Welcoming 12 New Heritage Places and Practices to the Preserving Legacies Cohort Program

We are excited and honored to welcome 12 extraordinary heritage places and practices to the Preserving Legacies climate adaptation program—each one bringing its own unique story, challenges, and potential to tackle the climate crisis head-on. 

From historic towns to stunning landscapes, this year’s cohort is a beautiful representation of the diversity that makes up our global heritage. What unites them all is a deep commitment to developing community-led climate adaptation solutions to help ensure their heritage endures for generations to come. We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this adaptation journey with them!

Meet Our 2025 Cohort

These 12 new places and practices are joining our flagship cohort program dedicated to supporting local change makers with training, tools, and connections to equitably adapt the places and practices that their communities cherish most -- all guided by our principles of being values-driven, community-led, science-informed, and open-access. 

The full list of new places and practices joining our program this year includes:

• Flower Path Pollinator Initiative (Northern New Mexico, USA)
  
  
• The Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, UK)
  
  
• Historic Hampton House (Brownsville, FL, USA)
  
  
• Ileret Footprint Project Site (Marsabit County, Kenya)
  
  
• Kangchenjunga Conservation Area (Taplejung, Nepal)
  
  
• La Floresta (Quito, Ecuador)
  
  
• Kavango / Okavango River Basin (Namibia and Botswana)
  
  
• Sjøgata Preservation Area (Mosjøen, Norway)
  
  
• Tāhuna Glenorchy (Aotearoa / New Zealand)
  
  
• Tawaki Coconut Plantation, Wakapi, Gauwe, and Popar Megalith Stones (West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea)
  
  
• Tūranganui a Kiwa (Aotearoa / New Zealand)
  
  
• Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (Mumbai, India)

‍

Executive Director of Preserving Legacies, Victoria Herrmann shares how inspiring it is to grow our global community of climate heritage champions:

“Preserving Legacies proves that you are never alone. These twelve sites in our 2025 cohort show that there are community champions on every continent leading climate adaptation, safeguarding heritage, and redefining resilience to build a more just and thriving future.” - Victoria Herrmann, National Geographic Explorer and Executive Director of Preserving Legacies

‍

Scaling Our Impact, Together

These heritage places and practices build on previous years' efforts to prioritize a diversity of heritage site types, regions, and climate-related challenges, creating a knowledge base that can be applied to a broad range of sites beyond our program. View all participating heritage places and practices in the program here.

What makes this year’s cohort especially exciting is the opportunity to work with The Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site, a group of iconic towns known for their mineral springs. For the first time, select custodians from this collective will collaborate within our program to not only develop local climate adaptation solutions but also share insights with other historic spa towns across Europe, fostering a broader, more connected approach to climate resilience.

Chiara Ronchini, Secretary General of The Great Spa Towns of Europe, captured the spirit of this collective collaboration perfectly:

"The Preserving Legacies programme represents a pivotal opportunity for The Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site to address our most pressing shared challenge - climate change. As a transnational World Heritage property spanning eleven historic spa towns across seven countries, we're uniquely positioned to implement climate adaptation strategies at scale. Preserving Legacies will enable us to embed climate resilience directly into our 2027 Property Management Plan, ensuring that our extraordinary cultural landscapes and thermal water sources are protected for future generations.” - Chiara Ronchini, Secretary General of The Great Spa Towns of Europe.

‍

Looking Ahead: A Sustainable Future for Heritage

This is just the beginning. As Preserving Legacies continues to grow, our commitment to community-led, values-based solutions remains at the heart of everything we do. By expanding our global network, we’re creating the tools and connections needed for these communities to thrive in the face of climate change.

The journey ahead is one of hope, collaboration, and resilience. By amplifying local solutions and sharing knowledge across borders, we’re not only preserving the heritage that connects us all but ensuring it will continue to inspire and sustain future generations.

‍