Topics Webinar | (World) Heritage Sites and Values in Danger - Climate-Change Related Challenges and Transformation
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(World) Heritage Sites and Values in Danger: Climate-Change Related Challenges and Transformation
We are pleased to welcome you to this MDPI Topic Collection on the impact of global challenges on world heritage sites. Globally, cultural heritage is under increasing pressure from climate change, armed conflict, demographic shifts, economic instability, mass tourism, and other regional and global disruptions. These forces are reshaping heritage landscapes, threatening their integrity, altering their significance, and challenging long-standing models of preservation and stewardship. This collection of works aims to bring together diverse perspectives and interdisciplinary research to address these urgent issues. The studies included aim to do the following: 1) identify and understand the threats facing heritage sites today; 2) showcase case studies that highlight the tangible and intangible impacts of these issues; 3) explore theoretical frameworks for contextualizing transformation; 4) examine how new holistic heritage approaches can support entire heritage systems; 5) share governance models and tools that enhance resilience; 6) reflect on recovery strategies rooted in cultural heritage; and 7) understand how these shifts affect different communities and users of heritage spaces. Whether you are a heritage practitioner, policymaker, researcher, or student, this collection offers critical insights for navigating change and safeguarding the cultural legacy of the future.
Date: 7 May 2025
Time: 2:00 pm CEST | 8:00 pm CST (Asia) | 8:00 am EDT
Webinar ID: 837 1857 2138
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet the Event Chair
Meet Our Speakers
Dr. Rohit Jigyasu
ICCROM Rome, Italy;
Rohit Jigyasu is a conservation architect and risk management professional from India, currently working at ICCROM as a Programme Manager on sustainable urban and built heritage conservation, disaster and climate risk management, post-crisis recovery. Rohit served as UNESCO chair and professor at the Institute for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan, where he was instrumental in developing and teaching an international training course on the disaster risk management of cultural heritage. He was the elected President of ICOMOS India from 2014 to 2018, and President of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP) from 2010 to 2019. Rohit served as the Elected Member of the Executive Committee of ICOMOS since 2011, and served as Vice President from 2017 to 2020. Before joining ICCROM, Rohit worked with several national and international organizations such as UNESCO, UNDRR, Getty Conservation Institute, and World Bank for consultancy, research, and training on the disaster risk management of cultural heritage. He has undertaken post-disaster assessments in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Japan. He worked on the updated policy document on climate action for world heritage adopted by the UNESCO General Assembly in 2023, and is also the main author of the UNESCO Resource Manual on Managing Disaster Risks for World Heritage, as well as the co-editor of a recently published Routledge handbook on cultural heritage and disaster risk management, alongside a Routledge book titled “Good Practices for Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage”.
Dr. Christer Gustafsson
Uppsala Universty, Sweden;
Christer Gustafsson, Ph.D. is Professor of Conservation at Uppsala University, Sweden. He has extensive international experience in connection with the EU, UNESCO, OECD, and national, regional, and local authorities, as well as universities across the world. He is a member of ICOMOS and its International Scientific Committee on Economics of Conservation. He currently serves as chair of the strategic target group for cultural heritage of EIT Culture & Creativity, is involved in the agenda for research of cultural heritage and innovation, and is a member of both the national advisory board for EU Horizon Europe and the research council for cultural heritage. He previously undertook the role of Director (landsantikvarie) of Regional Museums of Halland. He was also one of the founders of the Halland Model. His transdisciplinary research focuses on boundary-spanning challenges and opportunities for cultural heritage as a driver for heritage-led social/sustainable/innovation-driven regional/urban development. Recently, he has been engaged in the following: the EU Horizon 2020 CLIC project on circular models leveraging investments in cultural heritage adaptive reuse, the relation between cultural heritage and socio-economic development, the EU Horizon 2020 project Be.CULTOUR (Beyond CULtural TOURism), heritage innovation networks as drivers of Europeanization towards a human-centered and circular tourism economy, and the national research project KARUSO on cultural heritage and smart specialization strategies.
Dr. Matthias Ripp
Organisation of World Heritage Cities, Department for cultural heritage, City of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany;
Dr. Matthias Ripp, a senior heritage manager with a background in historical geography, is coordinating the “Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof” site. He is active in numerous networks, such as Heritage Europe and ICOMOS. He coordinated the EU HerO (Heritage as Opportunity) project, and chairs the UNESCO world heritage working group on historic city centers of the German Association of Cities. Since November 2011, he has also acted as a regional coordinator for the North West European and North-American region of the Organisation of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), taught at different Universities, and worked as a trainer, facilitator, and consultant. His scientific interests include, but are not limited to, systemic heritage approaches and theories, heritage-based urban resilience and development, heritage interpretation, and heritage governance.
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
The Topics Webinar “(World) Heritage Sites and Values in Danger – Climate-Change Related Challenges and Transformation” was held online on 7th May 2025. It focused on the threats that climate change and disasters pose to global cultural heritage, aspects of the circular economy and cultural heritage, heritage-based urban development, and new heritage approaches that view heritage as a system and process and go well beyond traditional narratives of preservation. This well-attended webinar featured interdisciplinary discussions and explored a diversity of questions on cultural heritage strategies, urban resilience, and governance models. The keynote speakers were Dr. Rohit Jigyasu from ICCROM, Prof. Dr. Christer Gustafsson from Uppsala University, and Dr. Matthias Ripp from the City of Regensburg, the last of whom also chaired the webinar.
The webinar was hosted via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to learn about future webinars, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking “Subscribe” at the top of the page.
(World) Heritage Sites and Values in Danger: Climate-Change Related Challenges and Transformation
Edited by Dr. Matthias Ripp, Prof. Dr. Christer Gustafsson and Dr. Rohit Jigyasu
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2025