Lessons from the Past Posters

A study of the criteria for choosing world heritage sites from a sample of the list with a specific focus on criteria’s 1 and 2. It will explore the distribution of males and females responsible for the creation of the sites represented through this data to see whether both groups are represented equally within the world heritage list, and show that more steps need to be taken in order to achieve a greater level of gender equality within the UNESCO World Heritage List

The portrayal of women in ancient public spaces has been subject to much consideration, with many ancient sources aiming to either intentionally misrepresent women, or to exclude them entirely from public life. Academics have long sought to discern the truth behind these accounts, and in doing so have created frameworks for viewing ancient women that have developed and changed over time, in the hopes of representing them as accurately as possible. Drawing from the works of Russell, Richlin, and Webb (among others), these frameworks show a variety of ways to evaluate misogynistic texts and grant the women they concern more fair, nuanced portrayals. Women in the modern public sphere are similarly faced with discriminatory and dishonest portrayals, however these women are often not given the same unbiased evaluation. UN SDG 5.1 calls for an end to all forms of discrimination against women and girls, however women continue to be portrayed unfairly across modern media. This poster poses the following questions: given the misrepresentation of women in both ancient and modern public spheres, can we apply the frameworks we use in evaluating ancient women to the modern day? And can these frameworks be used to promote more equal representation in the media?

While the Romans often prioritised proximity to fresh water in the construction of their towns, some towns were primarily dependent on rainwater collection until the introduction of the aqueduct. This technological revolution allowed water to be transported from sources as far as 50km, as seen in the Nemausus aqueduct, and provided a stable source of fresh water for the outer towns of the empire. UN SDG 6.4 aims to “By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity”. This poster poses the following questions: How did the Romans successfully manage and supply fresh water on a large scale? What geographical challenges limited their operations, and how can these be overcome in the modern day? How can the UN successfully implement Roman infrastructure to reduce water scarcity?

This presentation will examine native and non-native trees in ancient Rome, and will focus on their placement and role in the city, through a combination of evidence types for Roman planting and cultivation. This will offer a view of Rome’s biodiverse cityscape, and the advantages of this biodiversity in both cultural and scientific context. The presentation will prompt discussions on the sustainability of planting and preserving native and non-native trees in contemporary spaces, and will pick out the real importance of restoring and creating diverse wooded areas.

As a UWC Atlantic College alumna and founder of Paleophenomenology, I have observed the transformative potential of interdisciplinary dialogue in education. Inspired by the words of K. Hahn and L.B. Pearson, I propose a structured framework for recurring, multidisciplinary sessions where students and academics bring their own methodologies, tools, and theories to work collaboratively on shared problems. The focus is not on show-and-tell, but on genuine horizontal and rhizomatic knowledge exchange: exploring a literary text through mathematical reasoning, approaching an archaeological problem through phenomenological analysis, or an engineering conundrum through the lens of Jungian analysis.

Just as knowledge in Palaeolithic times was shared collaboratively for survival and innovation, this framework seeks to cultivate co-created understanding across disciplines today. This approach fosters humility, lateral and critical thinking, creativity, and mutual respect, breaking academic hierarchical barriers and cultivating rhizomatic learning networks. By integrating disciplines in this way, education can develop analytical thinkers who are adaptable, collaborative, and capable of addressing complex global challenges in inventive and resourceful ways.

My recommendation to educational authorities, local councils, and relevant academic institutions is to implement pilot programs of recurring, cross-disciplinary seminars and workshops, structured around active contribution and peer learning. These programs should include measurable outcomes for participants’ collaborative problem-solving, reflective practice, and innovation skills.

This initiative directly aligns with UN SDG 4: Quality Education and its measurable targets. By embedding collaborative, methodology-driven exchanges into curricula, we can create educational environments where knowledge is co-produced, students are empowered to engage across disciplines, and learning becomes a dynamic, participatory process.

Language has been widely remarked as a surprising omission from the UN sustainability goals, but it lies at the heart of goals related to wellbeing, education, inequalities and communities. My work at the intersection of language endangerment and writing systems harnesses a history of 5,000 years of documented language and script loss to bring unique insights to bear on today’s language crisis.

