Values-based Climate Change Risk Assessment: Piloting the Climate Vulnerability Index for Cultural Heritage in Africa [Highlight Notice]

气候变化对全人类的生存构成威胁。理解和适应这种变化已经成为我们这个时代最大的挑战。由于海平面上升、更极端的天气事件和干旱，气候对全球遗产地的广泛影响显而易见，这种变化的速度令人震惊。在世界大多数地区，损失率超过了适应能力，这种赤字只会变得更糟，尤其是在全球南部。关于保护和保存的决定始于对一个地方的脆弱性的详细了解。所做的选择将直接影响有效整合保护文化遗产、适应和减缓气候变化以及推动可持续发展目标的能力。必须修订以前的评估方法，以准确评估文化遗产地及其相关社区在面对气候变化时的脆弱性。迫切需要开发以社区为基础、快速(但有效)的新技术和方法，这些技术和方法必须在全球范围内可推广。CVI非洲项目旨在满足这一需求。拟议的研究项目重点是通过在非洲试行一种名为气候脆弱性指数(CVI)的新的、原型的遗产管理方法来培训遗产专业人员。CVI对当前和预计的气候变化对遗址遗产价值的实际和生态影响进行了评估，并对气候变化对遗址和相关社区的经济、社会和文化后果进行了高级别评估。该项目既是为了使现有的方法适应非洲的文化背景，也是为了利用非洲的专业知识来改进一般的CVI方法。CVI非洲项目将提供使用CVI方法进行脆弱性评估的基础培训，培训来自低收入和中等收入非洲国家的六名遗产专业人员。它将利用英国和国际上的专业知识，开发并向培训参与者提供在线、可转让和可扩展的培训资源。该项目将在受气候变化影响的尼日利亚(Sukur文化景观)和坦桑尼亚(Kilwa Kisiwani和Songo Mnara遗址)举办两期讲习班。这些研讨会将包括培训参与者、当地和国家专家和利益攸关方以及国际合作伙伴，并将最终形成一份公开发布的报告。该项目还将通过聚集来自许多组织的合作者以及与气候遗产网络(CHN)的新成员和现有成员合作，促进新的关系和鼓励知识交流。气候遗产网络是一个由艺术、文化和遗产组织组成的网络，致力于帮助其社区应对气候变化和实现《巴黎协定》的雄心壮志。这些人包括来自贝尔法斯特女王大学、苏格兰历史环境、高地和群岛大学以及非洲世界遗产基金的首席调查人员。当地伙伴组织包括坦桑尼亚自然资源和旅游部和尼日利亚国家博物馆和古迹委员会。其他国际伙伴组织包括国际古迹遗址委员会(ICOMOS)、历史英格兰、国际国家信托组织(INT)和关心问题的科学家联盟，他们都将在项目培训和/或研讨会参与中发挥作用。最后，该项目将与英国数字、文化、媒体和体育部(DCMS)和其他类似项目合作，制定一个长期和可持续的海外发展援助(ODA)资助的工作流程，以有效应对气候变化对以发展中国家为重点的文化遗产的影响。

Climate change poses an existential threat to all humanity. Understanding this change and adapting to it has become the greatest challenge of our time. From rising sea-levels, more extreme weather events and aridification, the extensive impacts of climate are evident at heritage sites globally and the pace of this change is startling. In most parts of the world the rate of loss is exceeding adaptive capacity and this deficit is only getting worse, especially in the global south. Decisions on conservation and preservation begin with a detailed understanding of a place's vulnerability. The choices made will directly impact that ability to effectively integrate the goals of safeguarding cultural heritage, adapting and mitigating climate change, and driving sustainable development. Previous assessment methodologies must be revised to accurately evaluate the vulnerability of cultural heritage sites and their associated communities in the face of a changing climate. There is an urgent need to develop community-based, quick (and yet effective) new techniques and methodologies, and these must be scalable globally. The CVI Africa Project seeks to address this need.The proposed research project centres on training heritage professionals through piloting a new, protype heritage management methodology known as the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) in Africa. CVI provides an assessment of the physical and ecological impacts of current and projected climate change on the heritage values of sites and also provides a high-level assessment of the economic, social and cultural consequences of climate change for the site and the associated community. The Project is designed both to adapt existing methodology to the African cultural context and also draw on African expertise to inform refinements in the general CVI methodology.The CVI Africa project will provide foundational training in vulnerability assessment using the CVI method to train six heritage professionals from low and middle income African countries. It will utilise UK and international expertise to develop and deliver online, transferrable and scalable training resources to training participants. The project will culminate in two workshops in Nigeria (Sukur Cultural Landscape) and Tanzania (The Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara) which are impacted by climate change. These workshops will include the training participants, local and national experts and stakeholders, and international partners and will culminate in a publicly available and locally published report.The project will also foster new relationships and encourage knowledge exchange by bringing together collaborators from many organisations and working with new and existing members of the Climate Heritage Network (CHN), a network of arts, culture and heritage organisations committed to aiding their communities in tackling climate change and achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. These include lead investigators from Queen's University Belfast, Historic Environment Scotland, the University of Highlands and Islands and the African World Heritage Fund. Local partner organisations include the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Other international partner organisations include the International Committee on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Historic England, the International National Trust Organisation (INTO) and the Union of Concerned Scientists who will all play roles in project training and/ or workshop participation.Finally, the project will work with the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and other similar projects to develop a longer term and sustainable Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) funded workstream, to respond effectively to climate change impacts on cultural heritage focused on developing countries.