CLIMATE FOR CULTURE

Presentation

Climate change is one of the most critical global challenges of our time. This factor, coupled with the increasing demand our society makes on energy and resources, has forced sustainable development to the top of the European political agenda. Scientific research has shown that also the cultural heritage of Europe is particularly vulnerable to these factors making its preservation and conservation a high priority to all stakeholders.

Therefore, more effective and efficient sustainable adaptation and mitigation strategies need to be developed in order to preserve these invaluable cultural assets for the long-term future since they represent a non-renewable resource of intrinsic importance to our European identity. More reliable assessments of the impact of climate change will lead to better prediction models, which in turn will enable preventive measures to be taken, thus reducing the consumption of energy and resources.

Against this background, the CLIMATE FOR CULTURE project estimates the impacts of changing climate conditions on historic buildings and their vast collections in Europe and the Mediterranean. A multidisciplinary research team of 27 partners aims to identify the damage potential of our cultural heritage most at risk, so as to encourage the development of strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change, including through policy makers and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. Furthermore, the project provides insight into the possible socio-economic impact of climate change, given the importance of cultural heritage to Europe’s economy.