The importance and complexity of oral language as an element of cultural identity is transferred to a new dimension of sensory engagement when it is written down: linguistic differences become visible when you face choices of which languages to include, their visual distinctiveness and text display. Their study requires new, interdisciplinary approaches, which I have been developing particularly through several years of research on the unique writing traditions of ancient Cyprus alongside other ancient comparanda.

The demonstrably close relationship between language and writing system vitality in ancient case studies has important implications for supporting marginalised language and script communities today. The poster will focus on three specific aspects of script use, comparing ancient and modern communities:

-Visual distinctiveness of the writing system, offering a powerful expression of identity and nuanced positioning among other sociopolitical and cultural entities

-Visibility of the script in its domains of use, which affects both access to and awareness of the language

-Resources needed for literacy in the writing system, both educational and technological, to ensure intergenerational transmission

Finally, the effects of digital disadvantage can be framed differently when we compare ancient and modern languages. Why do ancient scripts have a better record of success in Unicode encoding than today’s endangered and emergent scripts? Results from collaboration between my project VIEWS, Endangered Alphabets and the Script Encoding Initiative are presented.

The Roman empire has been described as the largest empire in the ancient world and equal to 16th century Europe in terms of power and trade. At its heart was Italy and its people would have consumed, traded and produced vast quantity of metal, glass, textile and agricultural products. These would have be circulation within a trade-networks through major core centers. A larger quantity being imported from its periphery provinces and current good possibly being circulated independently through reuse and recycling. In today world the EU is one of the largest traders and consumers, though unlikely to be independent of low and middle income countries. In a move to become more responsible consumers adapting our patterns is a must and a balance between core and periphery is critical. Examining the Roman Empire in the context of recycling and consumerism should indicate how much of an impact these actions were having on the economy on the empire and its periphery. Was there a balance level of consumerism between core and provinces and what number of resources were being recycled and reused? Through, the example how Rome handled its needs is it possible to learn how UN sustainability Goal 12 of responsible consumerism might be achieved. Policy recommendation: Balancing out resource use between the West and low- to middle-income countries, so that an even level of consumerism is reached. This includes the recycling of resources and the responsible consumption of agricultural resources, but on an economically meaningful scale without additional input from fresh resources. Therefore, levelling out the consumerism plane and given lower income countries a chance to increase their own resource management base and build themselves up. Thus, closing the gap between producer and consumer.

The proposed poster will highlight the aims and preliminary results of Visible Disabilities in Premodern Europe, an international and interdisciplinary research project that seeks to revolutionize understandings of disability across historical and contemporary contexts. The poster will illustrate how our team combines osteoarchaeology, biomechanical engineering, and 3D animation and visualization technology to make the lives of premodern individuals with physical impairments in medieval Europe tangible and relatable across the centuries, while illuminating aspects of their personhood, including but not limited to disability.
We work in collaboration with contemporary individuals with physical impairments as we investigate the meaning of disability in the past, challenging ableist narratives about past exclusion that continue to shape attitudes and policies in the present.
Through a case study of a medieval female individual with Pott’s disease, we will demonstrate the power of this interdisciplinary approach to historical disability to a) make visible the lives of past individuals marginalised by traditional historiographical and archaeological narratives of exclusion, b) challenge resilient assumptions about the role of individuals with physical impairments in the religious, economic, social, and cultural landscapes of premodern Europe, and c) redefine how we understand disability – both past and present – whilst creating tangible benefits for clinical practice and reducing inequality.

