Kelley provides input for ICOMOS climate change, cultural heritage report

Alice Kelley, an instructor in the University of Maine School of Earth and Climate Sciences and research associate professor in the Climate Change Institute, contributed to a report by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS. 

“The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action,” was released by ICOMOS on July 3 in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan at an event held during the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee. 

Putting forward a multidisciplinary approach to cultural heritage, the report is intended for site managers, scientists, researchers, climate activists and policymakers, according to an ICOMOS news release

Better addressing the ways in which cultural heritage is affected by climate change and a source of resilience for communities would increase the ambition for, and effectiveness of, transformative change, the ICOMOS report concluded. 

Twenty-eight ICOMOS members representing 19 countries served as lead and contributing authors for the report. Eleven ICOMOS International Scientific Committees and 21 ICOMOS National Committees provided feedback. In addition, almost 50 invited experts, including Kelley, provided peer review, the news release states. 

The full report is online