Realising the Impact of AHRC-funded GCRF Work on Heritage
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Sch of Languages, Cultures and Societies
Abstract
PRAXIS is focussed on Arts and Humanities research across the GCRF portfolio. Specifically, its aims are to consolidate learning across GCRF projects funded by the (AHRC), to amplify their impact and policy relevance, and to champion the distinctive contribution that Arts and Humanities research can make to tackling urgent development challenges.
PRAXIS has four strands: Heritage, Conflict, Youth, and COVID-19. This application focuses on disseminating research outcomes of AHRC-funded projects focussed on Heritage. We aim to:
Share key learning from PRAXIS heritage reports to a broader audience, including relevant NGOs, charities, international agencies and policymakers;
Generate new research findings and capture effective methodologies, bringing together AHRC-funded projects (including their policy partners where appropriate) through targeted
events and dissemination activities;
Collate and publicise AHRC-GRCF projects' impacts to influence policy and practice at scale, especially with UK government departments, including DCMS;
Enable knowledge transfer, exchange, among researchers, practitioners, funders, and policymakers;
Build a repository of resources;
Develop key policy messages and further publications to disseminate the project findings and inform new directions for future research funding and policymaking.
These aims and objectives expand the original project aims by allowing us to feedback to the many principal investigators (PIs) and partners who have contributed to learning events, seminars, interviews, and reports. They will be able to engage with the outcomes that have arisen out of our previous engagement with them, to comment on it, and to work with us to derive larger, overarching learnings and recommendations through a series of target events. An overarching ambition will be to reflect on A&H effective methodologies and how these contribute to development in ODA countries.
Specifically, we will:
Engagement Events: Workshop series on 'Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disasters' (January-March 2022)
We will organise a series of workshops on Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disasters to capture effective project methodologies, to connect and extract learning on 'what works' (or not), and to promote exchange and knowledge co-production between academics, project projects, practitioners, and policymakers. We will also share and publicise the Heritage for Global Challenges report, the policy briefs published with UKNC for UNESCO, and insights from the brown-bag lunchtime seminars with DCMS, and the Arts, Culture and Heritage programming for the Resilience HUB at COP26.
The workshop series will present the key findings and lessons learnt from PRAXIS Heritage strands on projects focusing on disasters and climate change. It will also include highlights from research done by the DCMS/AHRC Cultural Heritage and Climate Change cohort, other projects from the AHRC-GCRF portfolio, PRAXIS engagement in the Resilience HUB at COP 26, and non-academic projects on this topic (e.g. from The British Council or Climate Heritage Network portfolios). The focus will be on how heritage can be mobilised to contribute to the sustainable development goals in ODA countries,
The workshop series will have both an academic focus as well as a more practical impact and target policy engagement. Partners will include: AHRC, DCMS, The British Council, the UK National Commission for UNESCO, and Climate Heritage Network (CHN), as well as partners on individual GCRF projects based in ODA-countries.
The workshop series will be targeted at policymakers in government, international organisations, NGOs and charities, with specific topics discussed with them in advance to make sure the sessions address needs.
PRAXIS has four strands: Heritage, Conflict, Youth, and COVID-19. This application focuses on disseminating research outcomes of AHRC-funded projects focussed on Heritage. We aim to:
Share key learning from PRAXIS heritage reports to a broader audience, including relevant NGOs, charities, international agencies and policymakers;
Generate new research findings and capture effective methodologies, bringing together AHRC-funded projects (including their policy partners where appropriate) through targeted
events and dissemination activities;
Collate and publicise AHRC-GRCF projects' impacts to influence policy and practice at scale, especially with UK government departments, including DCMS;
Enable knowledge transfer, exchange, among researchers, practitioners, funders, and policymakers;
Build a repository of resources;
Develop key policy messages and further publications to disseminate the project findings and inform new directions for future research funding and policymaking.
These aims and objectives expand the original project aims by allowing us to feedback to the many principal investigators (PIs) and partners who have contributed to learning events, seminars, interviews, and reports. They will be able to engage with the outcomes that have arisen out of our previous engagement with them, to comment on it, and to work with us to derive larger, overarching learnings and recommendations through a series of target events. An overarching ambition will be to reflect on A&H effective methodologies and how these contribute to development in ODA countries.