Climate migration – the movement of people primarily driven by shifting environmental conditions – is a part of our shared human history. This talk examines how insights from the ancient Levant can inform contemporary approaches to building climate resilience and adaptive strategies, highlighting how archaeological evidence can contribute to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action targets on adaptive capacity, risk reduction, and climate education.
This presentation draws on my MA research, which explored how non-anthropogenic shifts in aridity intersected with patterns of human migration during the Late Bronze Age (LBA)-Early Iron Age transition in the ancient Levant. My research utilizes GIS to map settlements alongside shifting rainfall parameters while analyzing archaeological evidence of water management, including cistern technologies and settlement proximity to permanent water sources. This exploration yielded fascinating conclusions about climate migration and human ingenuity during this time period in which the duration and magnitude of climate change shaped migrant’s adaptive strategies. In the Northern Levant, water security was achieved by staying at or moving to sites with reliable water, while in the Southern Levant, adaptation relied on reusing existing cisterns and developing new storage strategies.
Ultimately, these patterns suggest that climate migration during the LBA was a form of resilience, highlighting human ingenuity and adaptive strategies that shaped both survival and cultural continuity. I conclude by emphasizing the value of historical knowledge in climate discussions and policymaking. Archaeologists and historians offer unique perspectives on human resilience, revealing how communities have adapted to environmental shifts over time. Incorporating these perspectives into climate adaptation planning can strengthen our understanding of long-term resilience to natural and anthropogenic climate change.

As humanity embarks on its “fifth beginning” (Kelly 2016) the challenges and rate of change have never been so profound. While protection of culture, a UN priority, is important, so is a recognition that cultural change is needed to tackle humanity’s most serious challenges.

We urge the UN to change their definition of culture to recognise its temporary nature.

A better definition of culture.

Culture is the temporary distinct spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional features characterizing a society. It encompasses arts, lifestyle, human rights, value systems, traditions, and beliefs. Individuals are shaped by culture but crucially individuals also shape culture and societies.

Australian Indigenous peoples’ continuous occupation of their country across multiple climatic shifts is a testament to sustainability and adaptation. Mithaka Country comprises 33 752 km2 of the Channel Country in central Australia, mostly drained by Eyre Creek/Georgina River and the Diamantina River. The Channel Country is arid: the Georgina River catchment receives less than 250 mm rain per year (Phelps et al., 2007, p. 42). These rivers experience occasional high-volume and slow-moving floods fed by monsoonal and tropical rainfall over Northern Australia, tying them into the Asian-Australian Monsoon and ENSO (Chen et al., 2020).

Prior to European settlement, Australia’s most complex transcontinental trade and exchange network (Westaway et al., 2021) took place up and down these rivers. Flows down the Channel Country system are not necessarily linked to easily predicted seasons, requiring sophisticated adaptation to live in and to manage this unique desert channel system.

Early European writings and Mithaka oral traditions shed light on this adaptation (Kerkhove et al., 2024). The study area supported ‘villages’ of up to 100 structures, generally near permanent waterholes. This was achieved by using a detailed knowledge of climate and environment and complex infrastructure to harvest animal and plant resources intensively during and after floods, and then grind and store these resources for use during dry periods.

Weirs (mokhani) were used to store water and live fish and perhaps to increase flooded areas and hence food supplies and seed plant growth (Kimber, 1984). They were recorded on Farrars Creek and the Diamantina River. Ethnographic sources also compare the Channel Country’s dependence on flood for food with that of the Nile valley – they describe the enormous inundated area – thus hinting at, without specifying, grasslands intentionally irrigated by periodic inundation. In such a flat landscape, hypothetically, even low mokhani could have been used to detain floodwaters and spread them over a large area.

Mithaka oral traditions and collaborative fieldwork have identified multiple mokhani and hydrodynamic modelling is underway to estimate their impact on floodwater detention. Ethnographic sources, pastoral archives and sediment cores have the potential to extend late-nineteenth-century rainfall and mid-twentieth-century streamflow series for comparison with other northern-Australian and South-East-Asian rainfall proxies such as coral records.

MEMELAND investigates the deep-time origins of modern European biodiversity by tracing ecological change from the Roman era through the medieval and early modern periods. Present-day species distributions are not purely natural but have been shaped by historical land use, demographic shifts, and technological innovations. MEMELAND aims to produce the first species-level ecological history for Europe revealing patterns of stability, resilience and change in human ecodynamics, and providing a dataset for understanding when agricultural changes reshaped European landscapes.

MEMELAND integrates multiple archaeological and palaeoenvironmental datasets, including plant and animal remain from thousands of sites and vegetation histories reconstructed from pollen analysis. To overcome the taxonomic limits of these traditional datasets, MEMELAND will employ sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) and lipid biomarkers to detect species presence, agricultural intensity, soil disturbance, and faunal activity at high resolution. Combined with zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical, and palynological evidence, this multi-proxy framework will enable detailed reconstructions of ecological change over two millennia.

