bodies, all levels of government, research institutions, non-governmental organisations, and local heritage custodians. We call upon all stakeholders to commit to, invest in, and act upon the following priorities:
• Transform Knowledge into Practice: Develop and implement agile research, responsive
public policies, and practical toolkits that address the lived realities and socio-economic
contexts of living heritage.
• Empower Community Leadership: Formally integrate Indigenous Peoples, local communities, youth, and heritage custodians into institutional decision-making, disaster preparedness, and post-crisis recovery processes.
• Decentralise Knowledge Sharing: Mobilise cross-regional and interdisciplinary exchange— systematically integrating traditional and Indigenous knowledge systems alongside scientific research to foster resilience and innovation.
• Build Crisis Capacity: Equip heritage practitioners, institutions, and communities with the funding, training and communication infrastructure required to absorb, respond to and recover from climate change impacts, disasters and armed conflicts.
• Enforce Accountability and Strengthen Partnership: Establish transparent, collaborative actions governed by clear benchmarks that can be monitored, scaled and shared systematically throughout the global ICOMOS network.

We invite all participants and partners world-wide to endorse the Kuching Declaration and translate its principles into concrete commitments to safeguard living heritage and promote peacebuilding through dialogue, learning, collaboration and collective action.
Let us ensure that living heritage remains meaningful, resilient, and alive.

Let us build:
Through Respect — Meaningful and inclusive conservation
Through Enhancement — Advanced knowledge, innovation, and lasting resilience
Through Acceptance — Responsible adaptation and continuity in times of crisis
Through Partnership — Collective action translating shared values into practice