Specifically, we will:
Engagement Events: Workshop series on 'Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disasters' (January-March 2022)
We will organise a series of workshops on Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disasters to capture effective project methodologies, to connect and extract learning on 'what works' (or not), and to promote exchange and knowledge co-production between academics, project projects, practitioners, and policymakers. We will also share and publicise the Heritage for Global Challenges report, the policy briefs published with UKNC for UNESCO, and insights from the brown-bag lunchtime seminars with DCMS, and the Arts, Culture and Heritage programming for the Resilience HUB at COP26.
The workshop series will present the key findings and lessons learnt from PRAXIS Heritage strands on projects focusing on disasters and climate change. It will also include highlights from research done by the DCMS/AHRC Cultural Heritage and Climate Change cohort, other projects from the AHRC-GCRF portfolio, PRAXIS engagement in the Resilience HUB at COP 26, and non-academic projects on this topic (e.g. from The British Council or Climate Heritage Network portfolios). The focus will be on how heritage can be mobilised to contribute to the sustainable development goals in ODA countries,
The workshop series will have both an academic focus as well as a more practical impact and target policy engagement. Partners will include: AHRC, DCMS, The British Council, the UK National Commission for UNESCO, and Climate Heritage Network (CHN), as well as partners on individual GCRF projects based in ODA-countries.
The workshop series will be targeted at policymakers in government, international organisations, NGOs and charities, with specific topics discussed with them in advance to make sure the sessions address needs.
Publications
| Description | Key findings The key findings of this follow-on research grant are presented in the report "Cultural Heritage in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change. Insights from the DCMS-AHRC Cultural Heritage and Climate Change Cohort" (eds. Francesca Giliberto and Rohan Jackson), prepared as part of this research with a partnership between the University of Leeds (PRAXIS project) and the University of Edinburgh (CRITICAL project). In a collaboration between the UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Urgency Grants invited proposals from researchers using innovative approaches to address the impacts of natural disasters and climate change on tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The above-mentioned report aimed to address the following questions: How is climate change affecting cultural heritage, especially in the Global South? And how can cultural heritage be effectively mobilised to respond differently and more inclusively to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards? It showcases the results of a series of workshops organised by the PRAXIS and CRITICAL research teams between February and September 2022 and project-specific policy briefs prepared by the nine projects of the Cultural Heritage and Climate Change Cohort. The following research findings, extracted from the above-mentioned report (pp. 18-22), can be identified. Recognising the plurality of heritage interpretations and values A core aspect identified by the nine projects is the need to recognise the variety of heritage attributes and values existing in a location affected by climate change and disasters, as well as their multiple interpretations by different stakeholders. Moving from a top-down to a bottom-up approach, a comprehensive and inclusive understanding and documentation of diverse heritage attributes (tangible and intangible) is the first crucial step for safeguarding that heritage in the aftermath of a disaster and during climate change adaptation. The projects emphasised that it is important not only to document and inventory tangible heritage assets but also to provide evidence-based information on intangible cultural heritage (ICH), which is often neither recognised nor valued by local officials. () Bridging cultural and natural heritage approaches and decolonising knowledge Cultural and natural heritage are often considered separately and regulated and managed by different governmental departments (Larsen and Wijesuriya, 2015). But they are inseparable and interdependent, and recognising this is key to ensuring sustainable and integrated approaches to tackling the impacts of climate change and managing disaster responses and risk preparedness (Giliberto and Maclagan, 2021). The artificial separation between cultural and natural heritage (and related approaches) is found more frequently in western legislations, processes and practices than in local and indigenous knowledge, practices and management systems, which focus on more holistic and integrated concepts that exemplify the interdependency between humanity and nature. () A key outcome from the CHCC Cohort was therefore to bridge the gap between cultural and natural approaches to climate change and disasters and to provide more holistic and integrated solutions. In doing so, it has been crucial to engage with the plurality of knowledge systems (not only the dominant western ones) and to learn from local and indigenous knowledge and practices for climate adaptation and management of sites to complement the dominant scientific narrative on climate science and climate responses. Local communities need to be primary stakeholders in the interpretation and significance of their heritage, and their knowledge must be incorporated into the development of new approaches, tools and frameworks for climate and disaster responses. () Finally, the cohort emphasised how this knowledge exchange between researchers, policymakers and local and indigenous peoples must always to be consensual and beneficial for the communities involved. Developing people-centred, community-based and participatory approaches using arts and culture The projects highlighted the importance of implementing people-centred, community-based and participatory approaches to recognise the plurality of heritage values, bridge the gap between cultural and natural heritage approaches and