By generating species-level biodiversity data for over 50 sites across Northern Europe, MEMELAND will examine how medieval and early modern agronomy, population dynamics, elite landownership, and cultivation systems such as the open-field regime influenced long-term ecological patterns. Alongside the impact of key innovations, including the mouldboard plough. By revealing the historical interplay between culture and nature, MEMELAND will provide long-term datasets that can inform present-day strategies for ecological restoration, rewilding, species management, and climate change mitigation. In doing so, the project will offer a critical deep-time perspective for developing sustainable land-use and biodiversity policies across Europe.

The past is increasingly recognized by both academics and urban practitioners as a goldmine of useful urban knowledge for contemporary cities in the form of intermediate urban technological solutions as well as planning and design precedents (e.g. Rose 2016; Saitta 2020; Moreno 2024). Yet, in spite of the growing body of scholarship and popular works on the contemporary relevance of past cities, such knowledge still remains largely unassimilated into mainstream urban policy discourse. For indeed, municipal officials searching for viable urban sustainability solutions are much more likely to consult online ‘best practice’ databases such as UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda Platform. These databases, however, tend to only aggregate recent ‘best practice’ case studies of urban solutions developed within the past five years.

A paradoxical methodological problematic stymies the potential involvement of historians and archaeologists in contributing to such databases. ‘Best practices’ carry a seductive appeal among policymakers as they claim to present successful policy solutions that promise to be universally applicable to all cities. Yet, due to the widely perceived temporal chasm between the past and present, it would be a decidedly uphill task to convincingly argue for the applicability of historical urban ‘best practices’ to contemporary cities.

Prudent Practices for Future Cities (PPFC) seeks to bridge this research-policy gap by proposing the concept of ‘prudent practices’ as an alternative boundary concept for facilitating dialogue between academic researchers and policymakers. Based upon St Thomas Aquinas’ virtue-ethic conceptualization of prudential judgement, the PPFC framework seeks to redefine the ‘best practice’ case study as a vehicle for conveying phronetic practical wisdom concerning the complexities of policy implementation such as trade-offs and timelines.

This poster examines how historical narratives of dominion over nature, particularly through the figure of the tiger in Asia, shaped human–animal relations and ecological practices. From imperial hunts to colonial representations of conquest, the tiger symbolised both threat and triumph, reinforcing cultural assumptions of human mastery over the wild. These practices contributed not only to the decline of tiger populations but also to the wider degradation of ecosystems, showing how symbolic dominion translated into unsustainable exploitation. 

By analysing these past narratives, the poster highlights the consequences of framing nature as an adversary to be subdued rather than a partner in coexistence. The lesson from this history is that dominion-based models of conservation or resource use perpetuate ecological harm. 

Knowledge of our shared history provides society with invaluable insight into those who came before us; however, the preservation of archaeological remains which imparts this knowledge are increasingly threatened by climate change. The Valetta Treaty of 1992 states that best practice is to preserve archaeological remains in-situ, but the past 30 years of archaeological and environmental research have furthered our understanding of how sites are preserved and their relationship with climate change, and challenge this long held view. This poster argues for a revision of best practice advice, using the active archaeological sites of Vindolanda and Magna, on Hadrian’s Wall, as a case study. Vindolanda is a Roman auxiliary fort which is famous for its preservation of organic remains such as leather shoes, wooden utensils, and writing tablets. These artifacts, which have been continuously recovered since 1970, allow a glimpse into daily Roman life along the frontier. Magna is the sister site to Vindolanda, another Roman fort that has comparable organic preservation but has a much shorter excavation history, with significant archaeological excavations only beginning in 2023. To monitor the preservation conditions of these two sites, the Vindolanda Trust installed weather stations and environmental probe arrays which monitor changes in weather patterns, soil pH and redox, and other factors in 2022. Preliminary analysis has shown that the soil environments are becoming increasingly unsuitable for the preservation of organic remains, and that preservation in-situ will not be a viable long-term strategy for the preservation of buried remains.

