On December 3, 2024, the university management invited to a theme day in Växjö about Linnaeus University and the future. A recording of the event is available here https://play.lnu.se/media/t/0_tb0d3lc4
Cornelius Holtorf participated live in a panel discussion with Marie Hedberg, Pro Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Jörgen Forss, Vice Dean at the Faculty of Technology. Marcelo Milrad from the Faculty of Technology joined via link. The panel was chaired by Kerstin Årmann from the Office of External Relations.
Cornelius Holtorf in a panel discussion at the Future Day, Linnaeus University.
Anders Högberg and Gustav Wollentz from the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures were on the 22 November 2024 invited to conduct a workshop on future awareness for the management group at the Department for Nature and Cultural Heritage in the Region Västra Götaland. During the day we met 12 persons, and the workshop lasted for four hours. It took place at the Museum of Natural History in Gothenburg.
The main question we explored was: What will the museums’ societal role/mission look like in 2050? This question was approached through a series of sub-questions, for example with the aim of identifying societal challenges and how these can be proactively met through actions today.
The workshop was based on dialogue and the exchange of different perspectives and experiences. By such an approach, participants took on a more open approach to different types of futures in relation to the museums’ societal role and mission. In the exchange after the workshop, it was highlighted as particularly important to be able to approach the future as open where several different alternatives are conceivable. Participants expressed it as liberating not to see the future solely as an extension of the present, and to be able to seriously engage in considering alternatives for the future.
Museum of Natural History in Gothenburg. Photo Gustav Wollentz
Cornelius Holtorf was among a team of international experts contributing to a UNESCO Guidance note on climate action for living heritage, passed recently at the 19th Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Asunción, Paraguay, 2 to 7 December 2024.
Among others, the Note refers to the significance of futures thinking in stating that
“The network of UNESCO Chairs and accredited non-governmental organizations should also be engaged in promoting research and education objectives, and in advocating for research programmes as a source of funding. Specific priorities for research might address:
(…)
engagement with the new fields of artificial intelligence and futures thinking;”
Gradually, heritage futures makes its way into UNESCO thinking regarding major challenges ahead…
The meeting was introduced by the Vice-minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Spain. Mr. Jordi Martí Grau who emphasized the rights of all citizens to culture and creative work, stressing the significance of education in that respect, and that “there cannot be sustainable development without culture”. Grau emphasized the rights of all citizens to culture.
The meeting was attended, among others, by the Assistant Director General for Culture (ADG Culture), UNESCO, Mr. Ernesto Ottone-Ramírez, and by representatives of Cultural Ministeries from many European countries, the U.S. and Canada. It was moderated by the representative of Andorra and featured simultaneous translation of all contributions between Spanish, English, and French.
In my own short address to the participants I emphasized the opportunities for culture, UNESCO and MONDIACULT arising from the 2024 UN Pact of the Futures. In conclusion, I suggested for MONDIACULT 2025 to
integrate foresight, anticipation, and the benefits of ‘futures literacy’ in cultural policy around the world,
promote the potential of culture and cultural heritage for globally addressing the needs of future generations in the context of change and transformation.
Reconsidering the Heritage Future of Nuclear Waste Hazards: A Permanent Legacy
By C. Pescatore, Affiliated Researcher and member of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures at Linnaeus University
The question of “How long and how dangerous is high-level nuclear waste?” is rarely answered in full. Often, people are told that the radiation threat will diminish over time, as many radioactive products decay. While this is true to an extent, it only tells part of the story. The reality is more complex and far-reaching. Spent nuclear fuel is composed of roughly 95% uranium-238 (U-238), an isotope that behaves differently than the remaining 5% components that are much more actively decaying. Although its radioactivity may initially seem insignificant compared to more immediate hazards, over time U-238 will reconstitute its decay chain, leading to a resurgence of radioactive danger.
The radioactivity of U-238 does not simply decrease to insignificance; instead, it eventually increases as it reestablishes its broken decay-family, producing a host of hazardous progeny isotopes. For spent fuel, this increase becomes dominant beyond the one-million-year mark – well beyond the timeframe when many safety analyses have already been concluded. While safety cases often focus on the decay of radioactivity, they overlook the radioactive ingrowth that arises from U-238. This shift challenges conventional thinking and demands a refocusing of our long-term strategies for managing nuclear waste.
The implication is profound: the danger from high-level nuclear waste does not merely fade away. It transforms into a persistent, long-term alpha-, beta- and gamma-radiation hazard that requires sustained vigilance and robust containment strategies far into the future. This enduring risk calls into question assumptions about the timeframe for which safety must be maintained, extending our responsibilities across an almost unimaginable span of time.
Preserving Memory and Heritage for the Far Future
This brings us to the pressing question of heritage, memory, and how we communicate the information about high-level nuclear waste across extended time spans. Ensuring that future societies remember the existence and significance of these waste repositories requires a robust effort to preserve records, knowledge, and memory (RK&M).
