The Climate Heritage Network (CHN) has announced the launch of the “Imagining Low Carbon, Just, Climate Resilient Futures Through Culture and Heritage” project, made possible by a generous $1.25 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This transformative initiative aims to leverage culture and heritage as powerful catalysts for effective climate action, empowering communities worldwide to safeguard their cultural legacies while promoting sustainable futures.

The Climate Heritage Network (CHN) is a global network of more than 250 member organisations committed to supporting communities in achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement by scaling up culture-based climate action. The new Action Plan announced today by the network of organisations, charities, government bodies, universities, memory and cultural institutions, and cultural and creative industries from around the world seeks to fill this gap.

The UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, known as MONDIACULT 2022, opens on 28 September in Mexico City, Mexico. The Conference, which brings together national Ministers of Culture from around the world, is meant to be ‘a renewed reflection on cultural policies to tackle global challenges and outline immediate and future priorities.’

The members of the Climate Heritage Network proudly present their report on the CHN’s activities for 2021. The Network’s second full year of operation saw CHN members around the world laying foundations, creating tools and resources, building teams – and taking culture-based climate action. Individually, these accomplishments helped drive forward transformative change.

It’s great to talk about mobilising arts, culture & heritage for climate action but what does that really mean & how do we do it? In the run up to the 2021 UN Climate Conference, COP26, the Climate Heritage Network in partnership with Historic England presents Climate Heritage Mobilisation @ Climate Fridays — a webinar series that explores how we dismantle barriers to greater engagement by cultural operators in climate action, and how we scale up and out culture-based solutions to climate change.

In a stroke of #ClimateHeritage genius, on 15 March, Historic Environment Scotland is bringing one of the world’s leading climate change communicators to Edinburgh Castle to explore how we can inspire people to take climate action. The program, entitled “Now we have your attention: let’s talk climate action,” promises to break new ground in exploring the cultural heritage opportunities for climate change communication.

Cultural heritage is both impacted by climate change and an important part of strategies for driving climate action.  So, where does the cultural heritage community stand now in terms of engaging on climate change, where do we want to go and how do we get there?  The USA’s Smithsonian Institution is putting the focus squarely on these urgent questions at a two-day symposium entitled ‘Stemming the Tide: Global Strategies for Sustaining Cultural Heritage Through Climate Change.’ The event will be held 5-6 March 2020 in Washington, DC.