Between June and September 2021, The British Council, The Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the V&A partnered to produce their second interactive series of webinar events focussing on Global Heritage Perspectives. This series examines how the experiences of recent years have encouraged cultural organisations across the globe to adapt and transform in the face of global challenges and new opportunities.
Global Heritage Perspectives explores innovative approaches to cultural heritage management and stewardship; to understand and reflect on how responses to crises have been shaped over the last year. In this series we discover novel strategies that respond to crisis at scale and explore the degree to which cultural heritage can be a route to addressing environmental, economic and social issues around the world.
Session 1: The journey so far
Reflecting on the journey so far, we look back at the highlights of the previous series and set out a route map for where our discussions will lead in the coming months. How have the experiences of the past few years shaped our perspectives on heritage protection for the future?
Session 2: Cultural heritage and contemporary value
Cultural heritage protection is not only about the past, it is vitally about the present and providing a space to reflect, question and shape new narratives for the future.
Bringing together heritage professionals and cultural practitioners, this session looks at the contemporary value and relevance of cultural heritage and its role in exploring cultural identity, creating dialogue and impacting wider societal change.
Session 3: Rebalancing needs
Successful heritage preservation projects often require the careful balancing of different – and sometimes rival – needs and priorities.
In this session we explore heritage preservation projects where the differing needs of people, the environment and wildlife collide, and explore the approaches taken to rebalance these urgencies. In a period of fast-paced change within the heritage field, we talk with those working to address evolving issues, re-positioning their approaches to heritage management and looking to new and innovative methodologies to achieve their aims.
Session 4: International consensus building – Top-down and bottom-up approaches to cultural heritage protection
Recognising the intersectoral role that protecting and promoting cultural heritage has across multiple environments and agendas, this session explores how best to build consensus to support effective bilateral and multilateral action on the global stage. How best can government, civil society and stakeholders talk to each other? How can we facilitate meaningful dialogue in both directions? What voice can we have on a local, national or international arena?
Session 5: Memory, now
What, who and how we remember is a constantly shifting arena and hotly debated topic within the heritage sector. The sharing of inherited knowledge, documentation of memory and the resultant creation of cultural narratives all play vital roles in the protection of heritage. In this session we look at the various ways we create, document, and share cultural memory and knowledge; exploring how memory is built and remembered across tangible, intangible and digital spaces.