One promising approach is the use of millennial time capsules strategically placed within or near repositories. These capsules can carry messages, warnings, and cultural artifacts that bridge the gap between our time and a distant future. Some capsules could be constructed from the same materials as the waste containers and placed within the repository to offer a final, deeply embedded source of knowledge that future discoverers might encounter, potentially guiding their understanding and actions.
Near-surface capsules could further engage communities through rituals of memory preservation and periodic inspections, creating cultural continuity and reinforcing the message of caution. Historical examples like the Osaka Castle Dual Time Capsule illustrate how science and cultural heritage can blend to transmit knowledge across generations.
Photo: Osaka Time capsule monument, Wikipedia, 12 februari 2012 https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Osaka_Time_Capsule.jpg
However, even with the best physical and cultural tools at our disposal, the fundamental question remains: How do we effectively communicate the danger posed by these wastes across millennia? Symbols, language, stories, and rituals may change, but the risk endures. Preserving memory is not just a technical challenge; it is a societal one, requiring us to create a living “heritage future” of caution, awareness, and responsibility – one that future generations can draw upon to protect themselves from the enduring radiation hazard that lies beneath.
On 11 November 2024, Cornelius Holtorf and David Staley ran a digital research seminar bringing together a unique gathering of historians and archaeologists from Ohio State University and Linnaeus University, working on the future. The title was “When history and archaeology meet the future” and the seminar was attended by 18 students and researchers from different disciplines and in different time zones.
Professor Christopher Nichols, Ohio State University
Among the participants and contributors to the half-day seminar were most members of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, including Sarah May, Emily Hanscam, Ulrika Söderström, Leila Papoli-Yazdi, and Helena Rydén.
I spent three days in AlUla in Saudi Arabia, on invitation of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) to attend the AlUla World Archaeology Symposium 2024. The Royal Commission is extremely well resourced to shape AlUla’s Future, thanks to the Government of the Royal Family. They paid all costs of the Symposium participants and hired a charter jet to get them there from Ryadh (whereas I was driven 300 km through the nightly desert from Medina).
AlUla (also al-Ula) is an ancient Arabian oasis city with some spectacular archaeological sites from various periods as well as additional attractions. The idea is to develop it as a tourism destination until 2030 – which is the year the Saudi King and Crown-Prince’s “Vision 2030” is aiming at.
Vision 2030, they say, “is a blueprint that is diversifying the economy, empowering citizens, creating a vibrant environment for both local and international investors, and establishing Saudi Arabia as a global leader”. The Vision even incorporates comprehensive reforms in the public sector, the economy, and society.
Like other Gulf States (I saw this even last year in Dubai), bold visions are modernising the region at a fast pace and changes, for example regarding women rights, are already visible. The region is engulfed (!) in future visions of the kind that have become practically forgotten in Western countries dominated by either apocalyptic fears or initiatives to maintain the status quo.
The idea for AlUla, according to the RCU is this: “By safeguarding AlUla’s unique heritage and natural features, we aim to generate economic growth and sustainable development. Our strategies are crafted to not only protect but also enhance AlUla’s environmental and historical integrity, ensuring every initiative aligns with sustainable principles. This thoughtful approach positions AlUla as a model for preservation and progress, where its past informs its future.”
They actually take this very seriously, commission a number of comprehensive archaeological research projects in the area and are doing their best to work sustainably in various ways (obviously less so regarding carbon footprint…).
We are invited for the sake of product development and marketing as AlUla is trying to set itself up as the Place of Heritage for the World (as on the incription above) and the Archaeology capital of the world (as they have it on another occasion). The RCU is ambitious in its aspirations, has much archaeology to study and show to visitors, and they also have come far in many ways already.
The experience we get is certainly very different compared to what we see about Saudi Arabia in our media. I am thinking about the BRICS alliance and their claim to manifest an emerging multipolar world. While the old Western powers are increasingly in political, economical and cultural (?) crises, perhaps even decline, there is a perceptible momentum towards fast future development in the Gulf. Interestingly, they embrace culture and heritage (rather than cut budgets which we have become familiar with in Europe by now). A new world order may indeed be emerging, and in Saudi Arabia we saw it being crafted right now.
Some questions remain for Saudi Arabia to work through more fully, e.g. about the exact role of the local community and the human rights record of the government. But it is impressive nonetheless that they have entered a path for change, not just focussing on the economy but also embracing culture and society.
Heritage Futures in the making! Very interesting to see it happening.
Opponent: Professor Bodil Axelsson, Linköpings universitet
Examination Committee: Dr Anne S Beck, Museum Sydøstdanmark, Professor Mats Burström, Stockholms universitet, Docent Richard Pettersson, Umeå universitet
Supervisor: Professor Anders Högberg; Linnéuniversitetet
Chair/internal examiner: Professor Cornelius Holtorf, Linnéuniversitetet
ABSTRACT:
Claiming that cultural heritage must be preserved for sustainable urban development and for the benefit of future generations is common practice in cultural heritage management and urban planning. But when cultural heritage is used as a resource in urban transformation processes, do current heritage practices, including archaeology, promote the socially sustainable urban futures they aim to achieve?
