Applications are open

In partnership with ICOMOS, the Climate Heritage Network, and the National Geographic Society, Preserving Legacies supports community stewards with training, tools, and connections to equitably adapt their heritage places and practices from the impacts of climate change. Learn more about us.

Each year, Preserving Legacies selects ten climate-impacted heritage places from a competitive pool of global applicants. Each selected place must confirm two custodians (community stewards, site managers, or knowledge holders who care for heritage places and practices) to participate in the program to learn climate science, assess climate risk, and implement an adaptation action. This is a transformative opportunity for community stewards to become leaders of climate resilience.

Watch an overview video and learn more about the cohort program.

Throughout the program, you’ll also receive storytelling support to help you elevate your site’s narrative to a global stage, inspiring others with your work and the significance of your community’s heritage.

As a 3.5 year commitment which includes mandatory training, project deliverables, networking and travel, applicants are advised to consider the time and professional commitment before applying. Applicants will need the support of their organizations for the time they commit to the project, and are encouraged to build their participation into existing work programs. They should also have, or be able to obtain, the endorsement of their communities or the custodians of the site to take part.

The first year, March 2027 to March 2028, will include 18 days of online training spread over 12 months (3 hours per day), attendance at an in-person workshop for 10 days per year, 24 one-hour online networking sessions, and time for extra reading and complete supporting materials. The second year includes monthly training sessions, early engagement meetings with your community, hosting a risk assessment workshop with your community, and documenting the risk assessment through a report. The third year includes a monthly guest speaker series, discussion sessions, asynchronous training videos, and designing and implementing a test adaptation action. Custodians who have completed the PL program have found it more intensive than expected; however, they have also noted how worthwhile the experience has been.

Preserving Legacies invests substantial financial resources, technical expertise, and dedicated staff time in every participating site, building the knowledge, capacity, and connections needed to safeguard heritage for generations to come. In recognition of this investment, participation requires a reciprocal commitment from custodians. This sustained partnership ensures that the resources invested translate into lasting local capacity, meaningful community engagement, and tangible climate adaptation outcomes that extend far beyond the program.

A custodian is an individual who holds a meaningful connection to a cultural or natural heritage place, landscape, or living practice and takes an active role in its care, continuity, and future. Custodians may be traditional knowledge holders, Indigenous leaders, heritage professionals, site managers, practitioners, or representatives of local organizations. Their relationship to heritage may be rooted in lived experience, cultural identity, ancestral knowledge, professional responsibility, or a commitment to its protection.

Within Preserving Legacies, custodians are local changemakers who lead efforts to understand and respond to the impacts of climate change on the heritage they care for. They bring together diverse knowledge systems, engage their communities, and guide locally led decisions and actions to safeguard the values that make their heritage meaningful for present and future generations.

Custodianship is defined by a relationship of care and responsibility, and can be defined by formal ownership, professional credentials, or institutional authority.

Submitting this form does not guarantee your selection to participate in the Preserving Legacies 2027 cohort. Once submitted, our management team will evaluate sites based on the selection criteria and best fit with our project priorities for 2027. You will receive an email in February about the status of your application.

You are applying to the Preserving Legacies cohort program by entering this form. If you are interested in becoming a Heritage Adapts steward, please visit Heritage Adapts.