Webinar on Resilient Heritage: Emerging Professionals in Shared Built Heritage Conservation (June 2025)
Our first webinar of the year was on the topic of Resilient Heritage: Emerging Professionals in Shared Built Heritage Conservation – and took place on 25 June at 1 p.m. Paris time.
Regarding the conference, which you can view at: https://youtu.be/CvGowXCWd18
This webinar furnished a substantial foundation for critical engagement with the preservation of heritage in challenging contexts. The presentations highlighted the evolution of definitions of shared heritage, transcending the confines of cultural exchange to encompass ecological, political and ethical dimensions.
In more comprehensive methodologies, Nature is considered a co-sharer or interlocutor in the process of safeguarding and protecting heritage. A notable example of this is the HUL (Historic Urban Landscape) methodology.
The active involvement of emerging professionals highlighted the significance of inclusive dialogue and intergenerational collaboration. The event concluded with a series of recommendations, including calls to integrate local knowledge and develop new frameworks for resilient conservation in the 21st century.
This theme, which is part of the ICOMOS Trienial Scientific Plan (TSP) for 2024-2027 focuses on ‘Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery’, reveals directions that should be explored in future online or face-to-face meetings, particularly those to be held in Lumbini as part of the ICOMOS General Assembly and its Scientific Council, as suggested by Maria José de Freitas to Kerime Danis, who expressed interest in the same approach and framework.
Our young professionals should be congratulated for their positive contribution to making the concept of shared built heritage more inclusive by integrating nature and respecting pre-existing structures through dialogue. The adaptive reuse of monuments and methodologies for safeguarding, reconstructing and revitalising heritage in ruins were discussed.
Featured Article – Safeguarding the Past Amid War
The very concept of Shared Built Heritage, when endangered and threatened by war, is a matter of urgent concern. We invite you to read the important contribution by our new member Akram Lilja, based on his experience in Gaza:
“Safeguarding the Past Amid War: Emergency Efforts to Preserve Gaza’s Cultural Heritage”
Dissonant Heritage – Book by Michael Falser
The theme of dissonant built heritage — places of memory marked by colonialism, contested histories, and conflicting narratives — is currently being discussed within ICOMOS.
In this context, Michael Falser has made an important scholarly contribution with the publication of his recent book:
“Monuments and Sites De-Colonial! Approaches to the Built Heritage of the German Colonial Era”. This work was published following the International Conference organised by ICOMOS Germany and the Technical University of Munich at the Vorhoelzer Forum, Munich, on 3–4 November 2023. It offers critical perspectives on the heritage of the German colonial period and the decolonial challenges it raises.
For more information, the full open-access E-book is available for download at the following link:
https://www.icomos.de/data/pdf/icomos-de-de-colonial-heritage-web-0225-1605-13.pdf
ICOMOS General Assembly and Scientific Symposium 2025
Stay tuned, add to calendar and make your inscription!
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666/
ARTisON No. 15 – Safeguarding Heritage in the Colonial Period
ISCSBH is proud to contribute to ARTisON’s special issue No. 15, published in December 2024, dedicated to safeguarding heritage during the colonial period
Contributors include:
Siegfried Enders: Built Cultural Heritage in the former German Colonies
Maria José de Freitas: Safeguarding Macau’s Built Heritage
Joaquim R. dos Santos: Whose Heritage? Classification in the former Portuguese Empire
Sagara Jayasinghe: Colonial Narratives and the Ruined Cities of Ceylon
Plus: an interview with José Manuel Fernandes & Maria de Lurdes Janeiro
This edition of ARTisON merits meticulous reading available here.
https://artis-on.letras.ulisboa.pt/index.php/aio/issue/view/16
Working Groups – New Structure (2025)
As a result of the analysis carried out by our General Secretary, John Ward, and discussed at our last General Assembly on 6 December 2024, we have opted for a new articulation of our Working Groups in 2025:
- WG 01 – SBH Concept – Principles – Perspectives – Dissonant Architecture
- WG 02 – SBH at Risk – Preparedness – Response – Recovery – HIA
- WG 03 – SBH Study Tours – Webinars – Activities – ISC Connections
- WG 04 – SBH Communication – Newsletters – Website
- WG 05 – SBH Support – Secretariat – Members Directory – PUBLICOMUS
- WG 06 – SBH & Emerging Professionals
PUBLICOMUS – Share Your Work!
A new digital platform by ICOMOS, PUBLICOMUS is now available for sharing educational and scientific content produced by ISCSBH members.
Articles, webinars, and academic outputs are welcome.
For more information, click here
Join Us in Shaping the Future of Shared Heritage
With a growing network of dedicated professionals, we look forward to deepening our impact on shared built heritage worldwide. Let’s continue this journey together in 2025 and beyond!
What is SBH?
The ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Shared Built Heritage (ISCSBH) was set up to promote greater protection and conservation of the shared heritage built over time by different cultures and civilisations with different social and religious backgrounds. For this purpose, the ISCSBH researches and fosters discussion on the understanding of ‘shared’ and on the management of historical built legacies resulting from multicultural encounters and mutual influences. The group is relatively young, having started in 1998 as the Scientific Committee on Shared Colonial Architecture and Town Planning, and changing its name in 2003 to reflect more open objectives.
In some cases, shared heritage is at the centre of identity narratives constructed by different communities and nations; in others, it is the source of tension, and is therefore neglected. The aim of the scientific group is therefore to understand how shared heritage is valued and promote its revitalization, rehabilitation, and conservation, encouraging the use of existing structures and of traditional building techniques as much as possible.
To this end, the ISCSBH organises meetings, debates, study visits, symposia, and conferences with the aim of disseminating the state of the art in various technical, scientific and academic fields, promoting the exchange of knowledge and, through thematic workshops, trying to instill a taste and curiosity for heritage conservation among young people and emerging graduates.