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, the urban environment must re-establish itself. This rebuilding, and subsequent growth can impact any surviving cultural heritage. Urban expansion and its impact on cultural heritage is a recognised problem in scholarship.

However, it has not been considered in the context of natural disasters and in the unique socio-political milieu of Türkiye. My study area is the city of Fethiye in SW Türkiye.

In the first instance, natural disasters are commonplace in this region: on average, the Fethiye region experiences one earthquake with a magnitude of 3 to 4 every six days; a destructive earthquake of magnitude 6 plus occurs every nine months. Larger quakes occur once per decade. This creates a great many instances wherein redevelopment is necessary.

Türkiye’s planning legislation creates challenges that directly impact the surviving heritage in both and bad ways.

I aim to present two case studies from my thesis that show positive and negative examples of how this urban expansion can impact the heritage of urban environments.

The reasons for the poorer integration of the historic monuments into the fabric of the modern city are numerous:

– Legislation designed to protect heritage can cause planning blights

– Lack of oversight and resources

– Less cohesion between planning and heritage specialists

– Economic necessity – e.g. 1980’s push for development, many non-registered archaeological sites were destroyed

– Social necessity – housing extensions for amenity needs

There is no simple, coverall solution to resolve all these issues. However, I believe that a big step towards a resolution would be the creation of a database, supported by GIS, that shows the protections afforded to buildings and regions. This will help better inform planning and heritage professionals, researchers and the public of the heritage around them.

Industrial policy is defined by structural transformation. They are how states attempt to shape the nature and direction of their economies by moving incentives between sectors and firms. Over the past decade, the “New Economics of Industrial Policy” approach to analysing these issues has taken off with remarkable enthusiasm. Reka Juhasz and Nathan Nunn, amongst others, pioneered new empirical approaches that address previous problems with measurement, causal inference, and economic structure. As Juhasz and Nunn note, new literature is “playing catch-up to practice”. Critical industries of the future, from semiconductors to electric cars, have all been dominated by activist industrial policy practices, in many different kinds of contexts. The new literature has replaced sweeping, binary claims regarding industrial policy with targeted empirical evaluations, embedding much of their analysis in European and East Asian economic history. There have been fewer recent studies of instances in which proactive industrial policies have not worked. For the new empirical movement to present itself as honest and comprehensive, it must take into account such examples. We must understand the pitfalls, as well as the strengths, of industrial policy.

This presentation will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, grounded in comparative analysis of Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Kenyan performance from 1960 to 1990. These states all engaged in activist industrial policies, explicitly targeting agglomeration and cooridination failures and resorting to “socialism by default” to create state-supported ecosystems where the private sector fell short. However, issues of state capacity and political capture often prevented an efficient allocation of state support. Industrial policy is “inherently prone to distributive politics”, and those who recommend interventionist approaches must appreciate contextual difficulties in emerging markets. Kenya’s positive performance holds lessons for contemporary policy.

The past decade has witnessed a growing global commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet their integration into higher education strategy within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) remains largely symbolic rather than systemic. This talk revisits historical lessons from the region’s educational reforms, drawing on models of national transformation and Vision 2030 frameworks, to explore how the SDGs can be operationalized at the strategic level in Gulf universities.

By examining historical parallels between earlier modernization initiatives and today’s sustainability agendas, this presentation argues that the SDGs should not be treated as peripheral targets or public relations statements, but as core pillars of institutional strategy. Drawing insights from governance structures, academic accreditation systems, and strategic planning practices across GCC universities, it highlights how integrating SDGs into key areas, such as policy design, leadership development, research priorities, and community engagement, can lead to measurable, sustainable outcomes.

The presentation concludes with a proposed framework for “Strategic SDG Alignment” that leverages the region’s historical strengths in educational expansion and policy innovation to support SDG4 (Quality Education) and SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals). This framework translates lessons from past educational transitions into actionable strategies for contemporary governance, bridging the gap between sustainability rhetoric and institutional implementation.

Ultimately, the session calls for a paradigm shift: from adopting the SDGs as a compliance measure to embedding them as a strategic compass guiding higher education’s contribution to national and global transformation.

