Whispers of Time: Heritage as Narratives Of Climate-Change

面对不断升级的气候危机，例如希腊和意大利的毁灭性野火，印度的严重热浪，以及加拿大森林大火导致的灰烬覆盖的纽约，科学家们警告说，风险正在加速。大西洋经向翻转环流（AMOC）可能比预期更早崩溃，预示着气候模式的深刻变化（IPCC 2022）。这加强了对气候变化作为对人类和文化遗产的最大威胁的紧迫认识（ICOMOS 2021）。预计到2050年，气候变化将对自然环境（Stocker et al., 2014）和历史建筑环境（UNEP, 2016）产生重大影响。尽管如此，对文化遗产的自然环境风险的了解仍然不完整，阻碍了制定有效的适应和缓解战略。联合国教科文组织对文化遗产的定义是全面的，包括物质、自然和非物质元素。扳手项目建立在这一定义之上，将遗产视为景观中物质和非物质遗产的复杂相互作用，以及围绕它们编织的叙事。扳手挑战物质和非物质的分离，强调它们的辩证性和表演性的相互联系。无论是体现在一座巨大的大坝上，如1963年的瓦扬特大坝灾难，还是在景观中蚀刻的现代化叙事中，物质结构和故事都是密不可分的。该项目认为，通过既定的艺术、文本或实验实践来讲述故事，与传统纪念碑具有同等的文化意义。城市景观、街道和建筑的短暂遗产，充满了我们精心制作的叙事，与教堂等有形结构一样重要。扳手追求双重目标：(a)制定一种跨学科的方法，将环境科学、工程和人文科学结合起来，评估气候变化对物质和非物质遗产的影响；(b)利用遗产作为讲故事的工具，让人们看到气候变化的风险，提高公众意识。扳手的跨学科方法包括几个关键组成部分：(1)先进的气候建模：利用最先进的气候模型进行数据分析，提取历史数据，并预测未来的水文气象变量。(2)物理测试和结构建模：通过原位物理测试、流变模型开发和高级结构建模来研究极端环境条件对历史材料和结构的影响。(3)非物质遗产评估：采用历史研究方法，包括档案研究、口述历史和视听资料，并结合当地社区的参与性研究。(4)整体框架开发：创建评估气候变化对文化遗产影响的综合框架。通过这种多方面的方法，扳手旨在加深我们对气候变化对遗产影响的理解，同时利用讲故事作为沟通和培养意识的有力手段。

In the face of escalating climate crises, exemplified by devastating wildfires in Greece and Italy, a severe heat wave in India, and ash-covered New York from Canadian forest fires, scientists warn of accelerated risks. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) may collapse earlier than anticipated, signalling profound shifts in climate patterns (IPCC 2022). This reinforces the urgent recognition of climate change as the paramount threat to humanity and cultural heritage (ICOMOS 2021).By 2050, climate change is predicted to significantly impact both natural (Stocker et al., 2014) and historically built environments (UNEP, 2016). Despite this, the understanding of physical environmental risks to cultural heritage remains incomplete, hindering the development of effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. UNESCO defines cultural heritage comprehensively, encompassing tangible, natural, and intangible elements. The WRENCH project builds upon this definition, conceiving heritage as a complex interplay of material and immaterial legacies within landscapes and the narratives woven around them.WRENCH challenges the separation of material and immaterial aspects, emphasizing their dialectic and performative interconnectedness. Whether embodied in a colossal dam, as seen in the Vajont Dam Disaster (1963), or in the narratives of modernization etched into landscapes, material structures and stories are inseparable. The project contends that storytelling, through established arts, texts, or experimental practices, holds equal cultural significance to traditional monuments. The transient heritage of cityscapes, streets, and buildings, imbued with the narratives we craft, is as vital as tangible structures like churches.WRENCH pursues a dual objective: (a) to formulate a transdisciplinary methodology uniting environmental sciences, engineering, and humanities to assess the impact of climate change on both material and immaterial heritage and (b) to leverage heritage as a storytelling tool, rendering climate change risks visible and enhancing public awareness.The transdisciplinary methodology of WRENCH encompasses several key components:(1) Advanced Climate Modelling: Utilizing state-of-the-art climate models for data analysis, extracting historical data, and projecting future hydrometeorological variables.(2) Physical Testing and Structural Modelling: Investigating the impact of extreme environmental conditions on historical materials and structures through in-situ physical testing, rheological model development, and advanced structural modelling.(3) Immaterial Heritage Assessment: Employing historical methodologies, including archival research, oral history, and audiovisual materials, alongside participatory research involving local communities.(4) Holistic Framework Development: Creating a comprehensive framework for evaluating the effects of climate change on cultural heritage.Through this multifaceted approach, WRENCH aims to deepen our understanding of climate change's repercussions on heritage while utilizing storytelling as a potent means to communicate and foster awareness.