New Research Framework Positions UNESCO sites as Living Laboratories for Climate Action and Sustainability

November 24th 2025, by Matt Rabagliati

The UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) has today launched a new UNESCO Climate Action and Sustainability Framework and its accompanying Research Agenda, setting out a global approach for using UNESCO-designated sites as living laboratories for climate resilience and sustainable futures.

Together, the publications show how Biosphere Reserves, Global Geoparks and World Heritage Sites - spanning more than 10 million km²- provide real-world environments for understanding and responding to complex and interconnected 21st-century challenges. They highlight the unique ability of these sites to bring together researchers, universities, cultural institutions, practitioners, policymakers and communities into long-standing, place-based partnerships.

Developed through HM Treasury’s £1.8m Climate Change & UNESCO Heritage (CCUH) Shared Outcomes Fund project, and delivered with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Framework and Agenda were co-led by the Bureau for the Contemporary and Historic (ButCH) and UKNC. They draw on extensive collaboration with three UK UNESCO pilot sites and a cross-sector Research & Innovation Group of academics, UNESCO Chairs, heritage organisations and site managers.

Download the press release

Professor Christopher Smith, Executive Chair, Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), said:

“UNESCO sites are extraordinary places where the worlds of research, heritage, lived experience and policy intersect. Their global reach and embedded communities make them powerful platforms for understanding and responding to sustainability challenges.
AHRC strongly welcomes this Framework and the Research Agenda, which align with our commitment to Living Labs, participatory research, and interdisciplinary collaboration across the UK and internationally and our commitment alongside UNESCO to conservation, heritage science and the role of the past in understanding the present and shaping the future. The documents show how cultural and natural heritage, including and especially in UNESCO sites, can drive innovation, resilience and societal transformation.”

Professor Mike Robinson, Non-Executive Director at the UK National Commission for UNESCO said:

“It is wonderful to see how researchers, funders and local communities are coming together to build resilience and generate sustainable responses to the realities of climate change. The UNESCO Climate Action and Sustainability Framework and the attendant Research Agenda, will provide valuable support for new ideas, new partnerships and concerted, place-based action to address the challenges of a social and economic transition to a sustainable future."

Matt Rabagliati, Head of Research, UK National Commission for UNESCO, said:

“UNESCO sites are not only places facing the pressures and impacts of climate change and other challenges, they are also some of our greatest assets for addressing them. They bring together communities, landscapes, knowledge systems and heritage values in ways that help us understand change and co-design solutions in real time.
This Framework and Research Agenda show how these places can function as truly integrated living laboratories: spaces where science, culture, governance and community knowledge come together to generate insights that are both innovative and grounded in place.
By embedding participatory and nexus approaches, we hope this work helps researchers, funders and practitioners unlock the full potential of UNESCO sites in driving climate resilience, sustainability transitions and long-term societal wellbeing.”

Sefryn Penrose, Co-Director of ButCH and Chair of the R&I group, said:

“This innovative Framework and groundbreaking Research Agenda could not have been possible without the generosity and committed support of the R&I Group.
It has been a pleasure to work with the group in this collaborative process which re-imagines UNESCO Sites as pivotal research hubs that engage professionals, academics, and communities in making more sustainable futures. We look forward to seeing it bear fruit!”

How UNESCO Sites Enable Integrated Research and Action

The Framework sets out how UNESCO sites function as living laboratories by integrating:

Research and practice, enabling academics and practitioners to co-design and test solutions directly with communities, land managers and local authorities.
Participatory governance and strong stakeholder networks, supporting collaborative decision-making and long-term, community-centred approaches.
Rich cultural and natural heritage assets, providing complex, real-world environments for trialling climate adaptation, conservation, resilience and sustainability strategies.
Nexus and systems approaches, linking environmental processes with culture, identity, governance, livelihoods and social resilience.
Established data, monitoring and research infrastructures, including new open-source tools developed through the CCUH project.
UNESCO’s global networks, allowing local innovations to be compared, transferred and scaled internationally.

