Pilgrimage is the fastest growing motivation for travel with an estimated 600 million 'spiritual voyages' undertaken each year and Asia Development Bank (ADB) predicts that Buddhist pilgrimage to South Asia will reach an annual figure of 22 million by 2020 from four million. It has also estimated that pilgrim numbers visiting Lumbini in Nepal's western Terai, the birthplace of Buddha, will expand from 800,000 to five million by 2020. Aware of economic benefits offered by enhancing Buddhist pilgrimage circuits and the potential to alleviate acute poverty within the Terai, ADB has invested millions of dollars in a 'Tourism Infrastructure Development Project'. On account of the presence of Lumbini, ADB investment in the Terai has included all-weather roads between the light aircraft landing strip at Bhairahawa and Lumbini as well as 100 million dollars upgrading Bhairahawa to the status of an international airport with a 3000 metre long runway. Whilst highway investment has improved journey times for farmers taking produce to market, its presence close to the Indian border has attracted industrial investment in the form of 25 cement and noodle factories near Lumbini. In addition to polluting ground water, recent studies by IUCN have identified that monuments at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Lumbini have been damaged by airborne pollution. Speculative land acquisitions along roads and close to heritage sites have driven up land prices in some areas whilst proposed heritage buffer zones in others are inadvertently preventing sales. The latter has also prevented residents from raising of funds for emergencies and education through mortgages. In spite of this rapid development, many archaeological sites are still to be mapped and protected and a survey by UNESCO and Tokyo University has suggested that 97 of 136 known sites in Kapilbastu District have been damaged by the expansion of cultivation and settlement, both driven by accelerated development. UNESCO surveys have also identified that some of the Terai's communities have weak, if any, social or economic ties to the Buddhist pilgrimage sites where much of the investment is focused. This is particularly true of the sizable Muslim community, running the risk of alienation. Additionally, UNESCO surveys have found that the majority of international Buddhist pilgrims at Lumbini are day visitors, coming across the border to visit sites before returning to India. The also survey identified that their spend within Nepal is minimal as packed lunches, vehicles and even guides are not Nepali. Whilst individually noted, these disparate challenges and opportunities have not been collectively discussed and evaluated by residents, stakeholders and policy makers. In view of this dynamic situation, UNESCO and the Governments of Japan and Nepal launched the 'Strengthening the Conservation and Management of Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha Project' to protect, conserve and manage key archaeological sites before sites were irreversibly adversely affected. Focused on Lumbini in Phase I (2011-2014) and Tilauarakot (identified by many as the Buddha's childhood home) in Phase II (2014-2017), the team of Durham University archaeologists and planners from the project team now recognise the need to promote the development of an agreed multidisciplinary and collaborative approach for the protection and preservation of heritage sites and the evaluation of the positive and negative social and economic impacts of contemporary Buddhist pilgrimage at them. By expanding the partnerships between Durham's UNESCO Chair and the project team to interface with managers, residents, pilgrims and stakeholders, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, we seek to reduce the destruction and irreversible modification of heritage sites and identify and promote benefits, and reduce negative impacts of pilgrimage through the development and dissemination of pilot toolkits and methodologies.

