UNESCO

Anders Högberg (UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures) presenting a project at Malmö University (17 October ) that he and Gustav Wollentz from NCK, The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning & Creativity, are making together. Gustav Wollentz is conducting a series of interviews with young people in the Araby district in Växjö. The work is part of a research project between Linnaeus University and Växjö Municipality.

From left Carolina Jonsson Malm (Malmö University), Anders Högberg, Emily Hanscam and Sarah May (UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures), Anna Bruun Månsson, Kristina Lindström and Per-Markku Ristilammi (Malmö University), Helena Rydén (UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures)

Thank you Malmö University for interesting discussions, and for hosting the team of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures!

Cornelius Holtorf and Gustav Wollentz attended the Naturkulturworkshopen Waste-in-progress (organised by Timo Menko as part of Smålandstriennalen 2023) held at the illegal waste deposit site in Marhult. During the event they were interviewed by Mathilda Johansson for “Eftermiddag i P4 Kronoberg med Henric Bingström”, broadcast on the same day and available at https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/eftermiddag-i-p4-med-henric-bingstrom–9 (27 July 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf participated actively in a brainstorming session for the planned UNESCO Chairs Forum at the World Heritage Committee meeting, convened and chaired by Heba Aziz, UNESCO Chair for World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Management in the Arab Region at the German University of Technology in Oman. Also participating were five additional UNESCO Chairholders in Egypt (2), Germany, Greece, and Switzerland and three representives of further UNESCO Chairs in Germany, Italy, and Peru (15 August 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg participated in several preparatory meetings ahead of the Joint UNESCO/Futures Literacy-OECD/NEA/IDKM Capacity Building on Futures Literacy Training Workshop in Stockholm on 25 September (16 August, 17 August, 6 September, 19 September 2023). 

Cornelius Holtorf co-organized (with J. Schönicke and B. Butler) and chaired a session on “The Mushroom Speaks: An Archaeology of Fungi Entanglements” and presented on “Excavating the Future? Towards a (Field) Archaeology of Growth and Regeneration” at the 29th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists held at Belfast, UK (1 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf met up in Sydney, Australia, with Helen McCracken, Principal Adviser (Delivery) at the Manatu Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Government of New Zealand, to discuss her recent work leading to the first Long-Term Insights Briefing in which the Ministry fulfilled its statutory duty to enhance public debate on long-term issues and usefully contribute to future decision making, according to the New Zealand Public Service Act 2020 (4 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf met up in Sydney, Australia, with Riin Alatalu,  UNESCO Chair of Cultural Heritage Studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, Estonia, to discuss mutual collaboration in the context of our respective UNESCO Chairs and related to the ICOMOS University Forum initiative (4 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf took part in a Roundtable at the ICOMOS GA2023 in Sydney, Australia, addressing “Aerospace Heritage and Sustainability” (7 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf participated and intervened digitally in the first UNESCO Chairs Forum on Heritage, held as a side event of the Extended 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the Director of the World Heritage Centre, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, 30 people in the room, and 27 UNESCO Chairs from around the world attending, either physically or digitally (18 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf participated in the international symposium “Multidisciplinary Overview of the Situation in Fukushima“, held at l’Humathèque Condorcet, Paris, France (21 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf met to discuss Culture in the Post-2030 Agenda with Paola Leoncini Bartoli, Director of the Cultural Policies and Development Unit, UNESCO, Paris, France (22 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf participated in the first day of the Meeting on “The Medium and the Message: Challenges and Solutions in Selecting and Preserving Records of Radioactive Waste” by the Expert Group on Archiving for Radioactive Waste Management Activities (EGAR) of the Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD) held at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) in Stockholm (26 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf offered comments on a draft concept note on “Climate Actions for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage” (26 Sept 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf attended an online “Future Wednesday” session, organised by VINNOVA (27 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf contributed to revising the draft of the “Venice Call to Put Culture at the Heart of Climate Action” ahead of COP28 (27 September 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf attended the European Heritage Hub Community of Practice Forum “Reimagining the Anthropocene: Putting Culture and Heritage at the Heart of Climate Action” held as part of the  European Cultural Heritage Summit 2023, broadcast from Venice, Italy (28 September 2023).