Through this integrated approach, UNESCO sites offer unparalleled opportunities to test high-impact solutions, generate policy-relevant evidence, and strengthen resilience pathways that are both locally grounded and globally transferable.

A Framework for Global Research and Action

The publications align closely with the ARCHE Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, the emerging Horizon Europe Resilient Cultural Heritage Partnership, and UNESCO’s global priorities on climate, culture and sustainable development. They offer a ready-made platform for UK and international partners to collaborate on transdisciplinary research, Living Labs, open data infrastructures and evidence-led policy.

UNESCO Climate Action and Sustainablity Framework

The UNESCO Climate Action and Sustainability Framework sets out a new global approach for using UNESCO-designated sites as living laboratories for climate resilience, sustainability, and integrated research.

UNESCO Climate Action and Sustainablity Research Agenda

The UNESCO Climate Action and Sustainability Research Agenda sets out a 5–10-year vision for UNESCO sites to act as “living laboratories” for climate resilience and sustainability transitions.

More Information

Name	Organisation
Fernando Avakian	Project Officer, UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Lara Band	Research Analyst, ButCH
Nadia Bartolini	Research Director, ButCH
Rosalind Bryce	Director, Centre for Mountain Studies, University of the Highlands and Islands
Dave Chapman	Project lead, Climate Change & UNESCO Heritage UK National Commission for UNESCO
Dina D'Ayala	UNESCO Chair on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Engineering, University College London
David Drewry	Vice Chair, Non-Executive Director for Natural Sciences, UK National Commission for UNESCO
Francesca Giliberto	Senior Research Fellow, University of Leeds Business School
Kate Guest	Senior Policy Advisor (Climate Change), Historic England
David Hannah	UNESCO Chair in Water Science, University of Birmingham
Keith Jones	National Specialist Climate Change, National Trust
Stefan Krause	UNITWIN Network on Ecohydrological Interfaces Under Change, University of Birmingham
Qiuhua Liang	UNESCO Chair on Informatics and Multi-hazard Risk Reduction, Loughborough University
Sarah May	Co-Director, ButCH; R&I Secretariat
Marc Metzger	Professor of Environment and Society, University of Edinburgh; Chair of the UK National Committee for UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme
Aisling Parrish	Project Administrator, Climate Change and UNESCO Heritage, UK National Commission for UNESCO
Sefryn Penrose	Co-Director, ButCH; R&I Chair
Angela Piccini	Project Director, ButCH
Matt Rabagliati	Head of Policy, Research and Communications, UK National Commission for UNESCO
Claire Thirwall	Director, Thirlwall Associates
Ian Thomas	Head of Evidence, Arts, British Council
Juliet Thondhlana	UNESCO Chair in International Education and Development, University of Nottingham
Joanne Tippett	Senior Lecturer in Spatial Planning, University of Manchester
Imogen Wood	Senior National Consultant for Heritage & Climate, National Trust
Rob Woodside	Conservation & Estates Director, English Heritage

The AHRC–JPI Cultural Heritage funded CULTIVATE project explored how cultural heritage shapes sustainable landscapes and resilient communities in the context of major 21st-century challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency and the transformations needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Working with UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Scotland, Norway, Estonia and the Czech Republic, the project treated these sites as demonstration regions for understanding how cultural narratives, stories of place, identity, land, memory and belonging, are co-created, contested and negotiated across community, regional and national scales.
Coastal TALEs, delivered through the UNESCO–MOST BRIDGES coalition, connects coastal communities in Alaska, Ireland (Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) and Wales to document heritage stories of changing shorelines, maritime traditions and the lived experience of environmental change.
By embedding these narratives into UNESCO’s social science framework, the project strengthens climate education, empowers youth engagement and informs local adaptation planning, demonstrating how storytelling within UNESCO programmes can drive resilience, dialogue and evidence-based policy development.