UNESCO

Chair on Heritage Futures

Responding to the climate emergency

2022-10-01

I have been attending the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development MONDIACULT 2022 in Mexico-City (28-30 September 2022). My University made a story out of it!

My formal role was an invited statement in the session “Responding to the climate emergency: new imperatives for cultural policy”, organised by the Climate Heritage Network. The session attracted an audience of more than 60 participants in the room (plus an unknown number of digital listeners) and it was very well received.

In my short contribution, I emphasized the significance of culture for mitigating the climate crisis and for preparing for a different world in the future. I also noted what I called the Climate Heritage Paradox:

  1. Heritage promotes continuity when we in fact need change.
  2. Heritage is framed in a local/national context when in fact we need global and multilateral collaboration.

(Similar issues are now also discussed in a White Paper on “The role of cultural and natural heritage for climate action” which resulted from the  International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change co-arranged by IPCC, UNESCO, and ICOMOS in December 2021.)

I concluded with two action items. Capacity building is necessary …

  • for the cultural sector generally: integrate foresight and long-term futures thinking throughout the sector (as also recommended in the UN Secretary General’s 2021 report on Our Common Agenda)
  • for the cultural heritage sector and education in heritage: (a) embrace more often change (or cultural diversity over time), not as much continuity and conservation, as well as (b) strengthen global thinking in the field.

Workshop: Inclusion and diversity in the heritage field – developing participatory approaches for the future

2022-09-30

Monday 26 September Anders Högberg was involved in arranging a workshop in Kalmar. At a well visited event (c. 25 persons) with students from Archaeology and Heritage Studies and also Leila Papoli-Yazdi and Emily Hanscam from the Heritage Futures chair in the audience, aspects of ´Inclusion and diversity in the heritage field’ was discussed. Sarah May presented on ‘Heritage, negotiating change, negotiating power’ and Cornelius Holtorf presented on the theme ‘From diversity to variation: human identity reconsidered’.

The intellectual set-up for the workshop was this:

Top-down initiatives aimed at promoting social inclusion within the Scandinavian heritage field have created dominant narratives of community cohesion, by drawing upon notions of unity presented as pre-existing. Essentialistic ideas of ‘rooted’ cultures, linked to shared histories and places of origin, provide individuals and groups with a sense of continuity and belonging. Embedded with assumptions concerned with nostalgia and consensus, such concepts work to construct and divide society into assumed homogeneous collectives. Efforts over the last two decades to extend the span of how cultural heritage is typified to recognize diversity, have not in themselves challenged inbuilt power relations, traditional narratives or the processes by which heritage is defined and given meaning. Recent strategies of minority inclusion involve an increased emphasis on the recognition and valorization of alternatives ‘from below’. Central is the notion that official heritage institutions and practitioners should act less like experts with authenticating authority, and instead adopt roles of facilitators and enablers. In this workshop we investigate how we can further develop such approaches.

The workshop was initiated and organised by Kaja Hannedatter Sontum from The Future Past: Bridging Public Administration, Academia and Schools, a research and dissemination project within HEI: Heritage Experience Initiative at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, Gustav Wollentz from The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning and Creativity in Östersund, Sweden, and Anna S. Beck from the project The Timeline. Applied Archaeology in Køge Nord at Museum Southeast Denmark, together with Anders Högberg at the Department of Cultural Sciences and the UNESCO Chair of Heritage Futures, Linnaeus University. The event was hosted by The Centre for Applied Heritage, Linnaeus University.

Gustav Wollentz, Anders Högberg, Sarah May and Kaja Hannedatter Sontum.

Various activities July – September 2022

2022-09-29

Cornelius Holtorf was invited to present in a Plenary on Wars, Conflicts, Crises, and Archaeologies at the World Archaeological Congress 9 in Prague, Czech Republic, on the question “How can world archaeological heritage contribute to a better future for all?” (5 July 2022).

During the World Archaeological Congress 9 in Prague, Czech Republic, Cornelius Holtorf had meetings about future collaborations with Professor Valentina Figueroa Larre, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile, Professor Peter Stone, UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection and Peace at Newcastle University, UK, and Dr Isber Sabrine, Director of the international NGO Heritage for Peace based in Girona, Spain (4-8 July 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf was interviewed by Anne Bergmans of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, in the context of the research project “Include” commissioned by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority on including (local) stakeholder participation in its regulatory mission (18 August 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg co-organised and co-chaired a session entitled “Archaeology as the Study of the Future” and co-presented two papers on “Archaeology and Cultural Heritage as Future-Making Practices in the Context of Climate Change (1)” and “…(2)” at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists held at Budapest, Hungary (1 September 2022). The session was attended by ca. 40 colleagues and filled its room.

Cornelius Holtorf co-organised and co-chaired a roundtable  on “Telling Stories about Impacts of Academic Research in Archaeology in Society: Wider Lessons from the UK Research Excellence Framework Experience” at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists held at Budapest, Hungary (2 September 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf attended a roundtable organized by the EAA Community for Climate Change and Heritage (CCH) held at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists held at Budapest, Hungary (3 September 2022).

Anders Högberg gave a lecture on heritage futures and futures literacy for the incoming PhD students in the PhD programme on Global Humanities at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Linnaeus University (9 September 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf spoke on the occasion of a Memorial Symposium celebrating the work and life of Professor David Lowenthal on the topic “The past – what’s new?” More than 30 colleagues attended at the event held at the Royal Geographical Society in London, UK (16 September 2022)

Cornelius Holtorf took part in his first meeting as member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum — Leibniz-Research Institute for Archaeology, Mainz (22-24 September 2022).

