Gateway
World Heritage Catalysis
- supporting transformative change
Life on Earth as we know it is increasingly at risk. There is no longer time for incremental improvements to fundamentally unsustainable practices. We are basically called to change our ways to protect, heal and regenerate all living systems. World Heritage are at the centre of this challenge and opportunity.
Transformation mandate
Relevant calls for transformation
- takes a commons approach to World Heritage.
That means considering natural and cultural heritage of 'Outstanding Universal Value' as 'commons' belonging to or affecting the whole of a community. That the stewardship of World Heritage is an act of 'commoning'.
World Heritage
Natural and cultural heritage of 'Outstanding Universal Value'
- facilitates an emerging community of practice.
It explores the global network of World Heritage and its many rights- and stakeholders as a relevant agent contribution to economic development through stewardship of shared resources.
Community of practice
a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" (Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger 1991)
- seeks to enhance community sustainability, resilience & regeneration.
World Heritage Catalysis’ purpose is ‘to support regenerative resilience across communities living in and around World Heritage’.
A resilient community
- has the sustained ability to utilize available resources to respond to, withstand, and recover from negative events and adverse situations.
A regenerative community
- is a place where humans and nature live in a mutually beneficial relationship that actively restores ecosystems and supports the local population to thrive.
- applies innovative technologies in the stewardship of World Heritage.
Our mission is ‘through use of innovative tools and technologies in tourism and visitor management support commoning as a triad of social practices, acts of provisioning and forms of peer governance (Bollier and Helfrich 2019).
- finds inspiration & perspectives across disciplines.
The emergence taking place through World Heritage Catalysis is inspired and informed by a trans- and interdisciplinary body of work. The below lists just a few of the concepts and approaches. As the community grows
SYSTEMS
Complex adaptive systems thinking
analysis that takes into account the features and elements of a system, how they work together and how they influence each other.
Applied: The ability to recognise silo thinking and avoid simplistic solutions for complex challenges. The ability to understand what makes the current economic growth paradigm unsustainable.
Leverage points for systems change
places within a complex system where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything. (Donella Meadows)
Applied: The ability to identify places to intervene within a community, for instance the effects of a new policy vs funding vs an exchange trading system.
TIME
Futures literacy
"the ability to anticipate and create invisible stuff" (Riel Miller 2018)
Applied: The ability to envision a different development path for your community and yourself as a community member.
Scenario thinking
considering "Gray swans" - potentially very significant events that should be anticipated for their potential to shake up communities, the economy, culture, marketplaces, workplaces and life. (Grey Swan Guild)
Applied: The ability to consider "what if something happened that disrupted the tourism industry and the community's / our ability to sustain?".
EGO
Cognitive dissonance
the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs don't line up with actions. The uncomfortable state of mind feeling contradictory values, attitudes, or perspectives about the same thing.
Deep adaptation
"considering the implications of it being to late to avert the implications of a global environmental catastrophe in the lifetimes of people alive today" (Prof. Jem Bendell 2018)
ECO
Rights based approach & common dignity
Rights of nature
Earth jurisprudence and legal structures recognising rights associated with ecosystems & species
