Working with Prof. Brimblecombe

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

Professor Constantinos Cartalis’ Keynote

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.

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The EMPATHS Training Programme is designed for heritage professionals who want to explore how heritage interpretation can become more participatory, inclusive, and community-centred. Through interactive and practice-based learning, the programme invites participants to rethink the role of heritage professionals as facilitators of dialogue, co-creation, and shared meaning-making.

The programme is being delivered as part of EMPATHS, an Erasmus+ co-funded European project that brings together partners from across Europe to develop new approaches, methods, and tools for participatory heritage interpretation.

The training consists of six live online sessions organised through three regional hubs in Greece, Italy, and Austria-Slovenia. Participants will engage in collaborative learning experiences that include group discussions, breakout activities, reflection exercises, peer exchange, and the practical application of participatory methods.

The programme is open to professionals working at the intersection of heritage and communities, including:

• Museum professionals
• Cultural heritage practitioners
• NGO and civil society actors
• Local authorities
• Tourism professionals
• Educators and facilitators

Participants who successfully complete the online training will become eligible to apply for the next phase of the programme: the Interpretive Community Labs.

These five-day in-person co-creation workshops will offer immersive, real-world learning experiences in collaboration with local communities. During the Labs, participants will apply participatory heritage interpretation methods in practice, co-creating interpretation outcomes while working directly within community contexts.

Each hub will host its own Interpretive Community Lab:

Greece Hub

Participants who complete the online training sessions taking place from 22–29 June 2026 will be eligible to apply for the Interpretive Community Lab hosted at the Ethnological Museum of Thrace between 28 August and 1 September 2026.

The Community Lab in Greece will be realised with the support of the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, which will fund the participation and training of eight trainees, as well as the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation, which will fund the participation and training of three trainees as part of its broader mission to foster cohesive and sustainable development with people at its core.

Italy Hub

Participants completing the online training may apply for the Interpretive Community Lab taking place in September 2026 at the Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei.

Austria & Slovenia Hub

Participants completing the online training may apply for the Interpretive Community Lab taking place from 7–11 September 2026 at the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark.

A limited number of participants will be selected for each Interpretive Community Lab through a second application process.

The EMPATHS programme offers participants the opportunity to develop practical participatory skills, strengthen facilitation competences, gain hands-on co-creation experience, and connect with a growing European network of heritage professionals committed to more inclusive and collaborative heritage practices.

Participants who complete the programme will also receive a certificate of participation.

To learn more and apply, visit:

https://empaths-project.eu/participatory-training-programme/

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What are the challenges heritage professionals face in developing inclusive and participatory approaches to heritage interpretation? HERITΛGE is a proud partner in EMPATHS, a project co-funded by the European Union to enhance community participation in heritage interpretation and empower heritage professionals.

In the framework of the project, HERITΛGE and the Ethnological Museum of Thrace facilitated two recent co-design sessions held in Alexandroupoli and Rizía, Greece, that explored the realities faced by heritage professionals and cultural organisations in developing inclusive, community-based approaches to heritage interpretation.

In Alexandroupoli, the team worked with Dromeas Thrace, a local group that emphasised the potential of experiential walks that combine local storytelling, well-being, and cultural identity. However, they also highlighted the need for clearer participatory methods, improved internal coordination, and better tools for managing community input.

In Rizía,  the local Educational and Cultural Association raised concerns about sustaining volunteer-led initiatives and involving younger generations. Key challenges included a lack of collaboration among local groups, limited access to digital tools, and insufficient training in project design, memory work, and heritage interpretation.

The sessions confirmed the importance of working with existing community strengths while introducing practical tools to ensure sustainable participation. These insights will directly shape the EMPATHS training model, helping to support more inclusive, locally grounded approaches to heritage interpretation across Europe.

The findings of these sessions, as well as a series of others being run by our partners around Europe, are directly informing the EMPATHS training programme scheduled for release in 2026. Find our more on the EMPATHS website.

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