Climate change and historic conservation: From the CIVVIH symposium
Updated: Nov 11
I attended the general assembly and symposium of CIVVIH (International Commission for Historic Cities, Towns and Settlements), one of the organizations that make up ICOMOS, held in Cappadocia, Turkey (September 5-8). Since it was the first full-scale conference in a long time since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, I felt that I had to attend. The theme was "Climate Change in Historic Cities and Settlements in the Mediterranean Region." In addition, the Venice Charter (1964), which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, was also taken up as a sub-theme. With the help of Mr. Nakamura from Kurashiki and Ms. Matsui from Tomonoura, I compiled and presented a slide entitled "Impacts and Adaptation of Climate Change in Conservation Areas along the Seto Inland Sea Coast." I focused on Kurashiki and Takehara, which were damaged by the heavy rains in Western Japan in 2018, and Tomonoura, which is shaking due to its seawalls to protect against high tides.
Explanation of slide and full text are here
Apart from the case of Tomonoura, climate change measures specific to historical areas have not yet been taken in Japan. According to a survey by the Nihon University Group,* 30% of the important traditional districts are in flood-prone areas, and nearly 30% of the general urban areas are also in flood-prone areas. Flood prevention measures for heavy rains must be implemented everywhere, and our experience has shown that historical urban areas are located in relatively safer places than urban areas that expanded after the war. So, we wanted to know what measures other countries are taking..
*Chisato Hoshi et al. Survey and Research on Flood risk in important districts for groups of traditional buildings, Proceedings of the 2022 Nihon University Academic Lectures, pp.569-570. https://www.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/research/gakujutu/66/pdf/J-38.pdf
Regarding climate change, ICOMOS published a report in July 2019 titled "The Future of Our Past: Managing Cultural Heritage in Climate Change: An Overview of Heritage and Climate Change." In 2022, ICOMOS and IPCC jointly compiled the "Global Research and Action Plan on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change". In Japan, the International Consortium for Cooperation in Cultural Heritage held a symposium titled "Climate Change and Cultural Heritage: What's Happening Now?" on October 23, 2022, and the records of the symposium have been made public.
The symposium featured 21 presentations (including remote presentations) from 15 countries (program). Each city reported on a variety of topics, including the current state of the impacts of climate change and the actions being taken to address them. The presentation summaries, texts and slides will be posted on the CIVVIH website soon, but here are some that caught my attention.
The presentation that stood out was "The Brugada of Egyptian Coastal Heritage Cities" by Ms. Yasmine SABRY HEGAZI. Alexandria, Port Said, Damietta, and Rosetta, all in the Nile Delta, are in danger of being submerged, and he likened the situation to Brugada syndrome, in which people die suddenly even though their hearts are normal. In these areas, there are concerns that the erosion of farmland due to urbanization will intensify the effects of climate change. He stressed the need to predict the effects of climate change, share that information, and prepare for it, so that we do not fall into the worst process of dying without anyone noticing.
In Egypt and other cities, research and planning are being carried out in anticipation of climate change. Ms. Eleni MAISTROU from Greece reported that experts have gathered in Corfu to conduct vulnerability assessment analyses (identify risks), and work is underway to reflect the necessary adaptation policies and strategies aimed at the resilience of old towns in urban planning and townscape management plans. Mr. Matthias RIPP from Germany reported that several European cities are working together to integrate management of historic areas with disaster risk management (DRM). 18 cities gathered in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to hold a workshop that followed six steps: 1) establishing a system, 2) assessing vulnerability and risk, 3) identifying measures, 4) evaluating and selecting measures, 5) implementing measures, and 6) establishing a monitoring, evaluation, and learning process. Below is the report:
Two Italian speakers discussed urban greening as a concrete response to the discussion of the framework. Ms. Dimitra BABALIS of the University of Florence emphasized that in vulnerable historical environments, urban greening can connect pocket parks and waterfronts to form a green network, connecting cultural heritage and nature, creating a sustainable and livable place. She stressed that by incorporating urban planning and urban design principles that manage HUL, it is possible to have a positive impact on the historical environment, rather than simply planting trees.
The host country, Turkey, brought up the Turkey-Syria earthquake that occurred in February last year. Although the earthquake was not directly related to climate change, the damage caused by climate change was overshadowed by the earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey alone. Also, Shadi from Palestine was unable to attend, so the presentation was made remotely.
When you think about it, preserving historical areas that have been formed over a long period of time based on the natural environment of each region should be a way to mitigate climate change. However, if the townscape is damaged, appropriate adaptation measures will be necessary. Mr. Antoine BRUGUEROLLE from Nimes, France, called for the need to interpret the "heritage ecosystem" and create and share "urban planning based on a bioclimatic and ecological approach."
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The venue was the University of Cappadocia in the town of Sinasos (Mustafa Pasa) in Cappadocia, Turkey. The meeting was held in a classroom, the accommodation was a dormitory, and the meals were served in the student cafeteria. Sinasos is a small town south of Urgup, which is bustling with tourists. The school uses old buildings in the town, and the entire town is a campus. In the hall of the headquarters, there was a mural depicting the Otsu incident. Mr. Sergey Gorbatenko, a participant from Russia, took me there, saying that there was something like this. The Otsu incident was an incident in which the Russian crown prince Nicholas II was stabbed by a security policeman while visiting Japan in 1891. Why here? I learned the reason from the following website.
According to this website, the building was built in 1892 by a wealthy Greek merchant. Prince Georgios of the Kingdom of Greece accompanied the Russian crown prince on his visit to Japan and stopped the perpetrator. The mural seems to have been painted based on a picture published in a Paris newspaper. When the Greeks left in the 1923 Greek-Turkish population exchange, the building was used as a hotel until the university was established.
The University of Cappadocia is a new university founded in 2017 based on a vocational training school. Its campuses are spread across several towns, but the Sinasos Campus, where the university is headquartered, is made up of historic buildings in the city center and does not have any new buildings.
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