Although marginalised communities bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change, they are often underfunded, under-resourced and excluded from discussions about sustainability. As the impacts of climate change increase and threaten our buildings and places, it is more important than ever that we support everyone to get involved with building a more sustainable future.
To align with COP26, Scottish Civic Trust has developed a programme of digital lectures on the intersection of heritage, equity and the climate crisis. All lectures will be released 1-12 November on our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
On 5 November, 12.30pm GMT, the AtlaS.WH project will be showcased in a lecture given by Gabriella Laing of Edinburgh World Heritage, titled Answers on the back of a postcard: giving children a voice on the sustainable management of their World Heritage cities.
This talk will closely examine the activity – titled ‘Wish You Were Here’ – from conception to completion, focusing on the journey made by the P7 classes of Preston Street Primary School, a hugely diverse school in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat welcoming children from some of Edinburgh’s most deprived communities.
The climate crisis and how it affects our cities cares for neither postcode nor Outstanding Universal Value, and so the voices of these children are especially important to consider. Through stories and art, children were invited to consider what made their cities special to them. Through providing a personal connection, the activity inspired the way they thought about looking after our heritage for generations to come.
Over 1,000 children from the five cities took part. Using the familiar and accessible format of a postcard, children could express their creativity in designing the front, and were able to be critical and honest in writing a message on the back. These are more than just souvenirs of a classroom activity –these postcards are being used to inform World Heritage Site level policy. In Edinburgh, they are feeding into the Climate Change Risk Assessment methodology for community engagement as well as the World Heritage Site Management Plan review.