The capacity to adapt to climate change at heritage sites-The development of a conceptual framework

An initial framework of adaptive capacity was developed through an examination of key literature, a scoping study and a questionnaire survey. This was then tested and refined through the assessment of adaptive capacity at three UK World Heritage Sites, the analysis of national and international policy and interviews with stakeholders at the national and international level. The process of analysis and development of a revised conceptual framework gave insights into some of the challenges of investigating adaptive capacity. The key determinants of adaptive capacity in the final framework, found to affect the capacity to adapt to climate change at cultural heritage sites, are cognitive factors, leadership, learning capacity, access to information, authority and resources.