Securing the Future of Cultural Heritage by Identifying Barriers to and Strategizing Solutions for Preservation under Changing Climate Conditions

Abstract

Climate change challenges cultural heritage management and preservation. Understanding the barriers that can impede preservation is of paramount importance, as is developing solutions that facilitate the planning and management of vulnerable cultural resources. Using online survey research, we elicited the opinions of diverse experts across southeastern United States, a region with cultural resources that are particularly vulnerable to flooding and erosion from storms and sea level rise. We asked experts to identify the greatest challenges facing cultural heritage policy and practice from coastal climate change threats, and to identify strategies and information needs to overcome those challenges. Using content analysis, we identified institutional, technical and financial barriers and needs. Findings revealed that the most salient barriers included the lack of processes and preservation guidelines for planning and implementing climate adaptation actions, as well as inadequate funding and limited knowledge about the intersection of climate change and cultural heritage. Experts perceived that principal needs to overcome identified barriers included increased research on climate adaptation strategies and impacts to cultural heritage characteristics from adaptation, as well as collaboration among diverse multi-level actors. This study can be used to set cultural heritage policy and research agendas at local, state, regional and national scales.

Adapting Cultural Heritage to Climate Change Risks: Perspectives of Cultural Heritage Experts in Europe

“…Efforts in the area of adaptation are yet limited to the dissemination of guidelines and recommendations for implementing adaptation measures [1,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], the identification of the determinants of adaptive capacity [26], and the identification of the barriers to adaptation [27][28][29][30]. Sabbioni et al [1,16] developed guidelines for adapting the European cultural heritage to climate change impacts, which were later adopted by the Italian Strategic Agenda [31,32].…”

“…Until now, less research has been conducted on the identification of the barriers to adapting our cultural heritage to climate change [27][28][29][30] and in considering geological hazards in the assessment of vulnerability to inform the adaptation process. Phillips [27] investigated whether climate change is considered in the management plans of WHS in the United Kingdom (UK) and identified issues arising from its consideration, notably the lack of detailed information from climate change scenarios and the uncertainty associated with them, as well as the lack of resources, knowledge, and skills available.…”

“…However, natural processes have often been ignored in previous assessments of vulnerability and the inclusion of geological hazards such as landslides and groundwater flooding in vulnerability assessments is limited [36]. Fatorić and Seekamp [28] identified 16 barriers to adaptation of cultural heritage to climate change in the Southeast of the US, which they grouped into three main categories: institutional barriers (e.g., lack of political commitment), technical barriers (e.g., lack of technical expertise), and financial barriers (e.g., lack of funding). The barriers to adaptation identified by Carmichael et al [29] at cultural heritage sites in Australia were related to governance and compatibility with current management frameworks.…”

“…This also highlights a lack of dissemination of the outcomes of academic research and initiatives from government institutions. Collaboration between different actors such as governmental bodies, private individuals, and communities was defined both as a need and as a barrier, the latter when it was non-existent, in the US [28]. International collaboration and cooperation between heritage organizations is promoted by the EC, UNESCO, and ICOMOS [45,46].…”

“…This is made difficult by the paucity of practitioners with traditional construction and conservation skills due, in part, to a lack of such training opportunities to architecture and engineering students [47,48]. Previous research stresses the need for more technical information and better research on this topic [27,28]. Phillips [27] emphasized the difficulty of finding resources and guidance on climate change adaptation and highlighted that the current tools available from national authorities and governmental institutions for climate change adaptation are not used by experts working in cultural heritage.…”