UNESCO identifies changes to environments, whether due to natural or cultural agents, as one of the major challenges for the future that block the road towards sustainable development. They will also of course affect heritage in every respect. Landscapes will undergo thorough transformations with increasing urbanization and de-industrialization, impacting urban and rural geographies alike, from historic city centres to industrial plants and agricultural and pastoral land use patterns. Climate change, in particular global warming, will have pervasive consequences for traditional water management and energy supply systems, calling for adjustments of sea defences and dikes and for the development of alternative, sustainable energy sources. Adaptation to these changes through spatial planning is vital, but the opportunities for and challenges to heritage design are still poorly investigated. In this WP attention is focused on the role of heritage in climate change adaptation, in particular with regard to water management, urban-rural interactions and the future of post-industrial landscapes.
PhD projects:
13. Heritage development in large scale infrastructural project – a collaborative and trans-disciplinary approach. Host: UGOT (SE) (CLOSED)
14. Disappearing landscapes of Carpathians – towards a participatory model of conservation of cultural landscape. Host: VUA (NL) (CLOSED)
15. Heritage as lever of economic growth and social renewal in post-industrial landscapes. Host: UNEW (UK) (CLOSED)