NOAHS ARK - Global Climate Change Impact on Built Heritage and Cultural Landscapes

Climate change over the next 100 years will exhibit a range of direct and indirect effects on the natural and material environment, including historic buildings. Linking global changes to the response of material surfaces of archaeological and historic structures remains a challenge. NOAH'S ARK has determined the meteorological parameters and changes which could be the most critical to our built heritage. It has predicted and described the effects of climate change on Europe's material heritage over the next 100 years, with the aim to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies for the historic buildings, monuments, materials and sites, likely to be most affected by climate change effects and associated impacts.

The results of the project allow the prediction of the effect of climate and pollution on cultural heritage and investigation of future climate scenarios on a European scale. The study also offers guidelines to help limit the effect of climate change on monuments, suggesting methodologies such as the increased frequency of repairs or the installation of barriers on buildings to reduce salt deposits.

The Project has included a Policy Advisory Panel who has met regularly and has directed project outcomes to legislators on a European level. In particular, the two Deliverables (at 12 and 36 months) were specific products of the Policy Advisory Panel who included MEP representatives .

Meetings particularly attended by policy makers:

Sustaining Europe’s Cultural Heritage, London. 1-3 September 2004.
Noah’s Ark Policy Advisory Panel Meeting, Bruxelles, 22 June 2005.
International Workshop “Climate change vulnerability: Maps and guidance for cultural heritage protection” Including the  Panel Discussion ‘Cultural Heritage in Europe: What future?’, London, 18-19 January 2007.
International Meeting  “Climate change and protection of cultural heritage in Europe: research, evidence and policy”, Rome, 30 May 2007.