decolonise knowledge. These approaches can also stimulate a community's resilience when climate change and disasters affect it, and support more comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessments. Engaging directly with local people, the projects have collected first-hand narratives from marginalised groups like women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities about the impact of climate change and disasters on local communities. They have also accessed expert knowledge (including indigenous and community knowledge) on the ground via participatory approaches that have facilitated intergenerational and intersectoral knowledge transfer in different geographical locations. The nine projects delivered compelling case studies showing how arts and culture can be used to promote local engagement and active participation in the development of community-based research practices. For instance, a project used data visualisation and exhibitions to engage a local community in India. This approach increased risk awareness and opened up discussions about how to repair vernacular architectures after an earthquake incorporating local knowledge. Another project focused on cocreating and co-conducting the research with communities living in the Brazilian Iron Quadrangle, working in partnership with local arts organisations. Through immersive arts workshops and training sessions, local communities co-created inventories of cultural practices and assets that were important to them. This process also helped to establish a dialogue with policymakers and local authorities about the role that cultural heritage can have in promoting resilience and sustainable processes of transformation and regeneration. Supporting local capacities and developing a community of practice Working in partnership between UK institutions and local organisations has proved to be a decisive element in the achievement of the projects' goals. In most cases project partners, with previous experience and the ability to speak local languages, have engaged directly with the communities, for example when collecting research data on the ground. The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged a process of transferring more ownership and responsibilities to local partners in conducting part of the research because UK researchers could not carry out fieldwork. Instead, local partners were trained in data collection and obtaining quality data. Some also had access to specific tools (e.g. laser scanners) and received ad-hoc training in how to use them. The result is stronger local abilities and newly acquired local skills in research and in practices to address cultural heritage preservation. According to project PIs, the process of conducting the research itself has become as important as the production of specific research outputs and findings. It has also created more actively involved local partners in the co-design of the data collection strategy to make it more aligned with local needs and expectations. Furthermore, the projects from this cohort have contributed to the development of a community of practice around various aspects related to cultural heritage, climate change and disasters and a multidisciplinary research network by organising training courses, capacity building activities, joint drafting of research outputs, webinars, workshops and other knowledge exchange events. Improving ways to assess heritage vulnerabilities and risks and increase projects' transferability and scalability Sustained disaster risk and vulnerability research have demonstrated the importance of understanding the local contextual factors that shape vulnerability and expose given groups and structures to natural and humanmade hazards. Each project in this report illustrates how on-the-ground knowledge of vulnerability and hazards exposure underpins the development of effective risk assessment tools. Assumptions cannot be made as to the greatest risk facing heritage assets and the local groups that value them. () Local engagement and buy-in are essential when providing suitable risk tools and methodologies where financing extends to stakeholders who hold knowledge of their communities, cultural heritage and local environments. |
| Exploitation Route | Further dissemination of the report is ongoing and it is likely to influence more organisations. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Education Environment Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | The report "Cultural heritage in the context of disasters and climate change: Insights from the DCMS-AHRC Cultural Heritage and Climate Change Cohort" informs future research and policy on disaster preparedness, emergency response, loss and damage, mitigation and adaptation to current and expected global environmental changes. It provides lessons learnt from international collaborations between academics, practitioners and research participants and recommendations to research councils and policymakers in the UK and beyond. They include: • Communicate to stakeholders through language translation and data access; • Identify target audiences and stakeholders for research and policy impact; • Promote holistic and integrated frameworks in heritage research; • Develop active channels to co-design and incorporate learnings into national and local policymaking; • Decolonise funding models to make research participants, particularly indigenous and local communities, empowered stakeholders; • Encourage flexible financing to support investigators in collaborating countries; • Foster continuity within research workstreams for more sustainable and impactful research projects; • Learning from COVID-19 with respect to all stages of the research process. The report also includes nine project-specific policy briefs targeting a variety of relevant stakeholders at international, national and local scales. These briefs aim to amplify the influence of the report across varied landscapes and regions. The report was launched in a webinar organised by the PRAXIS team and held on Wednesday 30th November 2022, 1-3pm (UK time). The event promoted knowledge exchange and shared learning on the complex interrelationships between cultural heritage, climate change and disasters between