LIVIND Webinar: Living Heritage & Ecological Sustainability

Climate change and associated environmental risks have direct and indirect effects on living cultural heritage. The practice of living heritage can also contribute to climate action and it can play a role in ensuring ecological sustainability. Many living heritage practices can assist in addressing ecological challenges, and need promotion and safeguarding. Some traditional practices are not sustainable; a few exist in tension with environmental regulations, for reasons that may or may not be justified. It is thus important to better understand how living heritage links to ecological sustainability, and how this relates to more sustainable action in other spheres of activity.

Please join us on the 25th of May 1.30 to 4pm EET! The event is part of the project LIVIND – Creative and living cultural heritage as a resource for the Northern Dimension region coordinated by the Finnish Heritage Agency and covering nine countries from Northern Europe.

PROGRAMME (NB, all times in EET)
13:30 Opening & welcome, Leena Marsio and Elisa Kraatari, Finnish Heritage Agency
13:40 Regenerating a new future from the past – a role for intangible cultural heritage in responding to contemporary environmental challenges, Prof. Rhys Evans, University College for Green Development (NO)
14:00 Traditional knowledge in the climate crisis, Kirstine Eiby Møller, Greenland National Museum and Archives (GL)

14:20 Case examples of ecological sustainability

  • Sustainable use of herbs and the role of communities, Signe Pucena, NGO SERDE (LV)
  • “The landslide took the museum!” Impacts and aftermath for a living museum, Elfa Hlín Sigrúnar Pétursdóttir, Technical Museum of East Iceland (IS)
  • Empathy towards nature and heritage: reflections from Musteika village, Žymantas Morkvėnas, Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania (LT)

14:50 Questions and discussion
15:00 Coffee brake
15:10 Discussions in small groups: Improving ecological sustainability of living heritage. What can we do
15:45 Comments & Summary
16:00 Closure

In the LIVIND webinar you will have the opportunity to learn more about living heritage and ecological sustainability and share your views. The webinar will feature expert speakers and examples of the work of heritage associations, museums, and national parks in different countries across the Northern Dimension region.

You are also welcomed to sign up to the follow-up workshop on 30th May, where you can learn about and discuss these matters more profoundly! We can take up to thirty participants to our online co-work platform, so be quick to book a seat!

The webinar is free and open for everyone whether you are a heritage practitioner, an NGO worker, a museum professional, an entrepreneur, an educator, an artist, an activist, or a researcher. We hope to get together a great group of people working with different domains of living heritage including crafts, performing arts, nature related know-how, oral heritage, festivities, and food among others.

Please, click here to register! Sign up by 19 May. We will send the link to participate to all registered.

The webinar and workshop are organised by the Finnish Heritage Agency in cooperation with the LIVIND project partners The language of the event is English.

The event is part of the European Heritage Days whose theme in 2022 is Sustainable Heritage.

This webinar is the third in the series of international online events. The Opening Webinar was held on 29 November 2021 and the webinar on living heritage and economic sustainability – Local Economies and Future Markets was held on 27 April (the video is coming up soon).

About the LIVIND project:

LIVIND – Creative and living cultural heritage as a resource for the Northern Dimension region started in September 2021. The project is coordinated by the Finnish Heritage Agency and it brings together partners from nine Northern European countries, as well as the Nordic autonomous regions and the Sápmi area.

The LIVIND project builds on the intangible cultural heritage safeguarding work, but it is closely linked to the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The project makes use of diverse web-based tools that support fluent exchange and increased co-development work between the diverse actors including public bodies and NGOs from the different countries and areas. The project also involves research activities resulting as analyses and policy briefs that support the further development on living heritage. These materials, along with the good practices and experiences from the pilots implemented during the project will be later available on an online platform.

More information

https://www.aineetonkulttuuriperinto.fi/en/livind
Elisa Kraatari, project coordinator, elisa.kraatari(at)museovirasto.fi
Leena Marsio, Senior Advisor, leena.marsio(at)museovirasto.fi