Threats

 

Monuments are the living testimony of our past. Their safeguarding may be spontaneous but it is also often prescribed by state laws and international declarations. It is obvious that to safeguard and protect, one must know the threats and associated risks. The threats, an indicative list of which you can read in the following panel, can be affected both by natural and/or anthropogenic factors, and often by the combination of more than one factor. The threats can affect monuments locally, regionally or globally. It is obvious that climate change plays a direct role in some of these threats, consequently affecting the preservation of the monuments of the geographical area affected by the change of the climate.

Indirect effects

 

Indirect effects of climate change in creating alteration, or decay and deterioration, relating to and mediated by human activities are produced by:

1. Migration (permanent/ temporary)
2. Conflicts
3. Changes in value systems/ politics
4. Changes in production/ consumption related to:
   • Agriculture
   • Industry
   • Urbanization/ settlements
   • Deforestation
5. Changes in polluting elements

Resources: notes from the round table on Climate Change and its Impact on Preservation Management of Archaeological sites, Athens, April 2012

 

Direct effects of climate change in creating alteration, or decay and deterioration, which may be at a local or regional level, are produced by:

1. Variation in soil/ moisture and/or desertification
2. Flooding and surface runoff
3. Extreme weather events ( floods, surges, hurricanes, storms)
4. Coastal erosion
5. Freeze and thaw- glacier variation
6. Formation of salts
7. Quality & typology of the biological environment of the area and its flora/fauna
8. Variation in temperature
9. CO2 emissions
10. Corrosion and earth recession

Resources: notes from the round table on Climate Change and its Impact on Preservation Management of Archaeological sites, Athens, April 2012

Decay

 

As DECAY of a monument we would define any chemical or physical modification of its component materials that lead to a loss of value or to the impairment of its use. When a monument undergoes changes in character and deterioration due to chemical or mechanical process by exposure to weather, we tend to call it WEATHERING.

Although monuments suffered from several deterioration factors in the past, the climate change came to enhance this process and put monuments at greater risk. It is observed that climatatic changes during the last decades have caused more problems to the monuments than all the previous centuries or even millennia of their existence.

Whether climate changes are responsible directly or indirectly for the deterioration of mankind’s tangible creations, their effects are evident and a series of monuments can provide us with characteristic examples to prove it.

Resources: ICOMOS

Threats

 

Monuments are the living testimony of our past. Their safeguarding may be spontaneous but it is also often prescribed by state laws and international declarations. It is obvious that to safeguard and protect, one must know the threats and associated risks. The threats, an indicative list of which you can read in the following panel, can be affected both by natural and/or anthropogenic factors, and often by the combination of more than one factor. The threats can affect monuments locally, regionally or globally. It is obvious that climate change plays a direct role in some of these threats, consequently affecting the preservation of the monuments of the geographical area affected by the change of the climate.

Indirect effects

 

Indirect effects of climate change in creating alteration, or decay and deterioration, relating to and mediated by human activities are produced by:

1. Migration (permanent/ temporary)
2. Conflicts
3. Changes in value systems/ politics
4. Changes in production/ consumption related to:
   • Agriculture
   • Industry
   • Urbanization/ settlements
   • Deforestation
5. Changes in polluting elements

 

Resources:

notes from the round table on Climate Change and its Impact on Preservation Management of Archaeological sites, Athens, April 2012

 

Direct effects of climate change in creating alteration, or decay and deterioration, which may be at a local or regional level, are produced by:

1. Variation in soil/ moisture and/or desertification
2. Flooding and surface runoff
3. Extreme weather events ( floods, surges, hurricanes, storms)
4. Coastal erosion
5. Freeze and thaw- glacier variation
6. Formation of salts
7. Quality & typology of the biological environment of the area and its flora/fauna
8. Variation in temperature
9. CO2 emissions
10. Corrosion and earth recession

 

Resources:

notes from the round table on Climate Change and its Impact on Preservation Management of Archaeological sites, Athens, April 2012

Decay

 

As DECAY of a monument we would define any chemical or physical modification of its component materials that lead to a loss of value or to the impairment of its use. When a monument undergoes changes in character and deterioration due to chemical or mechanical process by exposure to weather, we tend to call it WEATHERING.

Although monuments suffered from several deterioration factors in the past, the climate change came to enhance this process and put monuments at greater risk. It is observed that climatatic changes during the last decades have caused more problems to the monuments than all the previous centuries or even millennia of their existence.

Whether climate changes are responsible directly or indirectly for the deterioration of mankind’s tangible creations, their effects are evident and a series of monuments can provide us with characteristic examples to prove it.

Resources:

ICOMOS

ICCROM

 

ICCROM is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the conservation of cultural heritage. Its members are individual states which have declared their adhesion to it. It exists to serve the international community as represented by its Member States, which currently number 133.

ICCROM contributes to preserving cultural heritage in the world today and for the future through five main areas of activity:

Training, Information, Research, Cooperation and Advocacy

Canadian Conservation Institute

 

The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) is a Special Operating Agency within the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Institute was created in 1972 to promote the proper care and preservation of Canada’s cultural heritage and to advance the practice, science, and technology of conservation.

University of Kent

 

 

Known as the ‘UK’s European university’, Kent has UK campuses in Canterbury and Medway,specialist postgraduate centres in Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome, and has over 100 European partners, including the highest ranking institutions of several countries.

UCL Qatar

 

 

UCL Qatar is a unique partnership between UCL, Qatar Foundation and Qatar Museums Authority. UCL is the first British university to open a campus in Qatar, offering postgraduate degree programmes in the areas of Archaeology, Conservation, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies.

Exhibition working team

 

Coordination:

Dr. Evangelos Kyriakides,
Dr. Stavroula Golfomitsou,
Laura–Melpomeni Tapini

 

Exhibition Curation & Graphic elaboration:

Laura–Melpomeni Tapini

 

Educational programmes:

Dr. Maria Kokolaki, Maria Dogkogianni

 

Texts by:

Section Climate change:
Marija Kamber, Maro Magoula

Section Climate Change & Monuments:
Theofanis Karafotias, Angie Bugeja, Molly Hude

 

Text editing:

Dr. Evangelos Kyriakides

 

Special thanks for advisory:

Katherine Hummelt, Christina Kontaxi, Dr. Panagiota Pantzou

 

Images:

Exhibition poster: Alexandra Iliadou

 

Photgraphs:

Angie Bugeja, Theofanis Karafotias, Sergios Soursos, Greenpeace Greece, www.sxc.hu
Planito figure: Laura–Melpomeni Tapini

 

Webpage:

Laura–Melpomeni Tapini

 

Volunteers:

Afroditi Loukaiti, ​Zoe Plaka, Evangelia Pelentridou, Stelios Nikolakakis

Material kindly provided from