academic and non-academic stakeholders in the UK and the Global South, and fostered further discussion and collaboration, particularly in terms of how to improve current heritage and climate change policies and practices. We brought together representatives from the Cultural Heritage and Climate Change cohort with other interested parties such as members from funding bodies, policymakers, academics, practitioners and other stakeholders to stimulate a constructive discussion on this topic. A roundtable with representatives of these key actors stimulated a discussion around two main aspects: 1) the ways to improve current practices tackling cultural heritage management in the face of climate change and disaster impacts; 2) the role of international collaborations between academics, practitioners and research participants when approaching a variety of cultural heritage forms as well as differing approaches to the assessment of risk. To maximise policy impacts, the report was widely distributed by the PRAXIS team at COP27 (Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, 10-18 November 2022) and CultureCOP as part of and/or in parallel of COP27. In addition, upon invitation, Dr Giliberto and Dr Jackson presented the report findings and co-chaired a workshop titled "Communicating Your Research to Decision and Policymakers Workshop" (8th March 2023) organised by the Heritage Hub, an inter-disciplinary centre exploring the broad intersections between heritage and society at the Queen's University Belfast, targeting academics and local stakeholders. In addition, to maximise the impacts of this research project and policy engagement, the key learnings from the heritage strand of the PRAXIS project were presented to a broader audience, including funding bodies, relevant NGOs, charities, international agencies and policymakers. In particular, Dr Giliberto was invited to present PRAXIS findings at: 1) Panel on Unpacking the Global/Local Nexus in World Heritage Sites: a Pragmatic Approach at the International Conference EURA 2022 (Milan, Italy, 16-18th June 2022). 2) Panel on Housing and Neighbourhoods at the Smart Madinah Forum, co-organised by UN-Habitat and Madinah Region Development Authority (City of Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,19-21 February 2023). The forum gathered thought leaders and experts from all over the world to discuss how smart cities can improve quality of life and ensure sustainability, and the role of innovation in promoting sustainable development. 3) INTO DUNDEE. Heritage Now: Relevance and Community" (Dundee, UK, 4-6th October 2022), a major international conference organised as part of the Culture in Crisis Programme in partnership with the International National Trusts Organisation, the National Trust for Scotland and V&A Dundee. The conference highlighted the importance of both people and purpose within heritage preservation, taking an encompassing look at tangible and intangible heritage, as well as the preservation of landscapes where nature and heritage co-exist. It explored key ideas such as how relevance is perceived, shaped and adapted within heritage, and how organisations can engage communities and (re)present narratives. As the heritage sector faces ongoing evolving challenges, now more than ever organisations are recognising the importance of future-focused strategies. The conference provided an important forum for sharing experiences and developing best practices, with specific consideration to work relating to communities and the relevance heritage holds for them. The event drew together a global audience of heritage professionals and those working in associated sectors, providing a rich opportunity for sharing international experiences and case studies. 4) Side event of the "UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development - MONDIACULT 2022" (Mexico City, 28-30th September 2022). The event-titled "Responding to the Climate Emergency: New Imperatives for Cultural Policy"-was held on 29 September 2022 and organised by the Climate Heritage Network (CHN); Culture 2030 Goal Campaign; United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG); International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA); Instituto Metropolitano de Patrimonio de Quito (IMP); International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS); City of San Antonio, TX. 5) "People-Nature-Culture (PNC) Forum 2022", held at Suwon Hwaseong in the Republic of Korea, from 10 to 12 October 2022. The PNC Forum 2022 was organised by World Heritage Leadership Programme-a joint ICCROM IUCN capacity building programme funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment-in cooperation with the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage and with the support of the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration who generously contributed to the 2017-2022 Korea ICCROM Funds in Trust. By bringing together a group of heritage practitioners and institutions that have been working on the implementation of PNC course and other key capacity building activities in the past 5 years, the PNC Forum aimed to map the range of benefits heritage places provide to people allowing a better understanding of how heritage contributes to the life and livelihood of people and communities. During the event, Dr Giliberto met Dr Paloma Guzman, senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU). Together they applied and successfully secured funding for the research project "AGREE | Advancing Cultural Heritage Governance for Resilient Climate Adaptation" in 2023 (Ref. AH/Z000017/1, total value 600,000EUR). The grant was promoted by the Belmont Forum and the Joint Programming Initiatives Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe (JPI Climate) and Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH) as part of a Collaborative Research Action (CRA) on the theme Climate and Cultural Heritage - Collaborative research to address urgent challenges. AGREE is a multilateral and interdisciplinary project with 3 PIs based in three European countries (Italy, UK and Norway) and 5 societal partners. To stimulate engagement and disseminate the research findings to a wider audience, the PRAXIS team co-organised a webinar with