How can climate projections help heritage professionals decide which monument needs attention first? And what does adaptation mean for a mountain community whose landscape and traditions are threatened by recurring wildfires? These were among the questions that heritage professionals and researchers brought to Athens for the first Seasonal School of the European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage (RCH).

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) delivered the school, Heritage Adaptation to Climate Change, from 5 to 15 October 2026. More than 400 applications were filed from around the world. Fourteen participants attended in person at the European Parliament’s Europa Experience in Athens, and more than 100 took part online. The in-person participants were selected from candidates nominated by states participating in RCH. They represented 13 countries, with two participants from Spain and one each from Belgium, Croatia, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom.

Professor Peter Brimblecombe, Dr Jenny Richards and HERITΛGE Director Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis led the training. Participants brought projects from their own work and used them to explore how to find and interpret climate data, assess risks to particular sites and prioritise conservation measures. The group included conservators, architects, ethnographers, materials scientists and meteorologists, some working on their doctoral research and others drawing on years of professional practice.

Reflecting on the value of bringing these colleagues together, Dr Kyriakidis said, “It was a great opportunity not only to learn from excellent instructors such as Peter Brimblecombe and Jenny Richards, but also to learn from one another and see the different challenges and the different solutions that are being given in different countries and in different types of heritage, different aspects of heritage.”

From national strategy to the stone of the Acropolis

In his keynote, Professor Constantinos Cartalis of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens presented Greece’s national strategy for protecting cultural heritage from the impacts of climate change, focusing on monuments and archaeological sites. Field visits to the Acropolis and the archaeological site of Elefsina, organised by the University of West Attica’s Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, gave participants the opportunity to consider those challenges on site. While in Athens, the Seasonal School participants also attended a special EMPATHS Multiplier Event on how heritage professionals and local communities can work together to interpret cultural heritage and respond to climate change.

For Dr Alexis Stefanis, an associate professor in the department who also leads HERITΛGE’s conservation workshops, understanding the risks to an archaeological site means looking closely at the materials themselves. Floods and wildfires are visible threats. Changes in the way moisture moves or salts crystallise within porous stone can be harder to see, yet they matter to the conservators responsible for its care. “What’s happening inside the pores of the material? How does salt crystallisation happen?” he asked.

Back in the classroom, participants explored how to use evidence of such risks to make the case for intervention. As Professor Brimblecombe put it, “quantification is really important in convincing policy makers and people who can fund restoration and fund preservation of sites.”

What participants took home

For Ana Margarida Cruz da Silva, a researcher at the Centre for Intercultural Studies at the Polytechnic University of Porto, the starting point was Serra da Estrela. Her doctoral research explores identity and memory in this mountainous region of Portugal, where communities have faced wildfires for decades. She came to the school with an interest in how people protect both the places and the traditions affected by those fires. Asked what she would take back to her work, she said:

“I think that one of the main insights is that a lot of people are dealing with the same things we are dealing with. But the other part is also that we can see so many different things happening in the world that sometimes we are not aware of… it was an amazing opportunity also to take back to the community things that are happening across the world.”

Other participants approached the relationship between heritage and climate through very different projects. Aurora Cairoli, a conservation and heritage scientist from Italy, studies contemporary outdoor murals. Their exposure to the elements is one part of her research. Another is what happens to their significance when environmental change affects the communities for whom the paintings are part of a shared identity.

Ionica Pîrvu, who works in the Project Management Unit of Romania’s Ministry of Culture, used the school to develop an idea for monitoring the country’s built heritage. He told HERITΛGE that upon his return, he will propose a network of sensors that could track humidity, vibration and small cracks in historic buildings. Read alongside satellite imagery, those measurements could help conservators spot gradual deterioration and decide where an early repair could prevent more extensive damage.

HERITΛGE thanks the European Parliament Office in Athens for welcoming the Seasonal School to Europa Experience, Professor Constantinos Cartalis for his time and insights, the University of West Attica for organising the field visits, and the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attica for their support and kind offer to guide the Seasonal School around both these important sites and share insights into their work.

 

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) marked this year’s European Heritage Days by joining our fellow consortium partners and hundreds of cultural heritage and climate professionals, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders from around the world for the launch of the European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage (RCH) in Marseille, France. RCH is co-funded by the European Union. 

With the 2026 European Heritage Days theme, “Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine,” the gathering offered a timely opportunity to turn attention towards the future of heritage in a changing climate—and the role heritage itself can play in helping communities adapt.

The successful kick-off event, organised by RCH coordinators Fondation des sciences du patrimoine on 29 September 2026, brought together participants in Marseille and online to explore RCH’s ambitions and opportunities for collaboration. Alongside the public launch, meetings of the RCH Executive Board and Partnership Assembly provided opportunities for consortium members to advance their shared work and help shape the initiative’s next steps.

The Kick off event took place at Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Mucem) and the neighbouring Cosquer Méditerranée which hosted the panels. We extend our warm thanks to both venues, Mucem for organising the event, and the team at Cosquer Méditerranée for stepping in on the day of the launch when disruption caused by strike action in France required additional support. Their responsiveness and hospitality helped make the event a success. The Partnership Assembly came together at the Pharo Campus of the Aix Marseille University with which RCH signed an MoU for cooperation. 

HERITΛGE was represented by its Director, Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis,  our Communications Lead, Maria Kagkelidou and Roula Gika, our Chief Administrative Officer.

Co-funded by the European Union, RCH brings together more than 90 partners from 30 countries in a ten-year collaboration connecting cultural heritage and climate research. It will support transnational research, strengthen cooperation and help translate knowledge into practical responses to climate change. Its ambition encompasses both protecting heritage from climate impacts and understanding how heritage, traditional knowledge and communities can contribute to adaptation.

