Climate change impacts the cultural heritage of Finland. Adaptation and mitigation measures are posing challenges along with the consequences of climate change. Cultural landscapes, the built cultural environment and the archaeological heritage all will be affected. The impacts of climate change that Finland will face and the challenges posed by them for the care of the cultural environment also apply to the Boreal Zone of Northern Europe in more general terms.
This report charts the challenges posed by climate change on the cultural environment, estimates its effects on related conservation and management measures and administration, and proposes separate research projects. The near future will require the cultural environment sector to have closer contacts with other actors. The challenges are to identify real effects on the cultural environment and to provide more specific and in-depth information on climate change and the cultural environment. The objective will be to anticipate and manage changes in the operating environment and to prioritize measures along with other actors in the field.Climate change poses a shared threat, and Finland’s commitment to international agreements and conventions, such as those of UNESCO and the European Council, entails the exchange of information, preparation for the reporting required by international agreements, the monitoring of Finnish sites and locations, the charting of risks, and follow-up work.
This report is part of the Nordic project Effekter av klimaendringer på kulturminner og kulturmiljö (2007–2010) on the impacts of climate change on the cultural environment. The Finnish bodies participating in the project are the National Board of Antiquities and Metsähallitus
