A proposed assessment index for climate change-related risk for cultural heritage protection in Newcastle (Australia). (October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Forino, Giuseppe; MacKee, Jamie; von Meding, Jason
• Is Part Of: International journal of disaster risk reduction. Volume 19(2016)
• Page Start: 235
• Page End: 248
• Publication Date: 2016-10
• Subjects: Climate change -- Cultural heritage -- Australia -- Disaster risk reduction -- Risk assessment -- Index; Emergency management -- Periodicals; Risk management -- Periodicals; Disaster relief -- Periodicals; Hazard mitigation -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.09.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2212-4209

Abstract

Abstract: Worldwide, climate change is one of the main factors exacerbating the effects of hazards or generating additional risk. Investigation is required to understand climate change-related risks for all components of human systems, including cultural heritage. Accordingly, this paper aims to present a new risk assessment index for cultural heritage, referred to as the Cultural Heritage Risk Index (CHRI). The paper applies a desk-based review of the existing literature on climate change-related risks for cultural heritage and of multi-level policy and planning documents of cultural heritage management in Australia. The paper then presents the CHRI and describes its attributes based upon the formalisation of risk as a function of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. CHRI is applied to a unique asset of cultural heritage in Newcastle (Australia), the Burwood Beach Wastewater Treatment Works (BBWTW). The paper shows that this asset has a moderate risk related to climate change, and that some interventions can be applied to decrease its vulnerability. The use of a new index such as CHRI allows creating a baseline for the exploration of the relations between climate change-related risks and cultural heritage. It can be an effective part of tools assessing climate change-related risk on cultural heritage in Australia and might aid in prioritising specific interventions.