Gustav Wollentz from NCK, The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning & Creativity, is conducting a series of interviews with young people in the Araby district in Växjö. The work is part of a research project between Linnaeus University and Växjö Municipality.

On August 18, Anders Högberg presented the project to Växjö Municipality, commenting:

“We are happy that this was received so well by politicians and officials at Växjö Municipality. We would like the result to eventually benefit cultural actors outside of Växjö as an inspiring example”.

Background

The project was planned at Linnaeus University’s Centre for Applied Heritage during the winter of 2021/2022. It will be carried out in 2022 and 2023, and the results will be presented in 2024. Funding is via the municipality of Växjö, under the project management of Anders Högberg at Linnaeus University. Gustav Wollentz, based at NCK, The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning & Creativity, conducts the interviews. The project collaborates with a number of actors in the Araby district.

Read more (in Swedish):

https://lnu.se/mot-linneuniversitetet/aktuellt/nyheter/2023/arabyprojekt/

Gustav Wollentz, UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures

Anders Högberg,  UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures

INTERVIEW | When the Italian doctoral student Elena Maria Cautis had the opportunity to spend time at a foreign institution, her eyes fell on Linnaeus University. Or more precisely: The Centre for Applied Heritage and the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures. This was exactly in line with her own research on cultural heritage. 

In the spring of 2023, she left the University of Ferrara, where she normally works, and moved to Kalmar to spend three months of exploring heritage research. In addition, she discovered birdwatching and floorball.

What do you think of your time at Linnaeus University?
– Being at Linnaeus University has been a great experience! Besides the importance for my research, it also was a period of reflection for what kind of professional environment I would like to be part of in the future. Everyone was very friendly and attentive to my needs. The facilities at the campus were great, since I was able to work both from the office and the library, which holds relevant works for my research. I’ve also experienced playing “innebandy” (floorball) with colleagues, which was super fun!

– Overall, I think that when I will be looking back years from now, I will identify this period as a turning point for me. As a person and as a professional.

What made you decide for Linnaeus University?
– Within my PhD programme, we are encouraged to spend time at a foreign institution. Given this, I had been looking for some time at the Centre for Applied Heritage at Linnaeus University and at Anders Högberg’s and Cornelius Holtorf ’s work related to heritage futures. After some Zoom meetings with them, I understood that this environment would be a great opportunity for me to explore more in depth the idea of heritage as resource.

– The key components that transpired in the various research projects taking place, were enthusiasm and curiosity towards looking at heritage differently. This is precisely the kind of environment I wanted to be in at that stage of my research, since I was feeling a bit stuck and unmotivated. The main motivation for coming to Linnaeus was a perceived feeling of freedom of thought and enthusiasm for exploring what some might consider ”crazy ideas”. I think this is what innovative thinking is all about!

What did you do during your 3 months here?
What I mainly wanted to do was to meet with people and discuss some of the themes of my research. I had the opportunity to do this, within seminars and workshops. I was also able to get a glimpse at futures literacy within workshops by the UNESCO Chair. Aside from these activities, the most important was being in a continuous dialogue with Anders and Cornelius. They offered me all the assistance and motivation that I needed in my research.

What did you think about living in Sweden?
– This was my first time in Sweden, and was nice to see that people are open, friendly and really keen to support you. Kalmar was just lovely, although at the beginning I had a bit of a weather shock! Being there was a great opportunity to also get more in touch with nature. And after countless walks I decided I am forever hooked with birdwatching! The most important though, was that I felt secure. Although I only had a glimpse at how the Swedish society is, and that there might be issues here and there, the glimpse was that it’s a society where you can flourish.

What do you want to do after you have finished your PhD?
– I would like to continue doing research, while also offering consultancy for heritage projects and international bodies in the field. I am not sure exactly where. But I am sure that I would like to work in an environment similar to the one that at Linnaeus University.

Elena Maria Cautis at Linnaeus University in Kalmar