European Cultural Heritage Green Paper “Putting Europe’s shared heritage at the heart of the European Green Deal”

CLIC researchers Antonia Gravagnuolo (CNR IRISS) and Jermina Stanojev (Uppsala University) contributed as expert members to the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper, a much needed initiative on the role of cultural heritage for the implementation of the European Green Deal (EGD), coordinated by ICOMOS and Europa Nostra.

The European Cultural Heritage Green Paper highlights the multiple ways in which cultural heritage can contribute to the implementation of the European Green Deal, focusing on the circular economy approach in cultural heritage adaptive reuse.

In Europe, it is expected that up to 80% of buildings in use in 2050 already exist today, and currently about 35% of buildings in the EU are 50 years old or older, while 97% of the building stock is not efficient enough to comply with future carbon reduction targets (see World Green Building Council, “Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront: Coordinated action for the building and construction sector to tackle embodied carbon”, 2019). Therefore, particularly when looking at the “renovation wave” of the EGD, “circular” cultural heritage adaptive reuse can become a fundamental strategy to renovate the historic building stock, co-generating multiple positive impacts for cities and communities. We still have much to learn from traditional building construction techniques and a high potential is available to generate jobs in this sector, hybridizing traditional knowledge and skills with the most innovative, nature-based technologies to develop safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable cities and communities. Also, a key role of cultural landscapes in Europe is recognized in the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper, to build circular and sustainable food systems linking rural and urban communities. Much more will be discussed during the official presentation event.

Join the launch webinar of the European Cultural Heritage Green Paper on 22 March 2021 (15:00-16:30 CET).

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