Climate change threatens cultural heritage
Climate change not only causes the disappearance of animal species and nature reserves, but also the dissapearance of art and architecture. Prof. Thijs Weststeijn, who studies early modern European art in the context of cultural history, wrote an article for , in which he reflects on the influence of climate change on the way we think about cultural heritage.
The End of the Palace on the Dam
Weststeijn has noticed that his students have been thinking about monuments such as the Palace on the Dam in a different way for a few years now. Previously, they thought about the Palace mainly from a historical perspective, but now there is also the threat of a future: climate change and the vulnerability of cultural heritage forces us to reflect on the future.
New opportunities for cultural heritage
The grim prospect of cultural heritage disappearing is not a positive one. But there may also be new opportunities for heritage in the climate crisis. More awareness of the threat of climate change to cultural heritage may motivate Dutch citizens, who partly derive their identity from cultural heritage, to make more climate-friendly political choices.