Istanbul Heritage Forum (IHF) is a platform designed to curate and showcase results of projects carried out with the aim of protecting heritage sites in Istanbul, Turkey and all around the world. The IHF is formed by representatives of the local community and institutions. It will also showcase surveys geared towards co-producing conservation measures. The Istanbul Heritage Forum was borne out of the CRAFT project, which is an international project on climate change, disasters and cultural heritage. CRAFT in fact refers to Developing a Novel Climate Change Risk Assessment Framework for Cultural Heritage in Turkey, and it was funded by United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
IHF is therefore a community of practice to exchange knowledge. Through IHL, solutions, methods, examples and case studies can be shared, actors can build their own capacities, as well as educate clients, practitioners and governments about climate change action and its linkages to cultural heritage assets. Such a knowledge exchange platform will be dynamic and everchanging. IHF will foster an exchange of knowledge and practices by implementing a training program targeting early career researchers, policy-makers, managers of heritage sites, community organisers, and people working in the cultural/creative sectors.
The 20th General Assembly of ICOMOS (ICOMOS, 2020) recognised equity and justice as fundamental to understanding and addressing the challenges of climate change, including through solidarity with vulnerable and frontline communities; participatory climate governance; and gender-responsive, human rights and rights-based approaches. IHF will enable an exchange of information, enhance a sense of ownership, develop knowledge and create linkages between different governance levels and a wide.