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Reimagining Philanthropy

Private philanthropy has long played a critical role in supporting landscape conservation. To learn more about the future of the field, the Living Landscape Observer recently spoke with Jessica Brown, Executive Director of the New England Biolabs Foundation and Member, IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas and ICOMOS/IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes. Brown co-organized a session at the ICOMOS General Assembly on “Reimagining Philanthropy: Supporting the Integration of Culture and Nature.” In this excerpt from the interview (part 1 in a series of excerpts), we explore the session’s inspiration, key takeaways, and reflections on the evolution of philanthropy in conservation.

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Highlights ICOMOS General Assembly 2023

In March 2020, when the worldwide pandemic brought the ICOMOS General Assembly scheduled for the fall of that year in Sydney, Australia, to a halt, planning for the event had already been quite advanced. In the face of global uncertainty, the host Australia ICOMOS and its many partners made the decision to hold the conference in 2023 – and what an event it was! The almost 7 years of planning paid off. With the theme “Heritage Changes: Resilience – Responsibility – Rights – Relationships.

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The Role of Cultural Heritage in Rural Landscapes

Recent writing and research shows the contribution that rural and traditional working landscapes can make to landscape resilience, sustainability, and ecological diversity, which in turn can play a part in combatting climate change. The scale of these landscapes has also been a driver of the need to integrate the management of nature and culture. What has been less discussed are the contributions of cultural values to the conservation of rural landscapes. For example, the World Heritage criteria that most directly applies to working landscapes states that cultural landscapes are sites where the interaction between people and their environment is considered to be of outstanding universal value. A closer examination of the people part of the equation is warranted.

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UN Biodiversity Conference December 2022: New support for the connection Of Nature and Culture

The UN Biodiversity Conference 2022 in Montreal from 7-19 December under the theme “Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”, ushered in new initiatives to put the linkage of natural and cultural diversity at the heart of implementation. The main objective was for governments to adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This framework makes many references to culture, and the diversity of values and world views that link people and nature, stating that it will place biodiversity “at the heart of the sustainable development agenda, recognizing the important linkages between biological and cultural diversity

Read More »

Reimagining Philanthropy

Private philanthropy has long played a critical role in supporting landscape conservation. To learn more about the future of the field, the Living Landscape Observer recently spoke with Jessica Brown, Executive Director of the New England Biolabs Foundation and Member, IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas and ICOMOS/IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes. Brown co-organized a session at the ICOMOS General Assembly on “Reimagining Philanthropy: Supporting the Integration of Culture and Nature.” In this excerpt from the interview (part 1 in a series of excerpts), we explore the session’s inspiration, key takeaways, and reflections on the evolution of philanthropy in conservation.

Read More »

Highlights ICOMOS General Assembly 2023

In March 2020, when the worldwide pandemic brought the ICOMOS General Assembly scheduled for the fall of that year in Sydney, Australia, to a halt, planning for the event had already been quite advanced. In the face of global uncertainty, the host Australia ICOMOS and its many partners made the decision to hold the conference in 2023 – and what an event it was! The almost 7 years of planning paid off. With the theme “Heritage Changes: Resilience – Responsibility – Rights – Relationships.

Read More »

The Role of Cultural Heritage in Rural Landscapes

Recent writing and research shows the contribution that rural and traditional working landscapes can make to landscape resilience, sustainability, and ecological diversity, which in turn can play a part in combatting climate change. The scale of these landscapes has also been a driver of the need to integrate the management of nature and culture. What has been less discussed are the contributions of cultural values to the conservation of rural landscapes. For example, the World Heritage criteria that most directly applies to working landscapes states that cultural landscapes are sites where the interaction between people and their environment is considered to be of outstanding universal value. A closer examination of the people part of the equation is warranted.

Read More »

UN Biodiversity Conference December 2022: New support for the connection Of Nature and Culture

The UN Biodiversity Conference 2022 in Montreal from 7-19 December under the theme “Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”, ushered in new initiatives to put the linkage of natural and cultural diversity at the heart of implementation. The main objective was for governments to adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This framework makes many references to culture, and the diversity of values and world views that link people and nature, stating that it will place biodiversity “at the heart of the sustainable development agenda, recognizing the important linkages between biological and cultural diversity

Read More »