The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has announced the results the 2024 round of the AHRC-DCMS Cultural Heritage and Climate Change Research opportunity, which funds international projects to boost capacity for climate action.

Part of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA), the opportunity is designed to encourage and support the formation and translation of cultural heritage in shaping climate change policy. It also provides the platform to strengthen existing partnerships maintained by projects in ODA-eligible countries, offering networking and knowledge exchange opportunities.

The projects will examine cultural heritage and environmental policies in countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia and Jordan. The projects are funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) with an investment of £270,000 and delivered by the AHRC.

The following five projects were selected in the 2024 round of funding:

• Empowering action for climate through collections-based institutions in lower and middle income countries (LMICs) – Project lead: Rodney Harrison, UCL
• H2O-STEP: approaching climate-resilience through revitalising historic stepwells and blue infrastructures for climate adaptation – Project lead: Tania Sharmin, Cardiff University
• Mobilising UK cultural heritage and climate change research and energising Brazil’s cultural sector ahead of COP30 – Project lead: Paul Heritage, Queen Mary University of London
• Mobilising cultural heritage towards environmental education: a focus on Indonesia – Project lead: Francesca Salvi, University of Nottingham
• Integrating cultural heritage into climate policy in the Middle East – Project lead: Bill Finlayson, University of Oxford

Heritage Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:

‘These five new research projects will translate research into policy, developing new international standards for climate resilience and sustainability and ensuring cultural heritage around the world survives to tell our story for generations to come.’

Further details of the successful projects are available at the UKRI website.