Climate change – Baltic Region Heritage Committee

The Forum, also celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the first Forum organised in Gdańsk in 2003, gathered around 100 participants from the Baltic Sea states to discuss and debate “Heritage & Crises”. It was organised jointly by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland and the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk, in collaboration with the BRHC.

During the Baltic Region Heritage Committee meeting held in connection with the Forum, three new working groups of the BRHC were established: Climate Change, Illicit traffic of cultural goods, and Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. These groups reflect the current challenges in safeguarding. These Working Groups bring together civil servants and experts to jointly tackle practical questions related to and take concrete actions in safeguarding heritage around the Baltic Sea.

The purpose of a new Working Group on Cultural Heritage and Climate Change is to exchange knowledge about what issues the cultural heritage management in the Baltic Region countries are working on – and need to work more on.

Cultural Heritage and Climate Change is a broad umbrella term. It is essential to narrow down the scope and to agree on a couple of specific topics that we can work on together. From new policies like the EUs directive on Energy efficiency, the EU Renovation Wave and New European Bauhaus, to topics such as adaptation to climate change, risks for heritage buildings and archaeology, guidelines and standards for buildings and land use. There are a lot of topics to choose from. The groundwork made in the BRHC 2021 Oslo forum could be a starting point for this discussion.