HERITΛGE leads the Partnership’s communication, dissemination and exploitation efforts, helping its activities, findings and opportunities reach the people and organisations who can use them. We also contribute to mapping activities and to the development of the Partnership’s capacity-building programme for the coming decade.

That work is swiftly moving from discussion to delivery with the first RCH Seasonal School being delivered by HERITΛGE in Athens and online from 5 to 15 October 2026. Titled Heritage Adaptation to Climate Change, the School will bring together 15 participants in person and more than 100 online for an intensive programme connecting climate science with cultural heritage management. It is the culmination of HERITΛGE’s long standing commitment to climate change adaptation and mitigation for cultural and natural heritage and is led by Dr. Kyriakidis, Professor Peter Brimblecombe, and Dr. Jenny Richards. Through lectures, workshops, field visits and project-based learning, participants will explore climate-related risks and develop approaches to adapting heritage to a changing environment.

We thank our partners from around the world for joining us for the launch of RCH and supporting this major initiative as well as the Seasonal School. 

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) is proud to announce that it will deliver the first capacity building activity of the European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage (RCH)—a major new Horizon Europe-funded initiative bringing together 90 organisations from 30 countries to strengthen the resilience of cultural heritage in the face of climate change and explore heritage’s contribution to climate change adaptation.

As one of the Partnership’s flagship capacity-building initiatives, RCH will organise a series of seven international Seasonal Schools, each exploring a different dimension of climate resilience and equipping heritage professionals with the knowledge, skills and networks needed to respond to one of the defining challenges of our time.

HERITΛGE has been entrusted with delivering the inaugural programme, Heritage Adaptation to Climate Change, which will take place 5–15 October 2026 in Athens and online. The Seasonal School marks the beginning of an ambitious global training programme that combines scientific knowledge with practical, project-based learning to help heritage professionals develop effective adaptation strategies for the places, collections and communities they serve.

“Delivering the first RCH Seasonal School is both an honour and a responsibility, and we look forward to welcoming participants from across the globe to begin this exciting journey together,” Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis

The ten-day programme will bring together internationally recognised experts in heritage management, climate science and conservation. Rather than focusing solely on theory, participants will work throughout the School on a real project from their own professional practice, receiving personalised mentoring and expert guidance while developing practical adaptation strategies that can be implemented in their own organisations.

“For almost two decades, HERITΛGE has worked with heritage professionals around the world to build practical skills and lasting international networks. Delivering the first RCH Seasonal School is both an honour and a responsibility, and we look forward to welcoming participants from across Europe and beyond to begin this exciting journey together, said HERITΛGE Director, Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis

More than a training course, the inaugural Climate School offers participants the opportunity to become part of the growing RCH community—an international network of researchers, practitioners, policymakers and cultural institutions committed to advancing resilient cultural heritage through collaboration, innovation and knowledge exchange.

Participation in the Seasonal School is free of charge. 

In-person participation is limited to seconded experts but applications are now open for online participants. Find out more and apply here before September 15th.

We look forward to welcoming the first cohort of participants and launching this exciting new initiative together.

We are delighted to invite our global HERITΛGE community to join us for the official Kick-off Event of the European Partnership for Resilient Cultural Heritage (RCH), taking place on 29 September 2026 at Mucem – Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée in Marseille, France, and online.

For us at HERITΛGE, this is far more than the launch of another European project. It marks the beginning of an ambitious, decade-long collaboration that has the potential to transform how Europe—and its international partners—understand, protect and adapt cultural heritage in the face of climate change and how heritage can itself contribute to climate change adaptation.

We are incredibly proud that HERITΛGE is one of the 90 partner organisations from 30 countries shaping this landmark initiative, one of the largest investments ever made in research and innovation connecting cultural heritage and climate action.

Over the next ten years, the Partnership will coordinate transnational research and innovation funding, while building an entire ecosystem of activities to strengthen the heritage sector. These include capacity-building programmes, networking opportunities, impact monitoring, Living Labs, knowledge exchange, and collaborative initiatives that will help translate research into practical action and public policy.

As we contribute to the Partnership’s capacity-building activities, HERITΛGE is especially excited to be working to develop opportunities that will equip professionals, researchers, institutions and communities with the knowledge and skills needed to respond to one of the defining challenges of our time.

Why attend?

Whether you work in cultural heritage, climate science, museums, conservation, archaeology, architecture, policy, education, local government or the creative industries, this event offers an exciting opportunity to become part of the RCH community from the very beginning.

By joining us, you will be able to:

• Learn about the Partnership’s vision, priorities and roadmap for the next decade.
• Discover upcoming transnational funding opportunities for collaborative research and innovation.
• Explore how RCH’s Mapping, Living Labs, Capacity Building and other initiatives can support your work.
• Meet researchers, practitioners, policymakers and organisations working across heritage and climate resilience.
• Join discussions exploring how research can better inform policy, practice and sustainable development.

The programme will feature distinguished speakers from the European Commission, French national and regional institutions, and leading experts from the fields of cultural heritage and climate science. Through keynote lectures, panel discussions and interdisciplinary conversations, participants will explore new ways of working across disciplines, sectors and countries to strengthen the resilience of cultural heritage.

Event Details

Date: 29 September 2026

Venue: Mucem, Marseille, France

Participation: In person or online

️ Cost: Participation is completely free, but registration is required.

We would love to welcome members of the extended HERITΛGE network—from former participants, alumni and trainers to partners, colleagues and friends from around the world. Whether you join us in Marseille or online, your participation will help launch a community that will shape the future of resilient cultural heritage for years to come.

REGISTER HERE!