50 Years UNESCO World Heritage

2022-09-21

Wars, pandemics, artificial intelligence, a swiftly unfolding climate crisis… The world is changing rapidly, and human communities must adapt to many challenges. In this situation, world heritage presents something of a twofold paradox: when the world needs global solidarity and collaboration, world heritage sites serve as cultural totems of the different nation states, which themselves can be in conflict. As we anticipate and adapt to change, world heritage looks backward, encouraging us to conserve what was before. Fifty years after the establishment of Unesco’s World Heritage Convention, it is time to look ahead – literally.

Continue reading (open access):

To adapt to a changing world, heritage conservation needs to look toward the future published in The Conversation on 20 September 2022.

Sweden’s intangible cultural heritage

2022-08-26

The Nordic Clinker Boat Traditions is Sweden’s only listed UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. Nordic clinker boats are small, open, wooden boats between five and ten metres long.

In connection with the Unika historical Kalmar County project, and on invitation of Västervik Museum, Cornelius Holtorf, Leila Papoli-Yazdi, and Emily Hanscam joined up with Kalmar County Museum’s Maja Heuer to talk to Veronica Palm and Olof Nimhed of Västervik Museum about visions of future development linked to the intangible maritime heritage of Nordic clinker boat building.

We were talking, among other topics, about people-centred aspirations connected with local communities, global sustainable development, and uses of heritage, advancing peace, trust and wellbeing among humans. Political desires to increase Gross National Product (GNP) have begun to be superseded by strategies to enhance Gross National Happiness (GNH). But what might that mean in the context of Västervik, the museum, and boat-building?

 

Prioritise the climate crisis!

2022-08-25

Cornelius Holtorf signed with nearly 2,000 Swedish researchers a call to politicians to give more attention to addressing the challenges of climate change. The call was published in Aftonbladet (25 August 2022).

Som forskare och medborgare är vi arga och förtvivlade över den senaste tidens utveckling. Vi ser hur en majoritet av våra politiska partier överger klimatpolitiken och i stället föreslår eller genomför politik som går stick i stäv med Parisavtalet och Sveriges klimat- och miljömål.

Våra politiker måste ta krisen på allvar och leda omställningen till ett framtida samhälle inom planetens gränser. Forskningen visar att en sådan framtid är möjlig.

Sweden holds national elections in a couple of weeks, and the hope is to make an impact on the priorities of the new government!

Heritage management predicted

2022-08-20

A new paper by Jeffrey Altschul and Terry Klein in the journal Advances in Archaeological Practice predicts an expansion of heritage management in the US until 2031. Their text is entitled “Forecast for the US CRM Industry and Job Market, 2022–2031” and available in open access. They make the following case:

In the next 10 years, the US cultural resource management (CRM) industry will grow in terms of monies spent on CRM activities and the size of the CRM labor force. Between US fiscal years 2022 and 2031, annual spending on CRM will increase from about $1.46 to $1.85 billion, due in part to growth in the US economy but also to an added $1 billion of CRM activities conducted in response to the newly passed infrastructure bill. The increased spending will lead to the creation of about 11,000 new full-time positions in all CRM fields. Archaeologists will be required to fill more than 8,000 positions, and of these, about 70% will require advanced degrees. Based on current graduation rates, there will be a significant MA/PhD-level job deficit.

Futurium Berlin

2022-07-14

Finally I was able to see the Futurium in Berlin. This high-profile government investment is located in the political centre of Berlin, next door to the Ministry of Research and Education of Germany. From the exhibition you have a splendid view of the Parliament, and that is no coincidence.

The content as would be expected – and similar to the equivalent institutions in other countries. It is on the whole a celebration of technology and of political responsibility for the future. It is also about the need to change human behaviour in the name of sustainability addressing some of the difficulties this entails. One of the aims is to influence visitors to do ‘the right thing’.

What is missing, as so often, is a concern with understanding the variability of how human beings make sense of the world, by which values they lead their lives, and what/whom they trust. In my view, such a concern for human culture is needed in any hopeful attempt of governing human societies for the future… Most people (and politicians) lack this view and instead focus on culture in the sense of the arts, as part of the creative industries, the cultural economy, and possibly as belonging to the realm of education.

Various activities April – June 2022

2022-07-06

Cornelius Holtorf responded to the “Call for inputs to a report on cultural rights and sustainable development” by the UN’s Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki (9 April 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg participated in the second meeting of the Expert Group on Awareness Preservation (EGAP) within the project on Information, Data and Knowledge Management (IDKM) at the Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD), held in Gmunden, Austria (26-28 April 2022). They held presentations on “Futures Literacy” and “Heritage Processes” respectively.

Cornelius Holtorf met Vanessa Valentino who is supporting the Demand Generation Alliance (DGA), an international food alliance which is is seeking to shift society-wide preferences towards nutritious and sustainable food by leveraging socio-cultural strategies (5 May 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg attended the online workshop on The Time and Temporalities of Nuclear Waste, arranged by Thomas Keating, Linköping University (10 May 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf presented a lecture on “Towards an Archaeology of the Future” for an audience of more than 200 Doctoral students and researchers at the University of Warsaw’s Doctoral School of Humanities, Poland (18 May 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf participated in a workshop “Beyond Dystopia” at Linnaeus University Campus Växjö led by author Mats Söderlund and dedicated to forming a collaborative project involving a digital platform exploring climate change in relation to culture and the arts (19 May 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf reviewed a draft Guidebook on World Heritage Interpretation initiated by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and offered detailed comments and suggestions for improvement in a coming revision (17 June 2022).