ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals, 16 juni, 19.30h.

SDGs and Heritage

In 2015 the United Nations presented the so called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 related goals and their 169 underlying targets are meant to address all current societal issues and aim at a better world to be reached by 2030. Also heritage is addressed, be it in the margins of SDG nr. 11.4.

The global heritage community was rather displeased by the way heritage was positioned in the SDGs. Notwithstanding long-lasting and successful efforts of a global heritage community to position heritage as an asset for sustainable development, SDG 11.4 only describes heritage as a pitiful victim of a ruthless society, badly in need of protection and funding. As means of counter attack and amendment to the SDGs, UNESCO published its Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Development in 2016. The report shows the many entry points culture and heritage have to almost each of the SDGs, providing undeniable support for a sustainable global society, economy and ecology.

The recently published report Heritage for Global Challenges elaborates on the issue by making connections between a wide range of cultural heritage research projects that seek to address multiple SDG targets. Francesca Giliberto will present the report during this lecture evening. Ilaria Rosetti will subsequently present the findings of ICOMOS’s Working Group on the SDGs, as released last March in their policy guidance for Heritage and Development Actors. This lecture evening will be opened by Alexander Jachnow, who will explain the What, the Why and the How of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Heritage for Global Challenges by Francesca Giliberto

In recent decades, tangible and intangible heritage has been widely recognised as not only important in its own right but also as an enabler and driver of sustainable development. Yet heritage remains largely absent from the most recent international development agenda adopted by the United Nations (2030 Agenda). The lecture presents some key findings from PRAXIS report on Heritage for Global Challenges, which demonstrates how heritage can be effectively mobilised by researchers to foster sustainable development. It highlights best practices, lessons learnt, case studies, and a series of recommendations with the aim of maximising the potential of heritage research for international development and operationalising the Sustainable Development Goals on the ground.

Heritage and the Sustainable Development Goals: Policy Guidance for Heritage and Development Actors by Ilaria Rosetti

Heritage and the Sustainable Development Goals: Policy Guidance for Heritage and Development Actors” – the new policy guidance document produced by the ICOMOS Sustainable Development Goals Working Group – was released worldwide on Wednesday, 17 March 2021. Building on doctrinal texts created by ICOMOS global membership, the Policy Guidance document draws upon scientific expertise of members from all five global regions and all areas of expertise, to illustrate the linkages between heritage and all of the 17 SDGs. By means of 17 sections presenting a Baseline, a Policy Statement, a set of Recommendations and a Case Study, the Policy Guidance documents aims to raise awareness on the potentials and issues of the heritage-sustainability relationship, and to provide guidance for all development and heritage actors on ways to unlock that potential.

Dr. Alexander Jachnow is a renowned expert on urban policies and has closely accompanied the Agenda 2030 and the New Urban Agenda processes and the discussions for the agenda’s implementation. He is Head of Urban Strategies and Planning (USP) at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Dr. Jachnow has dedicated the last 20 years of his professional life to urban development, specializing in capacity development, urban governance and management. The main focus of his work lies on enhancing institutions and human resources, improving governance and capacities. With his work, he intends to contribute to sustainable urban development and an equitable access to the city.

He was team leader, adviser and project manager in urban projects worldwide. Previous to joining the IHS, he worked as project director in South Asia in Urban Governance Programs and coordinated the donor harmonization group of the Urban Sector in Bangladesh. Current research undertaken focusses on urbanization in East Africa. In Latin America Dr. Jachnow was engaged in housing programs in Mexico and in Favela upgrading in Brazil.

Dr. Francesca Giliberto is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at PRAXIS/University of Leeds, where she authored the report on Heritage for Global Challenges and co-organised the conference Heritage and Our Sustainable Future: Research, Practice, Policy and Impacts in collaboration with the UK National Commission for UNESCO. She has also carried out comparative and interdisciplinary research at the University of Kent and professional projects for public and private actors on cultural heritage and sustainable development as well as on urban heritage conservation and management in the framework of the UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation, the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the 2015 UNESCO Policy on World Heritage and Sustainable Development.

Ilaria Rosetti is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Antwerp, in the Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences (ARCHES) research group, and visiting researcher at TUDelft, in the Heritage and Values chair (HEVA). Her research focuses on the role(s) that participation in heritage practices can play in achieving sustainable urban development. Her experience includes projects for public and private institutions, both in the academic and professional sphere, within fields of cultural policy, sustainable tourism, community engagement, and strategies for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As an academic and heritage practitioner, she supports the planning, monitoring and evaluation of participatory heritage practices, with a focus on capacity building and resources generation, for achieving the UN 2030 Agenda. She’s an active member of the ICOMOS SDGs Working Group and ICOMOS Nederland.

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