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的灰烬覆盖的纽约，科学家警告说，风险正在加速。大西洋纬向翻转环流（AMOC）可能比预期更早崩溃，标志着气候模式的深刻变化（IPCC 2022）。这加强了对气候变化作为人类和文化遗产的最大威胁的紧迫认识（ICOMOS 2021）。到2050年，气候变化预计将对自然和文化遗产产生重大影响（Stocker等人，2014年）和历史建筑环境（环境署，2016年）。尽管如此，对文化遗产所面临的物质环境风险的认识仍然不完整，阻碍了有效的适应和缓解战略的制定。教科文组织对文化遗产的定义是全面的，包括有形、自然和无形的要素。WRENCH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。WRENCH挑战物质和非物质方面的分离，强调它们的辩证性和表演性相互联系。无论是体现在一个巨大的大坝，如在瓦洪大坝灾难（1963年），或在现代化的叙事蚀刻到景观，物质结构和故事是不可分割的。该项目认为，通过既定的艺术、文本或实验实践，讲故事与传统纪念碑具有同等的文化意义。城市景观、街道和建筑物的短暂遗产，充满了我们精心创作的叙事，与教堂等有形建筑一样重要。WRENCH追求双重目标：（a）制定一种将环境科学、工程学和人文科学结合起来的跨学科方法，以评估气候变化对物质和非物质遗产的影响，以及（B）将遗产作为一种讲故事的工具，WRENCH的跨学科方法包括几个关键组成部分：（1）高级气候建模：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：通过现场物理测试，流变模型开发和高级结构建模，调查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：采用历史方法，包括档案研究，口述历史和视听材料，以及涉及当地社区的参与性研究。(4)整体框架开发：创建一个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，WRENCH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效手段。

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.