Connecting cultural memory with ecological futures
Supporting organisations, community groups and policymakers engage with Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) for nature restoration
In 2024, the UK ratified the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), committing to the protection and promotion of traditional arts, practices, crafts and ecological knowledge.
The Convention explicitly recognises that ICH plays a vital role in sustainability and biodiversity: it encodes ecological knowledge and can foster the cultural connections with place that are vital for lasting environmental stewardship.
As the UK begins to implement ICH in policy and practice, there is an opportunity to bring cultural knowledge and practice into nature recovery and biodiversity strategies.
With a background in creative ethnology, my work helps organisations, community groups and policymakers engage with ICH in ethical, creative and meaningful ways:
Strategic advice on bringing intangible cultural heritage into nature recovery and restoration
Designing creative programmes that foster nature connection, care and stewardship
Tailored workshops and training for culture, heritage and environment sectors
British Academy Policy Discussion Paper:
‘Integrating Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Nature Recovery: A Place-Sensitive Approach in the Scottish Highlands’ (2025)
This paper explores how integrating Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), as defined by the 2003 UNESCO Convention, can support place-sensitive nature recovery. Through two case studies from the Scottish Highlands – the Findhorn Watershed Initiative and Cairngorms 2030 – it examines how placenames, creative cultural expressions and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) can contribute to inclusive, forward-looking, adaptive approaches. Drawing on qualitative, interdisciplinary methods and lived practitioner experience, the paper reflects on both the opportunities and challenges of aligning emerging ICH policy with nature recovery strategies in a Scottish context, with implications for contexts elsewhere.
“What if every nature recovery or rewilding initiative included a policy for engaging with Intangible Cultural Heritage? What if every woodland, wetland, river, coast, or landscape-scale project recognised that cultural practice, memory and traditional ecological knowledge are a vital part of restoration?”
