Posted in News on May 12, 2025.
On Thursday 10th April Profs. Louise Steel and Luci Attala presented Heritage Tales of Coastal Adaptation in Northern Regions at the Apheleia bi-weekly online conference series, chaired by Professor Luis Oosterbeek, president of CIPSH (International Council for the Philosophy and Human Sciences).
Apheleia: Integrated Cultural Landscape Management for Local and Global Sustainability” is a European partnership endorsed by CIPSH and the International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU), and since 2016 has collaborated with UNESCO’s MOST programme (Management of Social Transformations).
This year the Apheleia online conference series is focused on “Heritage Belongs to All”. It explores links between landscape and cultural heritage, examining the intersection of technology, arts, and governance, in shaping landscape and cultural processes. It seeks to develop novel insights into how heritage shapes and fosters creativity across policy and communities.
Apheleia provided a unique opportunity to present BRIDGES’ innovative AHRC / Belmont Forum funded research project, Coastal TALES Telling Adaptation: Living Environmental Stories for Coastal Resilience to a European audience directly engaged in exploring the value of community-based cultural heritage.
Focusing on the rich findings from fieldwork in Wales, the presentation gave inspiring examples of how intangible cultural heritage knowledge and practices are driving adaptation to the changing climate in communities living by the sea.
These coastal populations, who are at the frontline of accelerated climate change, are using their unique reservoir of knowledge to adapt to the rapidly changing environment and ecosystem. Their stories and experiences hold valuable insights that could help other communities facing similar challenges.
