Integrating Cultural Heritage into Climate Policy in the Middle East

Our new AHRC project in partnership with the Petra National Trust (PNT) will pioneer the integration of cultural heritage and climate policy in Jordan, home to several World Heritage sites, creating a platform for developing a national policy and setting a proposed regional standard for resilience and sustainability. The integration of these research areas has not yet been attempted in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. This is despite the region's vulnerability to climate change, especially increasing temperatures and unpredictable changes in rainfall patterns leading to drought and flash flooding, and the presence of globally significant heritage sites.

As Salt

Petra

Baptism Site

This project builds on our (both UK and Jordanian) research on the impacts of climate change at the World Heritage sites of Petra, As-Salt, the Baptism site and Jericho (where we work with the Palestinian authorities). This research project will bring together results from recent and current research into the intersection of climate change, traditional land management systems, the management of cultural heritage, and the impact of significant tourism and development pressures.

Baptism Site

As Salt

Jericho Tell es-Sultan

The final product of the project will be a policy White Paper arising from workshop debates and aligned with the goals outlined in the Updated UNESCO Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage, to be launched at an event promoted through the regional networks of the Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa project in the University of Oxford and the Petra National Trust and its President, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, HRH Princess Dana Firas.

This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation.