Water, Climate and World Heritage: Navigating Threat and Opportunity

Authors

  • Zuzanna Sliwinska
  • Tino Mager University of Groningen
  • Carola Hein Delft University of Technology

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2025.2.ed

Abstract

The frequency and intensity of weather extremes are rising globally due to anthropogenic climate change, the degradation of ecosystems’ integrity, and the breach of six out of nine planetary boundaries over the last decades (Richardson et al. 2023). Water is central to understanding these changes and a critical focus for adaptation. According to the World Meteorological Organization (2021; cited in UNESCO 2025a), water-related hazards such as droughts, storms and floods have caused over 90 per cent of the world’s major disasters since 1970, and have led to more than 2 million deaths and economic losses exceeding USD 3.6 trillion.

How to Cite

Sliwinska, Z., Mager, T., & Hein, C. (2025). Water, Climate and World Heritage: Navigating Threat and Opportunity. Blue Papers, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2025.2.ed

Published

2025-11-05

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): Water Management in World Heritage Properties at a Time of Climate Change

Section

editorial

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Zuzanna Sliwinska, Tino Mager, Carola Hein

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Author Biographies

Zuzanna Sliwinska

Zuzanna Sliwinska is a researcher with a background in architecture and urban planning. She focuses on the intersection of heritage preservation and water systems, with interest in climate change adaptation and socio-ecological interactions. Following her master’s degree at Delft University of Technology (cum laude), she did an internship at the World Heritage Centre focusing on World Heritage and climate change. She has since collaborated with the UNESCO Chair of Water, Ports, and Historic Cities on projects that develop frameworks for integrating water heritage into climate-resilient urban planning. She has also worked with interdisciplinary initiatives such as the PIREN-Seine scientific program at Sorbonne University, alongside leading self-initiated research projects. Zuzanna has been involved with the Blue Papers journal since its establishment and has held an editor role for the past two years.

Tino Mager, University of Groningen

Tino Mager is Assistant Professor of the History and Theory of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Groningen and President of ICOMOS Germany. Previously, he worked at the Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment at Delft University of Technology and has been a fellow of the Leibniz Association and the University of Queensland. He studied media technology in Leipzig and art history and communication science in Berlin, Barcelona and Tokyo. Tino is Secretary General of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Water and Heritage and has published widely on cultural heritage.

Carola Hein, Delft University of Technology

Carola Hein is Professor History of Architecture and Urban Planning at Delft University of Technology, Professor at Leiden and Erasmus University and UNESCO Chair Water, Ports and Historic Cities. She has published and lectured widely on topics in contemporary and historical architectural, urban and planning history and has tied historical analysis to contemporary development. Among other major grants, she received a Guggenheim and an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship. Her recent books include: Port City Atlas (2023), Oil Spaces (2021), Urbanisation of the Sea (2020), Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage (2020), The Routledge Planning History Handbook (2018), Port Cities: Dynamic Landscapes and Global Networks (2011). Carola is also the leader of the PortCityFutures research group.

References

Hein, Carola, ed. 2020. Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage: Past, Present, and Future. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00268-8.

Mager, Tino. 2024. “Water Management for Sustainable Development of World Heritage Properties.” Blue Papers 3 (2):14–23. https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2024.2.01.

Richardson, Katherine, et al. 2023. “Earth beyond Six of Nine Planetary Boundaries.” Science Advances 9 (37): eadh2458. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh2458.

UNESCO. 2025a. “Nearly Three-Quarters of World Heritage Sites Are at High Risk from Water-Related Hazards.” UNESCO (July 1). https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2788.

UNESCO. 2025b. Climate change in Mediterranean World Heritage cities. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000394251.locale=en.

UNESCO. 2023. Updated Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage. UNESCO. https://whc.unesco.org/document/203725.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 2024. “Non-Economic Losses. Featuring Loss of Territory and Habitability, Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity, and Cultural Heritage. UNFCCC. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/nels_paper_2024.pdf.

World Heritage Committee. 2005. Report of the Decisions of the 29th Session of the World Heritage Committee. WHC-05/29.COM/22. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2005/whc29com-22e.pdf.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 2021. Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970–2019). WMO-No. 1267. Geneva: World Meteorological Organization. https://sidsport-climateadapt.unctad.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/WMO-ATLAS-OF-MORTALITY-AND-ECONOMIC-LOSSES-FROM-WEATHER-CLIMATE-AND-WATER-EXTREMES-1970%E2%80%932019.pdf.