Climate change, salvage ethnography, and heritage protection through machine learning: OxNet Heritage-360 Spring Conference

What role do photography and monuments play in preserving local histories and cultural practices? How does climate change bring out structural inequalities? Where does architecture meet economics and politics?

The Year 12 pupils who form the OxNet Heritage-360 cohort asked these questions and more at the programme’s Spring Conference, held in partnership with Durham University at University (Castle) College on 2 April 2025.

With five lectures by Durham academics, a trip to the Norman Chapel, and the chance to bask in the views of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, the conference invited OxNet pupils to reflect on heritage in the North East and beyond from artistic, philosophical, historical, archaeological, technological and bioscientific perspectives.

Elly Walters, who is part of Pembroke’s Access and Outreach team, gives us an insight into the day.

The Heritage-360 programme, spearheaded by Prof. Giles Gasper (Durham University), is an initiative that seeks to connect natural and cultural heritage research and practices in the region. Heritage-360 draws together a wide range of disciplines and themes through sustained collaborations across departments and institutions. Its partnership with Pembroke’s OxNet programme allows Year 12 pupils from across the North East of England to participate in dedicated seminars, workshops, and study skills days which are fundamentally interdisciplinary in approach.

The conference began with an introduction by Prof. Gasper and a very warm welcome to Durham by Prof. Janet Stewart, Executive Dean for the Arts and Humanities at the University. The first lecture of the day, titled ‘Climate Change and Social Justice’, was given by Dr Simona Capisani (Department of Philosophy). After pupils had shared words and ideas that they associated with climate change – extinction, destruction, impact, activism – Dr Capisani reflected on the multiple social, political, and ethical concerns and structural inequalities that emerge with climate change. In so doing, the lecture broached questions of climate colonialism, state non-compliance, and the overshoot of global climate targets. 

Led by Dr Kristen Hopper (Department of Archaeology), the second lecture was titled ‘Heritage Protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Conflict, Climate Change and Capacity Building’. Dr Hopper outlined how archeologists have been able to identify and monitor cultural and ecological heritage sites using remote sensing resources like aerial photographs and satellite imagery. With the help of these images, and machine-learning algorithms trained to interpret them, researchers have detected buried archaeological sites and monitored the condition of known heritage sites, including those impacted by war and conflict.

After lunch together in the sunshine, we were joined by Dr Jonathan Long (School of Modern Languages and Cultures) for the first lecture of the afternoon, titled ‘Photography and Heritage: Photographing the Past in the Present’. Dr Long reflected on photography as a visual, spatial, and temporal medium, and introduced us to the notion of ‘salvage ethnography’, including its political and ethical implications. We went on to explore the distinction between tangible and intangible heritage, from monuments to maypole dancing, and we concluded with a discussion centred on our own close readings of a series of photographs.

Following a group visit to the Norman Chapel, Prof. Gasper shared past and present projects at Durham University dedicated to preserving, conserving, and restoring the city’s medieval heritage. This was aptly followed by a lecture titled ‘Buildings and History in North East England’, led by Dr Adrian Green (Department of History). The discussion travelled across the centuries, exploring examples of surviving Anglo-Saxon, Elizabethan, and Georgian architecture – from churches and halls to sugar refineries and steel works – across County Durham. Throughout, we considered how this architecture has connected both historically and presently to national and regional economics, politics, and heritage.

Credit: Claire Porter

Pembroke’s Access and Outreach team would like to extend their warmest thanks to Prof. Giles Gasper for leading this conference as part of our ongoing partnership; to Dr Simona Capisani, Dr Kristen Hopper, Dr Jonathan Long, and Dr Adrian Green for sharing their fascinating research with us; to Mrs Claire Porter and Ms Hannah Winlow from Southmoor Academy for all their work behind the scenes; and to the OxNet pupils for their excellent contributions throughout the day!