New blog post on Hull case study

Hull, situated in East Yorkshire, England, is a city rich in cultural heritage and history, yet it faces significant climate-related challenges, particularly flooding and coastal erosion. 

Throughout its history, Hull has encountered significant flooding events that have driven innovative solutions and adaptations to manage this persistent threat.

Hull serves as an exemplary case study, offering valuable insights into historical responses to recurrent flooding across various eras. Understanding the city’s specific needs and developing tailored strategies are essential for preserving its cultural identity while ensuring resilience.

Read more about why we are using Hull as a case study in our latest blog post, written by Dr Francesca Giliberto.

You can access all of our blog posts here.

Dr Giliberto features on Business Daily

Dr Francesca Giliberto recently contributed to an episode of Business Daily, sharing her expertise on the evolving concept of cultural heritage.

The episode – “The Cost of Preserving Our Heritage” – hosted on the BBC World Service, explored how developers in the Global North are legally obligated to fund archaeological work before construction, while heritage preservation in the Global South often depends on tourism. The episode delved into the challenges of over-tourism at World Heritage sites, questioning whether the UNESCO World Heritage List is inadvertently causing harm to the very locations it seeks to protect.

Dr Francesca Giliberto played a key role in the episode by discussing the evolving concept of cultural heritage. She emphasised how Western countries traditionally define heritage in terms of monuments and architecture, while in other parts of the world, heritage is often a seamless blend of culture and nature.

Dr Giliberto highlighted the importance of “cultural landscapes,” where human activity and natural environments are interlinked. As an example, she pointed to the rice terraces in the Philippines, which represent a dynamic, living landscape that continues to be shaped by the local community. This approach to heritage preservation, according to Giliberto, offers a more sustainable model, focused on maintaining traditional practices rather than relying solely on tourism for survival.

Listen to the episode here.

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AGREE team contributes to ICCROM report

In July, the AGREE project team had the pleasure of participating in the workshop “Managing Urban Heritage for Sustainable Development in World Heritage Context” in Bamberg, Germany.

The event was organised by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the World Heritage Office Bamberg. This was part of the Urban Heritage for Sustainable Development Initiative (UH4SD), which aims to harness the potential of urban heritage for sustainable urban development through research, practical tools, methodologies, and capacity building, particularly at the level of local bodies/municipalities.

The summary of the workshop, including our inputs, is now available.

We look forward to our continued collaboration with ICCROM and other World Heritage site managers in the coming months.

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Attending the “Managing Urban Heritage for Sustainable Development in World Heritage Context” workshop

Yesterday, I (Francesca Giliberto) attended the workshop “Managing Urban Heritage for Sustainable Development in World Heritage Context” in Bamberg (Germany) with my AGREE colleagues, Mesut Dinler as well as Paloma Guzman and Ole Fredrik Unhammer (online).

Organised by International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the World Heritage Office Bamberg, and bringing together academics and World Heritage site managers based in various institutions across Europe, the workshop stimulated a fruitful conversation on how to improve current urban heritage governance, management systems, and World Heritage management plans.

We also reflected on how to develop an integrated framework for World Heritage management in an urban context, and the workshop gave us a moment to think about the next steps, possible partnerships, and ongoing and future synergies.

Thanks Simona von Eyb, Rohit Jigyasu, Nicole Franceschini, Ge Li, Matthias Ripp, Monia Del Pinto, Juliana Strogan, Xenia Jakubek, Wang Yu, Luana Alessandrini for making this such a fruitful and pleasant event!

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AGREE Kick-Off Meeting

We’re thrilled to kick off the first Steering Meeting for the AGREE project today.

We (Francesca Giliberto, Paloma Guzman and Mesut Dinler) are officially beginning our exciting new journey to tackle climate adaptation challenges.

AGREE is dedicated to advancing transformative climate adaptation by uncovering potentials and barriers within heritage governance in case studies from the UK, Norway, and Italy.

Curious about our project? Read our latest blog post for a deeper look.

What’s next? We can’t wait to meet in person at the Sustainability, Research and Innovation Congress in Helsinki next week. We are also excited to connect with the other 16 projects funded by the joint call from the JPIs on Cultural Heritage and Climate and the Belmont Forum.

You can receive live updates about the AGREE project by joining our LinkedIn Group.

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