The Erasmus+ project presents the results of a three-year collaboration between research and communities to safeguard European intangible cultural heritage and design new, sustainable adaptation strategies.

On October 3, 2025, at University La Sapienza, Rome, the final conference of the Erasmus+ project “GreenHeritage – The impact of climate change on intangible cultural heritage” took place, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and representatives of intangible cultural heritage communities of practice from Italy and other European countries involved in the project (Spain, Belgium, Greece and Latvia).

During the Conference, some of the project’s main results were illustrated and discussed, such as the innovative methodology to promote, conserve and adapt intangible cultural heritage to climate impacts produced by CMCC; the development of an e-learning platform as a modern educational approach involving innovative and high-quality digital contents; and the production of a transnational and European analysis on the different definitions of intangible cultural heritage and climate change related risks, with the aim of illustrating causal links and probabilities of correlation between the latter and the degradation of intangible cultural heritage caused by climate change.

The Conference not only represented a precious opportunity to share results and lessons learned, but also to deepen the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and climate change, a topic of growing relevance for climate change adaptation and heritage protection policies, which has been analysed through both a scientific and social lens. Participants, both online and in presence, had the chance to discuss new research perspectives, share good practices and lay the foundations for new possible future collaborations, thus creating fertile ground for a more solid, multi-stakeholders exchange and cooperation network at a European level.

The GreenHeritage project and its final event are therefore a significant example of the need to continue working on frontier topics, which are often under-investigated, such as that of the link between climate change and intangible cultural heritage, as well as the need to integrate scientific knowledge, local practices and innovative tools to address current and future climate change challenges in an inclusive and culturally sensitive way.