ABSTRACT
The heritage we carry forward is not simply the best of the past; in fact, it must be viewed as a dynamic expression of societal values. The past and the future are interacting to form an agent of cultural change (Hulme 2008) and the heritage-climate change nexus is at the forefront of that agency. Heritage involves a present-centred and future-orientated processing of a tangible and intangible sense of the past. Climate change is a dynamic physical force that requires attention from all of society. The nexus between the two should be apparent: future climates threaten the heritage we wish to bring into the future. In fact, that is an inappropriately narrow and inoperational view of the nexus. As scholars and practitioners active at the interface between those two of society’s leading sustainability questions, we are called upon today to take seriously the demand for creativity (Nisbet et al. 2014). We must stretch our ontological bounds and think more synthetically than has been our custom. The traditional view that heritage conservation carries a treasured past into a well-understood future must be rejected. A new view of heritage, serving society in times of rapid climate change, embraces loss, alternative forms of knowledge and uncertain futures. It draws on creativity for adaptive solutions and it will ensure that future generations are empowered to make decisions about values and the ways heritage assets are passed through time.
