Visiting researcher with a focus on sustainability and wellbeing

- My focus is the relation between landscape interpretation, heritage participatory management processes, social wellbeing and sustainability values, explains Elena Maria Cautis.

I am interested in the different views that people hold towards heritage - from heritage scholars, to heritage practitioners, to people interacting with heritage on a daily basis in a non-institutionalized framework. I believe that looking into these views, one can find a variety of responses regarding the importance of heritage.

One of the main challenges that I foresee for the heritage sector and heritage studies in the future (and present actually) is connecting all these views, so as to ensure real representativity in decision-making processes related to heritage management. In the future more attention must be paid to prepare the ground for the changes which are to come, and for heritage this means soothing people’s uncertainties.

- The Centre for Applied Heritage and the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures provide a perfect setting for working with these issues, says Cornelius Holtorf, Professor of Archaeology and holder of the UNESCO Chair at Linnaeus University. Anders Högberg, Professor of Archaeology agrees. 

- I am pleased to welcome Elena Maria to the campus, says Anders. The addition to our team means that we can strengthen our commitment to work with the heritage sector and future issues. 

- I hope to bring forward different geographical and socio-cultural perspectives, which will ultimately help enrich the body of knowledge of the research environment within 'heritage futures', Elena Maria finishes.

Elena Maria Cautis will join the team until summer 2023.