Climate Change and the Cultural Environment - Recognized Impacts and Challenges in Finland

MINNA PESU
National Board of Antiquities, Finland

In late 2007, the joint Nordic project “Effekter av klimaendringer på kulturminner og kulturmiljö” was launched, headed by the Norwegian Riksantikvaren The Finnish bodies participating in the project are Museovirasto and Metsähallitus Based on background studies at the national level, the Finnish project addressed threats posed by climate change, related impacts on the care and administration of the cultural environment, and proposed research projects. A report Climate Change and the Cultural Environment - Recognized Impacts and Challenges in Finland was published by the Ministry of Environment in 2008.

Public administration concerning the cultural environment in Finland involves three sectors, which calls for a well-functioning distribution of tasks. We also need cooperation with the private sector as the change in the operating environment is linked to changes in different biotopes and in the built environment. Information has to be provided in support of political and administrative decisions. Information should be distributed to different areas of administration and included in the national climate strategy.

We need to organize the monitoring of the state of the cultural environment. Information will be acquired by adding further data on condition and state of preservation of sites to existing indexes and registers. Information on climate risks (floods, growing windiness, precipitation etc) should be included in different levels of land-use planning procedures. Information should also be provided for actors in the property and building sectors.

Energy and climate policies influence the environment through the supervision of land use and building. Finland's climate strategy underscores increased use of renewable sources of energy and improved energy efficiency. When increasing renewable sources of energy, the impacts of wind-power plants and wind-power parks on the cultural environment need to be investigated. Densification of the urban structure as one of the measures for mitigating the climate change is another challenge.

The heating of buildings accounts for 23% of energy use in Finland. Requirements for energy efficiency have so far concerned only new buildings and development and repair and renovation projects of a significant extent, but at the European Union and national levels means are being sought to reduce the energy consumption of the existing building stock. There is a need to improve methods of reducing energy consumption without endangering the historic values of buildings.

Research should consider - along with the application of natural-scientific research to the fixed nature of the cultural environment - the cultural acceptability of measures undertaken. A central challenge to cultural heritage administration will be the recognition of the socio-psychological impacts of climate change and influence on the values of people.