20 the ethics, politics, and strategy of climate action. Too often, these topics do not register in the culture sector. To be effective and relevant, cultural policy and practice must treat these topics as the core cultural concerns that they are, and become accustomed to engaging with them. This is precisely what the Three Key Questions debate does. Urban Context It is worth noting that this debate arose in the context of urban policy. In particular, it was conceived with reference to Action 9 (Observatory on culture/cultural heritage and climate change in the urban framework) of the Partnership on Culture/Cultural Heritage Action Plan set up under the 2016 Urban Agenda for the EU. The Urban Agenda for the EU is a multi-level working method promoting cooperation among stakeholders in order to stimulate growth, liveability, and innovation in the cities of Europe and to identify and successfully tackle social challenges. The Partnership’s Action Plan aims to create an “integrated and coherent” approach to using culture and cultural heritage to develop urban development policies, with a focus on better regulation, funding and knowledge. It should perhaps come as no surprise that an urban framework would emerge as a driver of considering climate change and culture/ cultural heritage. With more than two-thirds of Europeans living in cities, climate adaptation and mitigation at the city level will make crucial contributions to tackling climate change. The urban context also presents steep challenges as cities are on the frontlines of issues such as inequality and the need for transparent institutions. As cultural expressions themselves, cities are also arguably one of humanity’s greatest inventions for crafting solutions for the future. From historical times to the present, they bring creative people together. Consistent with the importance attached to the cities-climate nexus, the world’s leading climate science body – the abovementioned IPCC – is preparing a special report on cities as part of its forthcoming 7th Assessment Report cycle. An International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change convened by the IPCC, UNESCO and ICOMOS in December 2021 expressly addressed synergies and gaps concerning the intersection of culture and heritage and climate change in urban areas. Overall, the evidence considered pointed to the need for new partnerships, connections and research supporting a larger role for culture and heritage in climate change science of cities.
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