UN Sustainable Development Goal 10 aims to reduce inequalities through promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all, which includes disabled people (United Nations, n.d). The UK’s current rate of political representation for disabled people in Parliament is inadequate, with only 12 publicly identified MPs declaring as disabled (The Disability Policy Centre, 2024). In real terms, this means that 2% of Parliament represents over 25% of the whole UK population, or 16.8 million people. As the rate of disability is expected to continue to increase and continued government policies have a detrimental impact on the lives of disabled people through welfare cuts and a push for employment whilst removing supports, disabled political representation matters more now than ever. Using examples from the disability movements of the late 1980s and 1990s, I will demonstrate the power of disabled political action. This demonstration will follow in line with my recommendation, which is to tackle barriers into politics for disabled people, specifically ableist attitudes and stigma, through education.

Mountain landscapes are both ecological archives and cultural records, shaped over centuries by pastoral and agricultural practice. This paper examines how cultural heritage can function as cultural knowledge to inform contemporary environmental governance, with a focus on peatland conservation within the framework of the UNEP Global Peatlands Initiative. Using comparative research in the uplands of Lesotho and Wales, it demonstrates how traditional farming systems, water management strategies, and community-led practices contribute to both the material heritage of upland societies and the sustainable management of fragile ecosystems.

Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches—archaeological analysis of pastoral enclosures, peat stratigraphy, and landscape change, combined with ethnographic engagement with mountain farming communities—the study highlights the adaptability and resilience embedded in cultural traditions. These insights position cultural heritage as a knowledge system that informs sustainable land use, enhances climate adaptation strategies, and supports ecological restoration.

The research emphasises participatory archaeology and collaborative engagement as mechanisms for knowledge exchange, bringing together rural communities, environmental managers, and cultural organisations. By embedding cultural knowledge into peatland policy and practice, it illustrates how historical and contemporary insights can contribute to global climate goals.

Aligned with SDG 15 (Life on Land), this paper argues that recognising and mobilising cultural heritage as a form of ecological knowledge is essential for peatland conservation and the development of sustainable futures in mountain communities. It contributes to international discussions on biodiversity protection, climate resilience, and the integration of local traditions into global sustainability agendas.

Archaeology provides a long-term perspective, spanning millennia, of farming systems from the past. It sheds lights on how past farming impacted biodiversity and soil quality in the past, as well as what technologies and systems were used to feed growing populations. It also shows the adaptability and resilience of farming in the face of climate change. While solutions of the past should not be exported as is to the present, they can be adapted and provide inspiration to find solutions for a more sustainable future food production.

Agricultural resilience, biodiversity, sustainability, and the role of livestock are fiercely debated topics when discussing our future farming systems. These discussions usually feature the research of, for example, farmers, geographers, ecologists, policymakers, and government. Increasingly, a focus is placed on creating farming systems that work alongside nature to improve soil health, increase biodiversity and enhancing ecosystems. This poster advocates that archaeology should be included in these discussions. It provides examples of archaeology’s contributions to these topics, as well as examples of how modern farms are already utilising ‘ancient’ methods.

Many Neuro developmental conditions include sensory and communication differences, which are often cited as major obstacles to positive outcomes when accessing gynaecological and obstetric healthcare. Standardised language can be difficult to process and navigate leading to miscommunication, frustration, and an increased risk of serious, long term negative outcomes. Sensory differences are often unaddressed which can lead to a significant negative impact on emotional and physical wellbeing, further eroding communication skills.

It is well established that a multi sensory approach to learning is generally more effective in establishing long term memories and developing skills than simple verbal communication, and that a sound foundational knowledge of one’s own body and its functions increases an individual’s ability to keep themselves safe and avoid misinformation.

My undergraduate research successfully placed neurodiversity comfortably within small scale societies, which were found to potentially provide a more nurturing environment for children with Neuro developmental conditions. As I continue my research within my Human Evolution Masters degree I will be progressing, through a PhD, towards taking my research into real word benefits for individuals and communities with sensory and communication differences.

This research focuses on the visual arts and sensory practices which relate to gynaecological and obstetric life events within small scale societies of the present and past.

My aims are to consider how this information could be used to improve healthcare experience and outcomes for people with a uterus who also experience sensory and communication difficulties.

Abstract TBA