This research aims to generate new knowledge on how Swedish contract archaeology can contribute to sustainable urban development and good living environments in an informed and innovative manner. By adopting a broad perspective, I explore how cultural heritage is utilized as a resource in urban transformation and design processes to promote social sustainability. Employing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, I examine how the social sustainability effects of current heritage practices, including archaeology, affect sustainable futures making. The research includes three case studies on urban transformation: the Caroli quarter in Malmö (1967–1973), the Valnötsträdet quarter in Kalmar (2008–2018), and the ongoing transformation of Kiruna town.
The results highlight how contradictions between legislation’s focus on the past and cultural and urban planning’s future-oriented goals institutionalize ideas about cultural heritage value and the perception that preservation is a sustainable heritage practice in itself. Consequently, archaeology is rarely seen as a process or practice that promotes social sustainability. Instead, focus is on the value of the built historic environment and stories about the past, assuming that using these elements in development and design processes will promote present and future sustainability values, such as attractiveness, security, social cohesion, and collective identities. However, the results show that expected social sustainability goals are rarely met due to a lack of citizen participation and a lack of understanding of what is required to achieve these goals in the present and for the imagined futures. I argue that to effect change, it is necessary to explore futures literacy in theory and practice, deepen comprehension of how archaeology and heritage practices contribute to social value, and broaden participation in discussions and decisions regarding how cultural heritage can be used as a resource in urban development processes.
From left: Members of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Helena Rydén, Cornelius Holtorf, Ulrika Söderström, Anders Högberg and Gustav Wollentz.
Cornelius Holtorf participated and presented the work of our Chair in the 2024 International UNESCO Chairs Conference at Leuphania University Lüneburg, Germany, dedicated to the theme “UNESCO Chairs’ Perspectives on Sustainable Development Goals” (7-9 October 2024).
Among the ca 60 participants were UNESCO Chairholders and team members of 10 German UNESCO Chairs as well as of ca. 10 international UNESCO Chairs from Canada, India, Netherlands, Norway, and the U.K., and several senior representatives of the German UNESCO Commission and its Secretariate in Bonn.
I participated on invitation of Michael Kloos, UNESCO Chair on Historic Urban Landscapes and Heritage Impact Assessments at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Cornelius Holtorf visited the activities with young people during Kalmar Town Festival, organized by Kalmar municipality’s cultural section under the label “Expedition Future” and inspired by our work in the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures (10 August 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg ran a Mini Futures Workshop for 30+ colleagues during the Kick-off meeting of the Department of Cultural Sciences at Linnaeus University, Sweden (20 August 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf sent comments and suggestions to the revised draft guidance note on ‘Climate action for living heritage’ to the UNESCO Living Heritage entitity (20 August 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf presented a talk on “Is Archaeology Ready to Address the Climate Heritage Paradox?” for an audience of 25+ attending the session on “Archaeologies of Climate Change? Current Issues and Future Directions” held at the 30th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Rome, Italy (31 August 2024)
Cornelius Holtorf attended an online symposium on “Nuclear Futures. Art, Speculation, Matter, Performance” arranged by Linköping University (11 September 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf took part in meetings of the Pledge Network, promoting strong references to future generations and their interests in the UN Summit of the Futures in September 2024 in New York and its aftermath (12 September 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf attended the report launch of the project “The Nuclear Spaces: Communities, Materialities and Locations (NuSPACES)” featuring speakers Sam Alberti (National Museums Scotland) and Elizabeth Norton (NDA) addressing questions of nuclear cultural heritage, held at the Science Museum, London, and online (18 September 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf participated in a side-event to the UN Summit of the Future organised by the Culture 2030 Goal Campaign and entitled “No Future Without Culture: Reflecting and Imagining on the Place of Culture in Delivering the Past for the Future” (20 September 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf followed online selected parts of the Action Days preceding the UN Summit of the Future, featuring, among others António Guterres, General-Secretary of the United Nations, Gabriella Ramos, the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences, Mamphela Ramphela, the former Co-Director of the Club of Rome, and Kim Stanley Robinson, the author of The Ministry for the Future (20-21 September 2024).
Cornelius Holtorf had an informal meeting in Cordoba, Spain, with Matthias Ripp, World Heritage Coordinator of Regensburg (Germany) and OWHC Regional Division Representative, discussing future collaborations (24 September).
Cornelius Holtorf contributed to a meeting of cirka 30 international experts and UNESCO staff finalising a guidance note on Safeguarding intangible cultural and climate change. The expert meeting was chaired by Fumiko Ohinata, Secretary of the UNESCO 2003 Convention and held digitally on 25-26 September 2024.
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