12 CONTEXT 180 : JUNE 2024 IMOGEN WOOD Value transitions between heritage and nature If the act of preservation may sometimes be futile, why are we resisting so hard the inevitable future shift instead of embracing the change and the value this may bring? ‘Adaptive release’ is a term that developed during a piece of research undertaken by Exeter University, the National Trust and Historic England, published with full explanation in The Historic Environment: policy and practice1. The idea centres around the concept of some heritage values transitioning to other values, retaining significance but perhaps bringing other benefits to a place or asset, as opposed to being lost, destroyed or overly preserved. The conversation around this idea needs to be brought across to the building conservation space as so many sites are at risk from transition and loss, and the options surrounding these circumstances are sometimes very limited, with potential for value transition usually not considered. Stepping back to look at the big picture: first, we are all doomed (climate change, meteorite, sun going supernova, and so on). We know that, but in the short term, some places and assets are more doomed than others. While the proportion of heritage assets affected by (for example) coastal erosion is small compared to those affected by heat and pluvial flooding in the future, the rapidity of change is something that will impact many assets and places simultaneously, to the point where archaeology and finances may preclude the saving/moving/ rebuilding of absolutely everything threatened in this short-term manner. Climate hazards, geological stability, isostatic and eustatic movement affecting coastal sites: these are a few reasons why the act of preservation may sometimes be futile. Why then, in some cases, are we resisting so hard the assimilation of things into their inevitable future shift? Why don’t we embrace the change and recognise the value this may bring? The climate has always changed. We are not working towards a fixed point in the future where we can dust our hands off and say that we have satisfactorily adapted to climate change: it is an ongoing process. It is the rapidity of change and climate impacts on systems that cannot adapt in short timeframes. Since around the time of the industrial revolution that caused the issues, mostly for nature, but also for our ability as a species and culture to cope with hazards and impacts. Health and safety may be raised as one issue: we cannot just let things weather and degrade, and fall on people. Sometimes, though, it is that Bedlam Furnaces with their canopy that, once installed, helped remove them from the Heritage at Risk Register. The car park surrounding the base of the monument could be argued to have more of an impact on the setting of this heritage asset than the canopy that now protects it. (Photo: Imogen Wood, National Trust) 1 DeSilvey, C, Fredheim, H, Fluck, H, Hails, R, Harrison, R, Samuels, I and Blundell, A (2021) ‘When Loss is More: from managed decline to adaptive release’, The Historic Environment: policy and practice 12 (3–4)
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