UNESCO

Chair on Heritage Futures

An Archaeology of Growth and Regeneration

2023-02-23

What can it mean to excavate remains of the past when one is interested in the future?

One part of the excavation report for Gamla Skogsby 2021 describes the main outcomes of the intellectual and empirical work on growth and regeneration, led by Cornelius Holtorf and in collaboration with the other members of the excavation team.

The associated fieldwork was an attempt to find ways of creatively applying futures thinking to an archaeological field project. 

Read the report of this experimental excavation project here:

Holtorf, Cornelius (2022) An Archaeology of Growth and Regeneration. In: L. Papmehl-Dufay (ed.) Under storkökets golv. Arkeologisk undersökning i Gamla Skogsby september och oktober 2022, pp. 85-123 (Appendix 1). Kalmar Studies in Archaeology XIV. Kalmar/Växjö: Linnaeus University.

See also the full report here to which my text is an appendix.

Workshop on futures thinking

2023-02-22

In a join effort of developing our picture book WOW! further, Pernilla Frid and Cornelius Holtorf held today an experimental workshop on futures thinking with the staff of the Dept of External Relations at Linnaeus University.

The 20 participants got engaged in various discussions, both in plenary and in groups, on how they relate to the future and what action towards (any aspect of) the future they would propose to take…

Kan vara en bild av 7 personer, personer som står och inomhus

Socratic Dialogue on Heritage Futures

2023-02-14

The team of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures assembled on the same screen today to run a Socratic Dialogue with Bill Wei (14 February 2023). The topic of our dialogue was the question “Which personal history have I used (or will use) to help future generations solve which important challenges?”

A Socratic dialogue is a structured form of dialogue in which all participants actively contribute. The Socratic method provides a safe, open environment for participants to reflect on what it means to preserve cultural heritage for future generations, and to investigate what the essence is behind their own points of view as well as those of others.

Bill is a Senior Conservation Scientist, formerly of the Rijkserfgoedlaboratorium, Amsterdam. He has a lot of experience in practicing Socratic Dialogues in many different professional settings around the world, including Sweden.

 

Alternative futures in the past

2023-02-08

Attila Dézsi published one of the most challenging and insightful articles coming out of German archaeology in recent years.

His archaeological excavation and study of the 1980 Gorleben Peace Camp, which is also the topic of his PhD research at the University of Hamburg, offers a critique of the current interest in Dark Heritage and the popular denouncement of the destructive character of contemporary capitalism. Dézsi calls instead for a much stronger appreciation of the “common heritage of hope and the power of collective action,” for “[i]t is not only destruction to which archaeologists should draw attention, but also to the past efforts of many peoples who opposed this destruction and violation.”

The Gorleben antinuclear protest village, also known as Republic of Free Wendland, was an iconic site for the German environmental movement during the 1980s. It was directed not only against the building of the nuclear waste depository nearby but also against the nuclear society and the entire capitalist system behind it. Dézsi’s research documents that the camp was partly about outspoken protest but primarily it was a collective “cry for an alternative future based on human dignity.”

The archaeological site of the village created by its inhabitants reveals an approach to the future that may be described as prefigurative: in the Republic of Free Wendland, a better future was lived already (see image below, taken from the paper, click for source and credit).

figure 2

The archaeological excavation Dézsi directed showed in all lines of inquiry that “the creation of a community, socializing, and enjoyment was much more prevalent than specific manifestations of protest or resistance.”

Sites like the Republic of Free Wendland, Dézsi argues, “provide inspiration and give us the ability to grasp that alternative actions and solutions are neither impossible, nor require specialist equipment and materials – everything we need is there.”

His work also shows how the future can be addressed by an archaeology studying the past. It is not only the heritage we preserve that may provide tangible benefits of future generations, but also our very understanding of human lives in the past, including the recent past which some of us will remember. Dézsi’s research paper, which is available in open access at the link below, shows that alternative futures have always been possible.

Dézsi, Attila (2023). You May Destroy This Village, But You Cannot Destroy the Power Which Created It. International Journal of Historical Archaeology (pre-print online publication). 

Digging Politics

2023-02-05

Our Post-doc Emily Hanscam has co-edited (with James Koranyi) a book on Digging Politics. The Ancient Past and Contested Present in East-Central Europe, published in 2023 by De Gruyter.

In her own chapter in the volume, entitled Archaeology and the Challenge of Continuity: East-Central Europe during the Age of Migrations, Emily writes: 

“The ancient past is political, as made apparent by the contributors to this volume. The political nature of the past is especially visible in contested space like East-Central Europe where ideas about the continuity of peoples continue to impact identity formation processes today, supported in some cases by the materiality of the past. This sort of relationship between the modern nation-state and the ancient past is endemic globally, deserving of our continued attention. As discussed in the introduction to this volume, archaeology and nationalism have a long and well-studied relationship (…) Despite his body of work, the presence of methodological nationalism, or the assumption that the nation is ‘natural’, remains pervasive in narratives about the past. This is not an easy problem to solve, given that archaeology as an academic discipline was founded in the late nineteenth century to provide material evidence for national narratives; it is therefore unsurprising that in many ways archaeology continues to create and sustain the nation today.”

