UNESCO

The following text represents my spoken introduction to the panel discussion on the question “How cultural heritage sites can contribute to the world’s common future?”, held on 20 October 2026 at the Scientific Symposium “Living Heritage”, on the occasion of the 2026 General Assembly of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in Kuching, Malaysia.

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The 2024 UN Pact for the Future together with its Appendices pledges “a new beginning in multilateralism” and sets out an ambitious agenda for the world’s common future, reaffirming an enduring commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while committing to culture as an integral component of sustainable development.

Cultural heritage is mentioned explicitly on two occasions. The Heads of the World’s States and Governments, representing the peoples of the world, “condemn in the strongest terms the devastating impact of armed conflict on … cultural heritage,” and they pledge to “honour, promote and preserve cultural diversity and cultural heritage.”

The rest of the 64-pages long document outlines many different actions in the areas of
– sustainable development and financing for development,
– international peace and security,
– science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation,
– youth and future generations, and
– transforming global governance.

Their shared goal is “to protect the needs and interests of present and future generations” by making the international system more inclusive, effective and fit for 21st-century challenges.

We have heard many times about the need to preserve or safeguard the cultural heritage for the benefit of future generations. But what exactly does that mean? Which future generations? Which future benefits?

Some of you will recall how Lynn Meskell reminded us in Sydney three years ago of the poor track record of World Heritage inscriptions for communities. On average, the UNESCO listing process, she argued, engenders more conflict, not more cooperation. Cultural heritage can entrench inequality, fuel conflict and violence, and disenfranchise local communities.

The present panel discussion brings together global experts to discuss together (and with you, the audience) how ICOMOS and cultural heritage sites can respond effectively to current and future challenges and thus contribute “to ensure the future we want.”

The future is uncertain, and what the future will hold for heritage and uses of the past is not self-evident. After all, they say that nothing ages faster than our view of the future—but also that nothing is more difficult to predict than our view of the past.

Much regarding our joint future will indeed depend on the decisions we are making in the world of today.
In this panel, we will hear, I hope, a wide range of contributions on how culture and heritage can contribute to addressing global future challenges and seizing emerging opportunities, in the context of multilateral collaboration.

Given that the next GA 2029 will likely be held in close proximity to the expiry and possible replacement of the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals, now is the time to discuss jointly the potential of cultural heritage sites and landscapes to contribute to the world’s future agenda from 2030 onwards.

The Pact for the Future stated that culture should be “an integrated component” of sustainable development (and there already is a first draft of a Culture Goal prepared by the Culture2030Goal campaign). Recently, the UN General Assembly agreed on an International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development, to be led by UNESCO 2027-2036.

But, as Marek Tamm asked, “How do we make sense of the past [and of heritage] in a world where the future is not what it used to be?” How could ICOMOS through its work respond to emerging future realities, including climate change, generative AI, digital and other inequalities, threats to human rights, violent conflicts and wars, as well as other transformations?

In a recent paper on cultural heritage and the climate crisis, I pointed to a Climate Heritage Paradox:

1. Whereas the future requires us to find global solutions and to promote pan-human solidarity, – heritage is commonly about appreciating cultural distinction and diversity (often in term of us and them).

2. Whereas the future is about change and requires the transformation of society and many people’s livelihoods, – heritage is often about continuity, conservation, and timeless values. In his excellent keynote lecture yesterday, Zaki Aslan talked about ‘adaptive continuity’ of heritage in the Anthropocene. Maybe we could change the order and talk about a need for ‘continuous adaptation’ and constant transformation of heritage in our age.

Currently, it seems that the past, the present and the future are not perfectly aligned. So I would like to pose the question to what extent cultural heritage should (or even could) be different in the future.

To get our panel discussion going, I am entertaining the possibility that cultural heritage could play slightly new roles in contributing to the world’s common future and helping us “ensure the future we want”.

1. The 2024 UN Pact for the Future highlighted the importance of long-term thinking in addressing global challenges. ICOMOS is uniquely positioned to advance this agenda. Tangible sites and monuments offer rich resources for understanding long-term societal change and promoting intergenerational justice beyond short-term economics and politics.

2. Culture shapes how people make sense of the world and relate to one another. Greater attention to what unites human beings across cultures, histories, and regions may affect mindsets by fostering mutual understanding and strengthen peace and global cohesion for the benefit of people living now and in the future.

3. Cultural heritage is not only something to be safeguarded against identified threats; it can also be a catalyst for desirable positive change and transformation. Perceiving heritage as a dynamic field reflecting past and present people’s choices and their consequences, can inform our own choices for wellbeing in the future.

4. UNESCO emerged from intellectual traditions grounded in humanism and cooperation between peoples. Today, all of humanity faces planetary challenges associated with environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and a changing climate affecting human and non-human life. Cultural heritage could advance timely reflections on human–environment relations (also critical ones!) and inform discussions of the significance of post-human thinking in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Respect may have to be given even to non-human entities such as trees or rivers.

Cultural heritage does not matter today primarily because some items are threatened and must be saved; but because those remaining can help us shape a more sustainable future on Earth. Across time and place, heritage has helped people locate themselves within larger narratives. As part of culture, it provides meaning and offers context to how we live, think and relate to one another.

In doing so, cultural heritage can play a surprisingly powerful role: it can build hope, solidarity and trust within communities, across borders and indeed between generations.

With those thoughts I am now turning to my panel members and invite them to their own opening statements.

by Cornelius Holtorf, Chairholder, UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden

PS Nothing I said in this introduction necessarily reflects the views of UNESCO but only my own. See also my text here.