In the fourth installment of the Responding to the Climate Crisis: Lessons from the Global South series, Dr Irem Gencer, Associate Professor in the Department of Restoration at Yildiz Technical University, and a specialist in urban preservation, vernacular architecture, and planning history, will physical elements of vernacular architecture, and their relationship to the prevailing climate: not only at building level, but also on the scale of sites.

Series Background

In the run-up to COP27 (which has been described as the Africa COP) in November, and in collaboration with the Climate Heritage Network (CHN), Historic England’s Building Climate Change Adaptation Team are launching a new and very special webinar series: Responding to the Climate Crisis: Lessons from the Global South.

Our colleagues in the Global South have retained practical knowledge of what a built environment looks like when it is not utterly dependent on fossil fuels for either construction or operation. This is knowledge that we in the Global North have largely lost - especially outside the world of building conservation. Are we missing vital tools that we will need both to limit climate change, and to deal with its effects?

Each webinar will feature an invited specialist from the Global South. Our guest will present their work and then discuss their knowledge and experience with us, as we seek to draw out practical lessons for the Global North. We will be covering a wide range of vital topics, including vernacular architecture as continuing practice (not least its adaptation to a changing climate), the traditional operation of buildings for usability and comfort in extreme weather, and ways of managing change and loss.

This event is part of Climate Wednesdays: Climate Change and Cultural Heritage Webinar Series, hosted by Historic England in collaboration with the Climate Heritage Network. This series provides delegates with an in-depth look at a range of topics related to climate change and cultural heritage presented by international experts in heritage and climate change research, policy and practice.