— a major problem for archaeology to address in the future!

Heritage Futures and Museums

2023-01-29

Cornelius Holtorf was interviewed by Mario Giognorio, PhD student at the School of International Studies in Trento, Italy, on “Heritage Futures: Museums, communities, and the future that is already here.“

He had been visiting Trento in November 2022 to give public lectures and seminars for the students participating in the Challenge Hitchhikers’ guides, virtual Charons, and the future of cultural objects, organized by Francesca Odella (Department of Sociology) and promoted by the University of Trento’s School of Innovation and the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU).

Future consciousness in museums

2023-01-11

Nordisk Museologi published a paper by Anders Högberg, Gustav Wollentz, and Cornelius Holtorf on future consciousness in Swedish county museums.

Abstract
This study investigates how managers and employees at County Museums in Sweden think about, work with, and relate to the future in their daily practice. We examined which tools and routines the museums employ to work concretely with different future perspectives. The study is thus about those forms of future consciousness that exist in the museums. The results show that the future is implicitly present but often remains unarticulated in the work of the museum. The museums work with short future perspectives which are often linked to concrete tasks or development work. The future perspectives at the museums are largely locked in the present or in a near future. Concrete tools, skills and routines to develop future consciousness are lacking. However, the results show that there is great interest and willingness among Swedish County Museums to implement tools, skills, and routines for a more developed engagement with futures.

Available in open access! (Full paper in Swedish only)

Högberg, Anders, Gustav Wollentz, and Cornelius Holtorf (2022) Framtidsmedvetande på museer. Några svenska länsmuseer i fokus. Nordisk Museologi 34 (2), 5–22. 

Various activities October – December 2022

2022-12-31

Cornelius Holtorf gave an invited keynote lecture entitled “The Future Through World Heritage” and ran a futures workshop, assisted by Professor Peter Stone, UNESCO Chair on Cultural Property Protection and Peace, Newcastle University, UK, for an audience of ca 80 managers and other officials (incl 15 online) of the 33 World Heritage properties in the UK, for the 2022 Annual Conference of World Heritage UK at Jodrell Bank World Heritage Site, UK (4 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf gave an invited keynote lecture at KULTURKRAFT 2022, a major cultural conference in Scandinavia, held in Copenhagen, Denmark. He talked to an audience of almost 200 professionals on “Culture as transformation – how culture and heritage can address the future” (7 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf took part in a meeting with representatives of the Office of the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO to discuss mutual collaboration in the future (10 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf attended a webinar “Time Travels to the Future” organised by the Bridging Ages network for applied heritage and timetravels, with 15 participants from Germany, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, and Turkey (10 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf discussed collaboration regarding heritage futures and indicators for culture with Dr Jyoti Hosagrahar, Deputy Director, World Heritage Center, UNESCO (17 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf presented on his work priorities and current developments in ‘heritage futures’ and ‘future archaeology’ for the ca 10 members of the Committee on Sustainability and Strategy at Kalmar Municipality (17 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf introduced the Knowledge Cube on Campus Kalmar, Linnaeus University, about the work of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, for ca 25 participants of a meeting of the Network for Sustainability and Environmental Guidance at Swedish universities (20 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf presented a talk entitled “Does humanity need culture and heritage for addressing the climate crisis? (Update on a global movement)” for 20+ participants at the first Climate Crisis Dialogue held at Linnaeus University, Campus Kalmar, Sweden (25 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf was interviewed by Kate Golembiewski for an article entitled “Can Glowing ‘Ray Cats’ Save Humanity?” published in Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nuclear-waste-ray-cat-solution (25 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf presented a lecture on “Cultural Heritage, Wellbeing, and the Future” for 20+ students attending the course “Heritage-Based Post-War Urban Reconstruction in Ukraine” organised by the Invisible University for Ukraine at Central European University (26 October 2022)

Cornelius Holtorf was interviewed for a new exhibition at Steinzeitdorf Dithmarschen in Albersdorf, Germany (27 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf participated in a regular World Heritage Council meeting for the World Heritage property Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland representing Linnaeus University, held in Mörbylånga, Sweden (28 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf offered feeback to a project initiative by Climate Students LNU entitled “Sustainable weelbeing through reduction of carbon footprint at higher education institutions” (29 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf provided written feedback to a draft of the document “Wayfinder Heritage: Applying Resilience Thinking to Long-Term Planning of World Heritage Properties”, resulting from the ICOMOS-IUCN Connecting Practice Project (29 October 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf contributed to a UNESCO survey on “Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and climate change” (2 November 2022)

Cornelius Holtorf presented about a field archaeology of the future for ca 20 participants in the post-excavation seminar of the Gamla Skogsby training dig at Linnaeus University, Sweden (3 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf attended virtually a plenary panel on “Reimagining our Futures Together: Insights from Futures Literacy”, chaired by Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, bringing together, among others, three UNESCO Chairs of the UNESCO Futures Literacy Network, and held as part of the UNESCO conference to mark the 30th anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme (4 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf attended virtually some of the conference “50 Years World Heritage Convention: Times of Peace, Conflict and War” discussing the future of the World Heritage Convention held at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany (4 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf gave a presentation entitled “Why sustainably managing the past requires anticipating the future” at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy (7 November 2022).