the Institution of Environmental Studies and the UK National Commission for UNESCO. The webinar explored the interconnections between cultural heritage and climate change. On the one hand, it presented the international framework on this topic defined through a series of international agreements, such as the United Nations' 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the outcomes of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). On the other hand, it discussed concrete academic and practical case studies connecting heritage and climate change. It provided examples from the UNESCO Global Geopark Network and key findings from a research project led by the University of Edinburgh, showcasing the potential of long-term archaeological and heritage datasets to inform and support human adaptation and contemporary responses to climate change. In addition, Dr Giliberto published PRAXIS research findings in a publicly facing essay as part of the second edition of the "World Changers: Celebrating Impactful Research" of the University of Leeds. The essay titled "Bridging past, present - and future: how can heritage support development?" was widely disseminated through media press, sent to relevant stakeholders, and presented in a university in-person event to maximise its impacts. Moreover, she agreed to take part in an interview carried out by Diego Giuliani, a free-lance journalist for the international tv channel Euronews and for the European Research Media Center Youris.com. The interview focused on the challenges and opportunities of marrying sustainable development with cultural heritage conservation and management. Some insights from the interview were included on an article on the EU project Pocityf published on the research project website (https://pocityf.eu/news/invisible-is-better-when-sustainable-solutions-blend-into-the-landscape/?cn-reloaded=1), on Youris.com and further distributed to several international news multipliers (e.g. AlphaGalileo, EU Agenda, Phys.org, Cordis). 1 |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Dissemination at COP27 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | AGREE | Advancing Cultural Heritage Governance for Resilient Climate Adaptation |
| Amount | € 600,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | AH/Z000017/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2024 |
| End | 09/2027 |
| Title | Impact on research funder |
| Description | The research report on Cultural Heritage in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change was circulated to the funder, the Arts and HUmanities Research Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It has been used to shape future funding calls around heritage and international development. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Impact on further funding calls. |
| Description | Heritage and Climate Change: Collaboration With CRITICAL project |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Dr Francesca Giliberto, with the support of Dr Luba Pirgova-Morgan, collaborated with the CRITICAL project based at the University of Edinburgh (Dr Rowan Jackson) in the organisation of a series of workshops with the AHRC-DCMS Cultural Heritage and Climate Change (CHCC) Cohort and the writing of a research report presenting a cross-portfolio synthesis, individual policy briefs, and lessons learnt and recommendations from the cohort. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Worked together on reviewing a portfolio of research grants anbd produced a report on their contribution to state of knowledge about heritage and climate change |
| Impact | Report on state of research on Heritage and Climate Change nexus. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | "Addressing Contemporary Human Security Threats: Conversations on Climate, Conflict, Technology, Identity & Health" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Former postdoctoral researcher Dr Francesca Giliberto invited to give a keynote speech at a Symposium, "Addressing Contemporary Human Security Threats: Conversations on Climate, Conflict, Technology, Identity & Health," organized by doctoral students and hosted by Northeastern University London on 17th May 2024. Shared insights from the PRAXIS project, mainly discussing the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches in development contexts, sharing insights from the GCRF and Newton portfolios, as well as from the implementation of the PRAXIS project itself. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workshops bringing together research projects focussed on nexus of heritage and climate change in ODA countries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | 3 workshops were organised to bring together the nine projects from a cohort of Global Challenges Research Fund projects, funded by Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. 1. To introduce PRAXIS (the Leeds team) and its activities; share key learnings about methodologies, project achievements, lessons learnt and recommendations from the research projects; exchange ideas about research outputs; and co-design a strategy/template to collect project data. 2. To facilitate the communication of projects results in a format that could be translated into a two-page policy brief. After the second workshop, a policy brief template was circulated to allow an easy translation of project data into the policy brief format. The policy briefs prepared by the nine research projects are included in the report on 'Cultural Heritage, Climate change and Disasters' published in November 2022. 3. to launch the report, present findings from COP27 and promote knowledge exchange on the complex interrelationships between cultural heritage, climate change and disasters between academic and non-academic stakeholders in the UK and the Global South. Speakers included representatives from the CHCC cohort and other interested parties such as members from funding bodies (AHRC), policymakers (DCMS and the British Council), academics, practitioners and other stakeholders to stimulate a constructive discussion on this topic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://changingthestory.leeds.ac.uk/praxis/cultural-heritage-climate-change-and-disasters/ |