PurposeIn Norway the most critical effects of climate change are predicted to be increased rain and snow, higher temperatures, increased wind loads, and sea‐level rise. This will increase the number of floods and landslides, along with more cycles around the freezing point and increased exposure to high moisture. The main issue for protecting Norway's historical monuments from climate change is how to be aware of and how to handle the coming problems. One challenge is to define and give this information to heritage owners and local authorities. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the practical threats related to climate change, and provide suggestions for mitigation and adaption strategies.Design/methodology/approachTheoretical information of the problem is useful at a general level, but the practical impact has to be used at a local level. Improved knowledge about the risks for deterioration at different exposure levels, thorough surveys, and practical solutions, can significantly reduce the negative effects. This knowledge must reach the people that have local and daily contact with the cultural heritage. Information to the owners and responsible authorities about the normal risk of deterioration and how to identify risks related to climate change is crucial.FindingsThe main results of the authors' work is a methodology dealing with the problem step‐by‐step production of a web‐site based on fact sheets for heritage owners and managers. The fact sheets are divided amongst different subjects and are designed to be informative and easy to use for owners and responsible authorities.Originality/valueThe results presented in this paper will increase the knowledge of how owners of cultural heritage can be prepared for climate change on a practical, hands‐on level. This can, for example, be done by a brief overall analysis of the threats of the cultural heritage in a specific municipality. The analysis can be summarised in a list of increased possible risks, with direct practical information given to those needing it, and placed online. This would enable detection of and reaction to warning signs of an unusual situation. Information, training and production of both general and specific plans for action in case of extreme situations are also important in order to prevent the negative effects of climate change.

A new methodology for long-term monitoring of climate change impacts on historic buildings and interiors has been developed. This paper proposes a generic framework for how monitoring programs can be developed and describes the planning and arrangement of a Norwegian monitoring campaign. The methodology aims to make it possible to establish a data-driven decision making process based on monitored decay related to climate change. This monitoring campaign includes 45 medieval buildings distributed over the entirety of Norway. Thirty-five of these buildings are dated to before 1537 and include wooden buildings as well as 10 medieval churches built in stone while the remaining 10 buildings are situated in the World Heritage sites of Bryggen, in Bergen on the west coast of Norway, and in Røros, which is a mining town in the inland of the country. The monitoring is planned to run for 30 to 50 years. It includes a zero-level registration and an interval-based registration system focused on relevant indicators, which will make it possible to register climate change-induced decay at an early stage.

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This article is based on the project undertaken by NIKU for, and financed by, the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021, with supplementary literature and the expertise of the authors added to the report findings. The main aim of the project was to find out how climate-related adaptation and mitigation measures impact the Nordic cultural heritage. In this article we present examples of the different adaptation and mitigation measures that impact the cultural heritage. This article has a Nordic focus, which is transferable to other countries. The methodology involves an analysis of qualitative data collected in 2021 through text review, interviews, and workshops. The results can be divided into three relevant themes where there are major challenges: interdisciplinary work, need for more knowledge and use of culture-nature based solutions, and new energy supply systems. We conclude with recommendations on what we believe should be prioritized in the continued work of reducing the risk of damage to cultural heritage in the future. The recommendations cover local and international conditions, they cross sectors and political guidelines, and they reflect the need for newly developed knowledge, interdisciplinarity, and the need for a change of attitude—a paradigm shift in planning procedures.

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