Environment & Culture Partners (ECP), a non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening and broadening the cultural sector’s environmental leadership, has announced that the new Climate Resilience Resources for Cultural Heritage (CRR) is now available.
CRR, created by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) and made possible in part by support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is a set of free tools to help build climate resilience and devise ways to protect cultural property.
It includes an English and Spanish guide to developing a resilience plan, an interactive mapping tool to assess current and future climate hazard risks, and details on how to start and maintain community learning groups.
Protecting valuable cultural resources
Designed to explore how cultural heritage conservation and preservation could evolve to address significant issues the United States faces now and create a more resilient future, CRR emerged out of the insights gained during Held in Trust, FAIC’s four-year partnership with NEH. To facilitate the creation of CRR, FAIC collaborated with Environment and Culture Partners (ECP) to bring together a range of viewpoints in the fields of climate change and cultural heritage.
Shelly C. Lowe, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, says, “As stewards of our nation’s archives and collections—the cornerstones of our shared histories—we have a responsibility to anticipate and take measures to protect these valuable cultural resources from a changing climate and increased vulnerability to severe natural disasters.
“CRR is a vital tool for everyone working to safeguard our history and heritage, offering
guidance and support for creating resilient institutions equipped to plan for and respond to environmental threats.”
Executive director of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe, adds: “From monuments, sites, and artifacts to the traditions, skills, and customs passed through generations, cultural resources help people understand the past and feel connected to each other. However, tools to safeguard cultural resources in the face of climate change can be hard to find and difficult to put into action.
“FAIC’s new and innovative CRR integrates a series of free tools and strategies uniquely tailored to support communities in preserving and conserving their cultural heritage in the face of climate change. We’re grateful to our partners at NEH for working alongside us to equip cultural organizations and communities with CRR. We all have a role to play in addressing climate change, and the time to act is now.”
Evaluating the risks & identifying opportunities
“Climate-related disasters not only impact institutions, but also their entire communities and regions,” says Environment and Culture Partners co-founder and managing director Stephanie Shapiro. “CRR helps organizations evaluate the risks and vulnerabilities they are facing, then identify opportunities to collaborate and share resources to prepare for and recover from disasters and emergencies. Climate affects us all, and no one should face the challenge alone.”
To learn more about the CRR, click here to sign up for the webinar series “Building Climate Resilience for Cultural Heritage” on 20 March and 3 April.
Environment and Culture Partners published the complete report and factsheets for the Culture Over Carbon research study last year, the first comprehensive energy use analysis of the cultural sector and the first assessment of the sector’s energy implications on climate change.
