From 6 to 8 December, we will be confronting the negative impacts of climate change on cultural heritage worldwide at a three-day symposium in the United States. The US National Park Service (NPS) and Nantucket Historical Association (NHA), in partnership with ICCROM, are organizing the Climate Change and Cultural Heritage Symposium, which aims to explore the latest climate change research and develop strategies for advancing climate conservation and protection.
The event will occur at the Whaling Museum in Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA. There will be working meetings with climate change experts on 6 and 7 December and a free, public community forum on 8 December, which will also be live-streamed on Zoom.
Anticipated outcomes from the symposium include the development of a strategic framework to inform future research and actions and the adoption of a formal declaration of the climate change challenges facing cultural heritage locations globally.
Nantucket, an island about 50 kilometres off the coast of Massachusetts, was a global whaling capital from the late-eighteenth century until the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the island and town are one among the largest National Historic Landmark Districts on the US east coast, with more than 800 structures built before 1850. Coastal flooding, erosion and other climate change-related risks threaten the historical sites and cultural resources that comprise Nantucket’s National Historic Landmark District.
“With the impact of rising sea levels threatening our iconic historic structures, the NHA is engaging with leading experts to examine how we might respond to this issue, protect our cultural resources and help to create modes that could be useful for other communities and organizations,” said NHA Gosnell Executive Director, Niles Parker.
Registration to attend the community forum in person opens on 7 November at NHA.org. Capacity is limited, and registration is required.
The workshop and symposium are supported by the Osceola Foundation, Inc. (Walter Beinecke, Jr. family), the ReMain Nantucket Fund managed by the Community Foundation for Nantucket and Michelle Kolb, Kolb Architects.