CAWG session in ICOMOS GA2026 symposium – On the Role of Living Heritage in Climate Action

The ICOMOS Scientific Symposium, under the main theme “LIVING HERITAGE: RESPECT, ACCEPT, ENHANCE, PARTNERSHIP,” taking place within GA2026 on 17.-24.10.2026, is designed to foster research and discussion on specialised topics. In direct response to the Triennial Scientific Plan (TSP) 2024–2027 theme, “DISASTER AND CONFLICT RESILIENT HERITAGE,” various International Scientific Committees (ISCs) and Working Groups (WGs) have organized dedicated sessions to enrich the data collection and discussion on specific fields. Sessions – ICOMOS GA2026

Session 14, “On the Role of Living Heritage in Climate Action” is organised by Climate Action Working Group. Session chairs are Ave Paulus (Focal Point of ICOMOS CAWG) and William Megarry (Past Focal Point of CAWG).

ICOMOS Climate Action Working Group (CAWG), celebrating 10 years of its existence, holds a session with following topics: (1) empowerment of heritage communities in climate action – from climate literacy to risk assessment to adaptation; (2) cultural heritage-based climate solutions and the role of traditional knowledge – from buildings to places to ecosystems; (3) Cultural heritage in climate policies – from sites to states to international policies.

These topics align with the following symposium themes:

• Learning from Traditional Knowledge – Local and Indigenous Knowledge is key to just, effective and sustainable climate action. These knowledge systems have broad intersection with climate change and mediate how we understand and respond to it.
• Facilitating Collaboration – Climate change is a geopolitical issue and cannot be addressed by a single country or community. Collaboration based on equal partnerships and common experience is key. These relationships allow us to share experience, knowledge and resilience.
• Building Capacities – A lack of foundational knowledge remains a key barrier to climate action in the heritage sector. Building capacities and climate literacy remains one of the most effective and impactful soft adaptation strategies. It also creates a more equitable and level playing field for engagement and collaboration.

Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity and its cultural heritage. The gravity of the situation was acknowledged at the 2020 ICOMOS General Assembly, which declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency. Climate change is the dominant cause of natural disasters worldwide and the underlying cause of several social conflicts. Adaptation options that were feasible and effective yesterday are constrained and less effective with global warming above 1,5 degrees. Losses and damages will increase, and additional human and natural systems will reach adaptation limits. Only the solidarity of international efforts can save our cultural and biological diversity.

Climate Change is impacting communities, culture and cultural rights globally on an unprecedented scale. Cultural heritage places are living landscapes. They enable people to participate in and contribute to cultural life, serving as an expression of their cultural identity. Often, they are also the sole source of work or food for communities and are therefore essential to their survival. When such places are at risk, the existence of associated communities is threatened. On the other hand, the resilience and creativity embedded in the culture and heritage of local communities give society as a whole hope for the future. Heritage communities maintain cultural continuity and practices that are adapted to low-carbon nature use, supporting livelihoods that promote the biological and cultural diversity of our homes, landscapes, and seascapes.

Empowerment of heritage communities in climate action

Global heritage initiatives have increasingly acknowledged the importance of local communities in ensuring equitable and sustainable climate action. This includes projects centring on community engagement, empowerment and rights-based approaches to climate action and climate literacy as a way to create level platforms for equitable engagement. This subsession welcomes papers from participants on these topics and others related to community engagement and climate action. Working with communities opens us a broader range of options for climate action. As noted in the ICOMOS-UNESCO-IPCC cosponsored meeting, ‘Scientists and researchers in the social and natural sciences need to collaborate proactively with Indigenous Peoples and local communities through co-production approaches and to acknowledge the value of traditional research practices’

Cultural heritage-based climate solutions and the role of traditional knowledge

This subsession welcomes the papers on culture-based solutions in climate action. Heritage sites, tangible and intangible, cultural landscapes and ecosystems, offer invaluable insights into climate adaptation and mitigation, drawing from centuries of accumulated wisdom and sustainable practices. Traditional knowledge from nature use and water management to food systems and architecture has long demonstrated its effectiveness in fostering resilience against environmental challenges. Even as tangible and intangible cultures are threatened by a changing climate, cultural heritage offers powerful motivations to act, as well as creative tools to strengthen societal responses. The worldviews, perspectives, and principles reflected in a mindset that values and safeguards cultural heritage contribute to long-term sustainability. UNFCCC Global Goal on Adaptation target 9G highlights climate resilience “ guided by traditional knowledge, Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and local knowledge systems”

Cultural heritage in climate policies

Culture plays a fundamental role in shaping human responses to climate change. This subsession welcomes papers on the implementation of cultural heritage in climate policies at international, national and regional level, including historical perspectives from 10 years of activities of ICOMOS Climate Action Working Group. ICOMOS, with its strong commitment to climate action and worldwide network of experts, is ideally positioned to respond to global challenges with all its knowledge. The ICOMOS Climate Action Working Group (CAWG) has throughout 10 years contributed to policies, networks, and projects that advocate cultural heritage in the context of climate action. ICOMOS, being the partner of the Group of Friends of Culture Based Climate Action, advisory body of UNESCO, observer organisation in UNFCCC, founding partner in the Climate Heritage Network, Preserving Legacies, Heritage Adapts Initiative and many others, has been and is continuing to advocate cultural heritage in climate policies. The breakthrough moment for cultural heritage in recent years within the UNFCCC has been the inclusion of cultural heritage as one of the targets of the Global Call on Adaptation and continuing work on the indicators of adaptation in respect of cultural heritage and cultural heritage based solutions.

You are welcome to submit an abstract, deadline for the abstracts is 30.04. Call For Abstract – ICOMOS GA2026

We do hope for active participation in those utmost important discussion topics.

Very best wishes on behalf of Climate Action Workng Group

Ave Paulus and William Megarry

Present and Past Focal Points of CAWG and chairs of the session

contact: ave.paulus@icomos.org