UNESCO Chair extended until 2029
UNESCO has extended the agreement concerning Linnaeus University’s UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures until 2029. The chair is held by Cornelius Holtorf, professor of archaeology.
The UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures was established at Linnaeus University in 2017. Its aim is to support professionals in the cultural heritage sector in planning for future changes: What cultural heritage should we pass on? And to what benefit for the future? The chair is one of eight UNESCO Chairs in Sweden. It has now been extended until 31 December 2029.
“I am very pleased that we have been granted an extended mandate, and that UNESCO has expanded not only our objectives but also our connections within the organisation. This means that we can continue our work and hopefully achieve greater impact globally. We also received support for an additional colleague”, says Holtorf.
What would you like to highlight from your work over the past years?
“Some highlights include a number of publications within the rapidly growing field of heritage futures, where we play a leading role, influential conferences we have organised in Amsterdam and Stockholm, and around 15 futures workshops for professionals in the cultural heritage sector, both in Sweden and abroad”, Holtorf continues.
What is the plan for the coming four years?
“We will focus even more on policy development within the UN and UNESCO, including the Post-2030 Agenda and global climate policy. We will publish a handbook on cultural heritage and foresight, useful for various target groups, as well as a report on memory across generations for the global nuclear waste sector, through the Nuclear Energy Agency within the OECD”, Holtorf explains.
“My ambition is to build a larger research environment in Kalmar by welcoming more visiting researchers from other countries and disciplines. For the current semester, we have managed to attract four guest researchers from the United States, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. It is very rewarding to have that kind of dynamism here in Kalmar”, Holtorf concludes.