IHCantabria advances key contributions to assess climate risks to cultural heritage

An analysis of 86 climate risk assessment frameworks reveals shortcomings in conceptual and methodological consistency at the international level, highlighting a major challenge to be addressed within the European project ArCHe

The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) is playing a central role in the European project ArCHe (Archaeological Coastal Heritage) through a pioneering study on the assessment of risks posed by climate change to cultural heritage. The research, featured on the cover of the latest issue of the scientific journal Heritage, identifies both advances and gaps in the methodologies currently in use, marking a decisive step towards the protection of cultural assets in the face of increasingly frequent and intense climate-related threats.

The study reviewed 86 risk assessment frameworks developed between 2015 and 2024. Guided by the PRISMA method to ensure a systematic and reproducible analysis, it evaluates the degree of integration of climate scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the alignment with international instruments such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Our findings show that, although there has been progress in the incorporation of climate projections and references to global policy frameworks, inconsistencies persist in the definition of key concepts such as vulnerability and exposure, which hampers comparability across studies,” explains Julius John Dimabayao, lead author of the study, currently pursuing his doctoral research at IHCantabria within the framework of the European project ArCHe. Their analysis also highlights the limited attention given to intangible cultural heritage and the prevalence of fragmented, case-specific methodologies, which restrict applicability across different geographical and typological contexts. The study further identifies best practices, including the active involvement of communities and stakeholders, the use of scenario-based modelling, and the incorporation of multi-scale risk typologies.

Scientific contribution with international impact

The article, recently published in Heritage under the title “Integrating climate risk in cultural heritage: A critical review of assessment frameworks”, was authored by Julius John Dimabayao with contributions from IHCantabria researchers Javier L. Lara and Laro González Canoura, alongside Professor Steinar Solheim, from the Department of Archaeology at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Norway.

This scientific contribution is part of the European project ArCHe, funded by the HORIZON-MSCA programme, which brings together institutions from six countries to address the vulnerability of coastal archaeological heritage, particularly the Palaeolithic remains of hunter-gatherer-fisher communities. In this context, the study led by IHCantabria “strengthens the development of more coherent, comparable, and adaptable tools for assessing climate risks, with the aim of safeguarding both tangible and intangible heritage,” as noted by Javier L. Lara, who supervises Dimabayao’s doctoral research together with Professor Solheim, and Laro González Canoura, cultural heritage specialist at IHCantabria.

The results obtained thus far underline the need for future assessment frameworks to standardize definitions and indicators, integrate understudied hazards, and embed adaptation pathways directly within their structure, ensuring that risk assessments translate into concrete measures for the conservation of cultural heritage under changing climate conditions.

Relevance of the European project ArCHe 

ArCHe is a multidisciplinary initiative that brings together the humanities, life sciences, earth sciences, and social sciences to address the vulnerability of Europe’s coastal archaeological heritage. Its name derives from the acronym of the project’s full title in English: “Archaeological Coastal Heritage: Past, present and future of a hidden prehistoric legacy” (in Spanish: “Patrimonio Arqueológico Costero: Pasado, presente y futuro de un legado prehistórico oculto”), funded under grant agreement number 101119258.

The project, funded by the European Union, aims to study and preserve vulnerable Stone Age coastal environments threatened by the impacts of climate change, while promoting resilience and adaptation of the communities that depend on these landscapes.

Further information on the ArCHe project is available here: https://www.arche.uio.no/
Link to the article published in Heritage: https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/8/312

The ArCHe project is implemented with funding from: