Effects of climate change and natural hazards on cultural heritage and remediation

Climate change, through consequences such as global warming, rising sea levels, extended dry seasons or floods and heavy storms, is threatening our built heritage and affecting our cultural landscapes. Acid rain and environmental pollution erode and deface monuments and historical buildings. Accelerated soil erosion threatens buried archaeological heritage, while rising sea levels threaten to cover entire cities under water. Solutions provided by research to this day are not exhaustive and could not always anticipate the worsening or newly emerging effects of continuous climate change. Thus, there is a pressing need to explore and test innovative ways to protect monuments, historical buildings and sites from the effects of climate change and natural hazards.

Proposals under this topic should explore innovative and sustainable ways to protect monuments, historical buildings, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes from climate change effects[[Copernicus Climate Change Service can be very useful to monitor and forecast the impact of Climate Change to cultural heritage sites.]], natural hazards and environmental pollution, taking into consideration their environmental footprint[[Consortia could consider their possible contribution to relevant platforms of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in terms of data, indicators and knowledge. This contribution would increase policy relevance and further capitalise on the knowledge developed in projects. On natural capital accounting, life cycle assessment (LCA) and the environmental footprint method when applying LCA see https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/capital_accounting/index_en.htm.]] as well as users’ comfort. Importance should also be given to coastal and maritime regions and underwater heritage, addressing, in particular, the need for research on wetting phenomena and repellence. Proposals can consider cooperation with European Neighbourhood countries as appropriate for achieving their objectives and increasing impact.

Active involvement of citizens, including young people and cooperation with the cultural and creative industries are strongly encouraged to increase citizens’ scientific literacy, raise awareness and ensure the sustainability of the approach.