INTO joins Mobilization to Unite Cultural Heritage for Climate Action

I’ve had a break from blogging over the summer but this morning received an update on the Cultural Heritage Mobilization which I thought I would share here:

What is the Cultural Heritage Mobilization?

The urgent need for increased ambition by the cultural heritage sector on climate change is uniting culture, heritage, indigenous, sustainability and community organizations from around the world at the Cultural Heritage Mobilization.  INTO is proud to be supporting this effort as an Endorsing Organization.  The Mobilization event, scheduled for 12 September in San Francisco USA, is an official affiliated event of the Global Climate Action Summit organized under the auspices of the California Office of Historic Preservation.

Running from September 12–14, 2018, the Global Climate Action Summit will bring leaders and people together from around the world to San Francisco to showcase climate action and inspire deeper commitments in support of the Paris Agreement.  The Summit will feature heads of state, mayors and regional leaders from around the world as well companies, investors and citizens. The Mobilization is the first cultural heritage event of its kind to be organized at a major international climate change summit.

Who is involved?

In addition to INTO, the Mobilization will feature a diverse array of culture and heritage actors like the International Council of Museum, the International Federation of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects, the Society of American Archaeology, the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Historic Buildings and the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice.  They will be joined by sustainability organizations like the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP); United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and UN Habitat.

The Mobilization program will showcase key ways that cultural heritage — tangible and intangible — can help communities achieve their climate targets.  This includes heritage-based carbon mitigation strategies like promoting the reuse of existing buildings and the sensitive retrofitting of older and historic buildings for energy efficiency. It will also underscore the important role heritage plays in enhancing adaptive capacity and reducing the vulnerability of communities, from building social cohesion to guiding resilience planning. The role of culture and heritage as a vector for climate communication, justice, science and research will also be explored.

The Mobilization complements INTO’s current climate change and heritage initiatives, including our work to promote the activities of our member organisations globally towards adaptation, mitigation and education.

The Mobilization will support the launch of California’s ambitious new Cultural Resources Climate Change Task Force. It will also witness the launch of a new international Climate Heritage Network, a mutual support network of city, state/provincial, regional and tribal historic preservation offices (together with related NGOs, universities and other organizations) committed to aid their jurisdictions in tackling climate change and achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. The Network is expected to create an effective platform for advancing the Climate Change and Cultural Heritage agenda in international climate policy processes.

How to get involved

The Mobilization is being hosted by the California Historical Society and will be livestreamed through a collaboration with INTO members, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (US).  Interested parties may also follow the Mobilization on twitter at @ClimateHeritage (English) or @PatrimonioClima (Spanish).  More information is available at www.climateheritage.org.