Climate Heritage Network Announces 2022-24 Steering Committee
Charenton-le-Pont, France, 24 February 2022 –The Co-Chairs of the Climate Heritage Network have announced the members of the Network’s Steering Committee for 2022-24.
The Climate Heritage Network was launched in 2019 in Edinburgh, Scotland UK by organisations committed to unlocking the immense power of arts, culture and heritage to drive just and transformative climate action. The Steering Committee is the governing body of the CHN, with responsibility for determining and overseeing the Network’s strategic direction.
The new CHN Steering Committee representatives were selected by the Network’s elected regional Co-Chairs from among nominated candidates seconded by CHN Members. In announcing the selections, CHN Co-Chair for Europe Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović said:
“My fellow Co-Chairs and I are in awe of the new members of the CHN Steering Committee. The depth and breadth of their talents and experiences wonderfully illustrate what culture and cultural heritage bring to the climate action table — and this across all continents.”
The ever-growing Climate Heritage Network seeks to scale up culture-based climate action through coordination and cooperation among its members around the world. In doing so, it works to join the forces and voices of diverse actors from across regions and across the arts, culture and heritage spectrum.
“Valuing diverse knowledge systems and different ways of seeing the world helps us tackle the causes of climate change and strengthen resiliency in the face of its impacts. The diversity of regions and approaches to culture and cultural heritage found among the members of the new Steering Committee will be key to helping the CHN deliver this message.”
The new CHN Steering Committee members represent public and governmental bodies from local, regional and national levels; universities; museums, heritage sites, libraries, and other cultural institutions; Indigenous People’s organisations; civil society/NGOs; climate science; and artists and creative and design firms. They are drawn from all the CHN’s five regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Europe and CIS, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America.
Said Shanon Miller, CHN Co-Chair for North America:
“Whether it’s cultural heritage’s message of reuse and stewardship; Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews, which offer counterpoints to unsustainable approaches; or the power of the arts to challenge inherited mindsets, culture can help us imagine and build climate resilient futures. All of us on the new Steering Committee will be working together to make the CHN a force for unlocking that potential at scale.”
The CHN saw a number of successes in 2021, including record engagement by cultural voices in the UN Climate Conference (COP26). The new Steering Committee will be working to build on that success to mainstream culture into climate policy. One focus will be COP27, which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022.
“COP27 constitutes a great opportunity for the African continent to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change on the Cradle of Humankind and mobilise culture-driven climate action. I will be working with the new Steering Committee to make sure we welcome as many cultural voices to COP27 in Africa as possible.”
The Co-Chairs also gave their thanks to the members of the 2019-2021 CHN Steering Committee. This includes outgoing Co-Chairs Dr Ewan Hyslop, Historic Environment Scotland (Europe and the CIS); Mayor Pedro Palacios Ullauri of Cuenca, Ecuador (Latin America and the Caribbean); and Julianne Polanco, California Office of Historic Preservation (North America), who have been given the title ‘Immediate Past Co-Chair. Andrew Potts, Coordinator of the CHN Secretariat said: ‘The members of the outgoing Steering Committee are the founding generation of the CHN. Their vision of arts, culture and heritage advocates mobilized for climate action will forever inspire us.’
Additional information of each of the members of the 2022-24 can be found here.
For more information, contact: Andrew Potts, Climate Heritage Network Secretariat, +1 202 215-0993 andrew.potts@climateheritage.org.
What is the Climate Heritage Network?
The Climate Heritage Network connects organisations around the world that share a common commitment to strengthening the use of arts, culture, and heritage to help communities tackle climate change and achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. CHN Members include government boards, offices, ministries at all levels, site management agencies, Indigenous People’s Organisations, as well as NGOs, universities, businesses, and other organizations. Entities may join on the Climate Heritage Network’s website. The CHN’s Annual Report for 2021 is available here. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) serves as the Secretariat for the CHN.