Ulrika Söderström presented a lunch lecture on “En gestaltad livsmiljö: Kulturarv som resurs för en socialt hållbar stadsutveckling för framtiden”, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Linnaeus University, Sweden (14 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf presented a lecture entitled “The Future Through UNESCO World Heritage” for almost 20 researchers participating in the University of Portsmouth Research Futures Webinar Series (16 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf gave a lecture entitled “Nuclear waste and other cultural heritage of the future” for 60+ students and researchers arranged by the Flagship Initiative Transforming Cultural Heritage and the Heidelberg Centre Culture Heritage, University of Heidelberg, Germany (24 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf held a seminar on “Heritage Futures” for students at various levels at the Heidelberg Centre for Cultural Heritage, University of Heidelberg, Germany (25 November 2022).

Cornelius Holtorf made suggestions for bits of text to be added to the Periodic Report (Third Cycle) of the World Heritage Property “Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland”, Sweden (27 December 2022).

 

AI on Heritage Futures

2022-12-23

I asked the Open AI Chat what Heritage Futures was. Here is the response:

Heritage futures is a field of study that examines the ways in which cultural heritage is imagined, constructed, and represented in the present, with a view to understanding the possibilities and challenges for heritage in the future. It is an interdisciplinary field that draws on a range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, history, and cultural studies, and is concerned with the social, political, and cultural dimensions of heritage.

Heritage futures is interested in the ways in which heritage is shaped by contemporary forces, such as globalization, digitalization, and climate change, and how these forces will impact the future of heritage. It also considers the ways in which heritage can be used to shape the future, for example through the development of heritage-based tourism, the use of heritage in education and public engagement, and the role of heritage in shaping national and global identities.

Heritage futures seeks to explore the diverse and often conflicting visions of the future of heritage, and to examine the role of heritage in shaping and reflecting power relations. It also aims to consider the social and ethical implications of heritage practices, and to identify strategies for the responsible and sustainable management of heritage in the future.

When I asked the same question again, I got this slightly different response:

Heritage futures is a field of study that examines the ways in which cultural heritage is imagined, planned, and managed in the present in order to shape the future. It is concerned with the ways in which heritage is used to shape and influence the future development of a society or community, and with the ways in which future developments may impact the heritage of a place or group.

Heritage futures involves the development of strategies and plans for the preservation, management, and interpretation of cultural heritage in the future, as well as the consideration of the ethical and social implications of these plans. It also involves the examination of the roles that different stakeholders, including governments, community groups, and individual citizens, play in shaping the future of cultural heritage.

Heritage futures is interdisciplinary, drawing on fields such as anthropology, sociology, history, and cultural studies, and is concerned with the social and political dimensions of heritage. It aims to provide a framework for understanding and addressing the complex and dynamic issues surrounding the conservation and interpretation of cultural heritage in the present and in the future.

Then I asked why Heritage Futures was important:

Heritage futures is important because cultural heritage is an important part of our shared history and identity. It helps us understand the past, and it can also shape the future development of a society or community. By examining the ways in which heritage is imagined, planned, and managed in the present, heritage futures helps to ensure that cultural heritage is preserved and protected for future generations.

In addition, heritage futures helps to address the complex and dynamic issues surrounding the conservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. This includes considering the ethical and social implications of heritage management, as well as the roles that different stakeholders play in shaping the future of cultural heritage.

Heritage futures is also important because it helps to promote a sense of shared history and identity within a society or community. By valuing and preserving cultural heritage, we can help to foster a sense of belonging and connection to the past, which can have positive impacts on social cohesion and community well-being.

Overall, heritage futures is important because it helps to protect and preserve our cultural heritage for future generations, and because it plays a key role in shaping the future development of a society or community.

Amazing, with such clever technology!

Is the future a luxury?

2022-12-21

Sarah May writes: I keep hearing people suggest they don’t have time for the future. Or that other people don’t have time for the future.  I hear the classist suggestion that people who are struggling in the present, working hard, don’t think of the future. Some of the strongest futures thinking comes from people who are marginalised, because they need it. It’s the wealthy who can afford not to think of the future, or to do so poorly.

Read more in her new blog entry here.