Seminar Series: Global Challenges, Heritage and Archaeology

Over a series of Mondays, ten talks aimed to highlight research which engages with global challenges seen through the UCL Grand Challenges or the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be presented at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology.

As an entity, the Global Challenges agenda is a complex and multifaceted development that is interpreted and understood in different ways. Issues of sustainability outlined in the UN SDGs address a number of environmental issues which are aligned closely with cultural and social issues, such as social inclusion and rights to social resources.

In some instances, it is difficult for the social and archaeological sciences to raise their profile in contributing to the global challenges agenda particularly with STEM subjects receiving more support and funding. Yet, we have seen a wealth of heritage and archaeological research and knowledge applied theoretically as well as in practice, which addresses many of the goals understood through the global challenges discussion. These ten presentations highlight ways in which heritage and archaeological research, skills and practice contribute towards sustainable development, and how in many instances have always been addressing sustainable issues through its connection and understanding of past landscapes in the present, past narratives in the present, and past cultures in the present.

The presentations are seen below, and will commence at 4pm at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, London.

January 13, Planning, Values and Engagement in the Historic Environment
Hannah Fluck, Head of Environmental Research, Historic England

January 20, Another Dead Lady: Looking at Women Looking at Women in Archaeology
Brenna Hassett

January 27, Co-Creating Sustainable Food Future with Communities
Theano Moussouri and George Alexopoulos

February 3, The Forging of Anthropocene? Metals, Fires and Fuels in prehistoric Eurasia
Dorian Fuller and Miljana Radivojevic

February 10, The Memorialising Ancestral Amazonian Landscapes: Challenges and Opportunities
Manuel Arroyo-Kalin

February 24, The Climate Crisis and a Call for Action: A View to the Future of Heritage Management
Sarah Forgesson and Louise Cooke

March 2 , Archaeologies Against Inequality? Power, Social Structure and the aDNA Revolution
Elisa Perego

March 9, Transformative Technologies, GIS and Central Asia
Gai Jorayev and Marco Nebbia

March 16, Heritage and Engagement in a Post-Democracy
Hana Morel

March 23, Energy Efficiency and Heritage values in Historic Cities
Kalliopi Fouseki

All welcome. No booking essential.