UNESCO

Reading Jenny Andersson and Erik Westholm’s 2019 book Slaget om Framtiden (The Battle for the Future), it is striking that they argue that collaboration in future studies with partners in society is a liability rather than an asset. 

Andersson and Westholm claim that specific economic, industrial or political interests of partners in society create conflicts of interest which make it impossible to conduct free research and reach independent conclusions.

Here is a film where they present their research (in Swedish): https://www.iffs.se/kalendarium/iffs-play/slaget-om-framtiden-om-forskningen-och-konflikten-mellan-tillvaxt-och-miljo/

However in my experience it is precisely the other way around to what Andersson and Westholm claim. From collaboration with non-academic partners I have learned a lot on how to think various futures, how to approach and address them, and not the least what practical challenges there are to be considered. This has made our research conclusions not only more applicable and relevant in society but also academically stronger in their content.

Summer pleasures in the park: members and friends of the UNESCO Chair play the Futures Game, creating imaginative stories about alternative heritage futures.

Cornelius Holtorf took part in the Annual Meeting of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Sweden, raising the question of how ICOMOS as a global NGO in the cultural sector might respond to the corona crisis (16 April 2020)

Cornelius Holtorf participated in a high-level digital conference on Agenda 2030 – sustainable transformation on a scientific basis, organised by FORMAS, Sweden’s funding council for sustainable development. The conference proved to be directly relevant to the work of our UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures. During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Isabella Lövin acknowledged that remembering is important and that “we need to take a longer time perspective”. Ulrika Modéer, Assistant Director General of the UN, emphasised the need and a growing readiness in many countries to collaborate globally for addressing global challenges. Eeva Furman, one of the authors of the Global Development Sustainable Report (2019), suggested that culture has an important role to play in achieving sustainable development. Several other prominent speakers mentioned the need to support research that is interdisciplinary, collaborates between different sectors, produces other outcomes than only top-level publications, and is applicable in policy and practice, globally (4 May 2020).

Cornelius Holtorf presented a Masterclass on “How can heritage professionals respond to environmental change?” for the HERILAND College for Heritage Planning’s digital workshop  on  Changing Environments, bringing together ca 30 Ph.D. students and their supervisors as well as representatives of partner organisations, from Belgium, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden (11 May 2020).

Cornelius Holtorf presented the story behind the colouring book “Archaeology Today” for an international audience of about 20 attending a seminar during the National Archaeology Week dedicated this year to Archaeology in Society, held at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia (20 May 2020).

Cornelius Holtorf took part in the Virtual Opening and Streaming Festival associated with the major exhibition “Critical Zones. Observatories for Earthly Politics” curated by Bruno Latour and Peter Weigel (22-24 May 2020)