Giving a Future to Our Past
Heritage is the heartbeat of humanity, and we are on a mission to safeguard this tapestry of culturally-significant places and practices from the impacts of climate change. By supporting local change makers with training, tools, and connections to equitably adapt the places that their communities cherish most, we’re redefining resilience to build a more just and thriving future.
Preserving Legacies is...
A global team of scientists, storytellers, site custodians, and change makers on a mission to safeguard every community's heritage from the impacts of climate change.
An inclusive process that weaves together scientific, local, and Indigenous knowledge to create community-led climate adaptation plans and actions.
A 3-year program that guides an annual cohort of 10 heritage places through a journey of learning, community building, adaptation planning, and action.
A commitment to democratize climate adaptation for thousands of heritage practitioners through open-access resources and a peer-to-peer learning network.
Make a Difference in Climate Policy
We can reach further when we work together. That’s why Preserving Legacies is building a Community of Practice at the nexus of climate change and cultural heritage – and we want you to join. In 2024, we are welcoming cultural practitioners, professionals, researchers, advocates, local leaders, and those passionate about climate change and cultural heritage to help us shape global climate change adaptation policy for heritage.
Our partners
Preserving Legacies is made possible by our partners, who share our vision to enable cultural heritage sites big and small to access the tools needed to address the existential threat of climate change. By partnering with leading organizations in cultural heritage, climate change, and community empowerment, we can transform conservation as a field to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world.
ICOMOS works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places. It is the only global non-government organisation of this kind, which is dedicated to promoting the application of theory, methodology, and scientific techniques to the conservation of the architectural and archaeological heritage. It is a global network of experts that benefits from the interdisciplinary exchange of its members, among which are architects, historians, archaeologists, art historians, geographers, anthropologists, engineers and town planners. ICOMOS members contribute to improving the preservation of heritage, the standards and the techniques for each type of cultural heritage property: buildings, historic cities, cultural landscapes and archaeological sites. ICOMOS is the primary partner and fiscal sponsor of the Preserving Legacies project and our team are members of different national committees including France, USA, Ireland and Tunisia.
The Climate Heritage Network (CHN) is a voluntary, mutual support network of government agencies, NGOs, universities, businesses, and other organizations committed to tackling climate change and achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
Mobilized in 2018 during the Global Climate Action Summit and launched in 2019, the Climate Heritage Network works to re-orient climate policy, planning, and action at all levels to account for dimensions of culture - from arts to heritage.
The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.