UNESCO

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

Gustav Wollentz co-managed and Cornelius Holtorf participated, together with ca 90 others, in the online Foresight Workshop “Insight into the Future” organised by ARCHE, the EU-funded Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe (4 April 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf and Anders Högberg participated in the third meeting of the Expert Group on Awareness Preservation (EGAP) within the project on Information, Data and Knowledge Management (IDKM) at the Nuclear Energy Agency, held at the OECD in Paris, France (17-19 April 2023). They held presentations on “Heritage Processes” and “Futures Literacy” respectively. Cornelius Holtorf undertook among others to prepare for the EGAP Task Force on International Mechanisms a short document on the opportunities for long-term memory provided by the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

Cornelius Holtorf had an informal meeting discussing ongoing priorities and shared interests with Mikael Schultz (Deputy Permanent Representative for UNESCO) and Louise Oscarsson (Attaché for UNESCO) at the Delegation of Sweden to the OECD and to UNESCO in Paris, France (17 April 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf had an informal meeting with Christin Pfeiffer, Head of Futures Literacy and Foresight, at UNESCO, Paris (20 April 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf had an informal meeting with Berta de Sancristobal, Head of Unit, and Stefanie Grüssinger, Junior Professional Officer in the Unit for Europe and North America, at UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, Paris (21 April 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf had an informal meeting with Beate Strøm, Directorate for Cultural Heritage of Norway, currently seconded to the Unit for Europe and North America at UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, Paris (21 April 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf presented a lecture on “Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention and Cultural Heritage” to the Student Society Linnaeus Kultura at Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden (26 April 2023)

Cornelius Holtorf submitted a response in the Consultation of UNESCO Chairs and Category II Centers on the implementation of the United Nations’ 76/214 Resolution on Culture and Sustainable Development (Reporting period: June 2021 –June 2023) conducted under the aegis of UNESCO in view of the preparation of the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of Resolution 76/214 on Culture and Sustainable Development, to be presented at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in September 2023 (5 May 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf attended a webbinar organised by the Swedish Foresight Network on “Where do Imagined Futures come from?” featuring Riel Miller, formerly Head of Foresight and Futures Literacy at UNESCO (8 May 2023). Among other things he said, Riel Miller encouraged the audience to “be good compost” in the future.

Anders Högberg attended a half-day seminar at Malmö Museum on the topic ”Nuclear Cultural Heritage: How are we to remember the Barsebäck nuclear power plant in the future?” (10 May 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf submitted comments on the draft Key Information File (KIF) containing essential information on the spent nuclear fuel repository in Forsmark, Sweden, prepared by Thomas Keating as part of a project at the University of Linköping funded by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) (12 May 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf attended virtually the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation in Jacksonville, Florida, USA attended by some 900 registered participants. For the conference, he had co-organized (with W. Wei) a General Session on “Preserving the Legacy of Humanity: What Is It That We Want to Preserve?” (19 May 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf assisted Bill Wei in running a Socratic Dialogue on the question “Was würdest Du auch für die Nachhaltigkeit nicht aufgeben wollen. Warum nicht?” at the Conference Angst. Ekel. Scheitern. Ein Symposium zu den blinden Flecken der Nachhaltigkeit, at Oberhafen Hamburg, Germany (25 May 2023).

Anders Högberg presented a research seminar on “Futures Literacy: what it might mean for archaeology and heritage practices” at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (26 May 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf and Tomas Nilsson held a conversation on “Storytelling, hope tourism, and future-making after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011” in a research seminar at the Department of Marketing och Tourism Science, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden (7 June 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf presented the annual Alumni Lecture on “Why cultural heritage is about the future (not the past)” for the Masters students in Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Aarhus, Moesgård, Denmark (9 June 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf discussed future collaborations with Adam Gordon, UNESCO Chair in Anticipatory Leadership and Futures Capabilities at the University of Aarhus, Aarhus (9 June 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf participated in the 5th virtual UNESCO Chairs Seminar on “Science Benefitting Society: the role of the right to science” featuring not only Keith Holmes, UNITWIN/UNESCO Chair Programme Team at UNESCO and Helle Porsdam, UNESCO Chair in Cultural Rights at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (14 June 2023).

Cornelius Holtorf presented for an audience of almost 50 conference participants on “How can culture and heritage contribute to empowering futures?” at the 23rd Futures Conference 2023 Empowering Futures – Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research, Finland Futures Research Centre and Finland Futures Academy of the University of Turku, Finland (16 June 2023).