Cultural Heritage as Habitat
About the project
Cultural heritage and biodiversity are often managed separately. This project aims to bring the two closer together by identifying practical ways to create synergies and showing how cultural heritage environments can support thriving habitats for people, animals, and plants.
Nordic UNESCO World Heritage Sites provide an ideal setting for this work. As living laboratories, they allow us to test and demonstrate biodiversity‑enhancing practices in real, historically shaped landscapes. Through shared knowledge, collaborative development, and adaptable models, the project seeks to deliver solutions that can be applied widely and contribute to global biodiversity goals and sustainable development.
The project has two distinct perspectives:
1. To give UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Nordic countries a stronger role and clearer tools to address biodiversity issues in a tangible way.
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2. To provide guidance for strategic perspectives on advancing the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework and the World Heritage Convention at a state level as well as through Nordic cooperation.
Partners involved
Cultural Heritage as Habitat is an initiative developed by the Nordic World Heritage Association and funded by the Nordic Nature Program, part of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The project is carried out by Tove Damholt, Mads Randbøll Wolff, and Nikolaj Sveistrup in close cooperation with the board of the Nordic World Heritage Association.
The project builds on Nordic cooperation and knowledge sharing among 45 sites in Denmark, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Iceland, organised under the Nordic World Heritage Association.
National authorities responsible for the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in the Nordic countries are involved on an ongoing basis when relevant, ensuring alignment with national strategies, knowledge exchange, and catalytic impact.
IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) take part of the project to ensure alignment between Nordic and global efforts.
Results
The project’s results will be shared through a range of targeted communication activities. A digital publication, Nordic Case Collection, will present selected examples from Nordic World Heritage Sites that illustrate the links between cultural heritage and biodiversity in an accessible and visually engaging format. It will be published on the Nordic World Heritage Association’s website.
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A social media presence will support the outreach by highlighting key insights and site-based stories aimed at both professional and general audiences.
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Findings will also be presented at Nordic and international conferences and networks, including a dedicated workshop at the Nordic World Heritage Conference 2026 and relevant biodiversity forums.
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Finally, policy briefs and recommendations will be developed for ministries, agencies, and municipalities, with strategic outreach at COP17 and other global biodiversity events to ensure the project contributes to broader policy development and implementation.