The earthquakes which struck Nepal in 2015 caused a human catastrophe. Not only did they inflict loss of life and livelihoods, they destroyed substantial parts of Kathmandu's unique UNESCO World Heritage site. The monuments of the city were not only ornate structures but were living monuments playing central roles in the daily lives of thousands of Nepalis. Furthermore, their rehabilitation is of economic importance as they represent a major source of foreign currency and employment through tourism. Indeed, the Government of Nepal's 'Cultural Heritage Post-Disaster Needs Assessment 2015' (PDNA) estimates that losses relating to damage and livelihoods amount to over US$23 million. Whilst there is a strong political, social and economic desire to reconstruct rapidly, it is critical that post-disaster rescue archaeology is combined with reconstruction. Indeed, plans to reconstruct temples on existing ruined platforms must first be preceded by a phase of rescue excavations to evaluate the subsurface stability of foundations with detailed recording and scientific analysis as few architectural studies have considered them. These will provide a greater understanding of how monuments developed and facilitate their enhanced rehabilitation and future protection. There is also an imperative for information and data sharing and capacity building as damage has already been inflicted on monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage site during the post-disaster pre-reconstruction phase led by architects and engineers unaware of the heritage beneath their feet. Indeed, having discussed challenges and opportunities with stakeholders in Kathmandu, it is clear that the current focus on the rehabilitation of architectural superstructures has resulted in additional damage to Kathmandu's World Heritage site. This has largely gone unnoticed as it entailed damage to subsurface archaeological heritage, even though this heritage is protected by national legislation. Emergency interventions badly damaged some buildings but, whilst they were driven by recovering the injured and dead, more recent damage relates to non-emergency activities, including engineering contractors cutting exploratory trenches and drilling soil cores, workmen cutting foundations, soldiers deliberately collapsing monuments and engineers dismantling others. All of these events had a common absence of in-situ archaeological recording and the absence of consultation with trained professional archaeologists beforehand. This absence is paralleled in the PDNA 2015, which fails to note the risk to the vulnerable subsurface archaeological heritage from rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. More recent documents, such as the draft 'Conservation Guidelines for Post 2015 Earthquake Rehabilitation: Conservation Guidelines' (CGPERCG2015) recognise this risk but need strengthening. It is worth noting that this situation is common across South Asia and there is a capacity deficit in urban and rescue archaeology, despite being located in a region whose built heritage is prone to risks from both seismic events and rapid urbanisation. Following requests from the Government of Nepal and ICOMOS (Nepal) and responding to AHRC's FoF 'Notice for International Development', our aim is to build on the success of the 'Outstanding' graded AHRC-funded research in Sri Lanka to conduct a practical field training workshop with non-academic collaborators to focus on learning from the evaluation of the foundations of the collapsed Kasthamandap in Kathmandu and as well as on salvaging material to assist post-earthquake plans for its reconstruction and to offer an exemplar for strengthening and disseminating post-disaster subsurface heritage protocols within post-earthquake Kathmandu.

The proposed network speaks to the cities and sustainable infrastructure theme, especially conservation and cultural heritage with the role (mountain) cities and towns play as constellations of knowledge and culture. It will deliver under SDG11 for inclusive, safe and resilient cities on sub-themes 11.3 on inclusive planning and 11.4 on cultural heritage. New transport connectivity driven by China One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative offers new hopes and opportunities to communities in mountainous regions of Central Asia. However, increased connectivity also carries the potential to introduce significant new societal challenges in regard to benefits and their (possibly unequal) distribution, as well as challenges for socio-cultural resilience and the mobilisation and protection of intangible and tangible local cultural heritages. Rapid changes pose threats to the conservation of traditional practices but also opportunities to develop them as resources (such as craft production and tourism sites) and also mobilising and developing them further as heritage assets. All too often, rapid and externally driven development has commodified local cultures, to be packaged for sale - with both control and most economic benefits going to outside developers. This is especially true of mountain, borderland communities whose interests are very often subordinated to state imperatives for territorial control and security. The proposed GCRF network will address such needs and help to preserve the local cultural heritages of formerly isolated mountain towns and, furthermore, keep these cultural heritages alive - as integral aspects of modern societies with clearly articulated pathways of cultural continuity. The network will aim specifically to develop capacities for interventions that focus on empowering (formerly) remote mountain towns and cities, enabling them to maintain greater control over their own cultures, development, and economic benefits. The network takes this forward in the context of huge infrastructural development in terms of planned transit corridors to ask how this hard infrastructural development intersects with built heritage and the soft infrastructure of intangible heritages and culture. The current level of infrastructural planning largely has been driven at national levels by strategic regional visions, and most often has ignored or inadequately incorporated the needs and wishes of local communities. The resilience of local cultures to the 'shock' of the largescale development and increased connectivity currently affecting and rapidly changing the target region needs enhancing. Current ways of life and socio-cultural practices may be profoundly disrupted by all these changes, even as they bring new opportunities. Current infrastructural developments are introducing many, new economic imperatives, new contacts and new pressures and new demands on fragile socio-ecosystems systems - including encounters with tourists and traders alike, with all the new possibilities to sell products more widely. Immediate gains may be possible, for example through appropriate tourism and craft production opportunities, but these must be situated in the context of socio-cultural viability and global markets for products.

Climate change poses an existential threat to all humanity. Understanding this change and adapting to it has become the greatest challenge of our time. From rising sea-levels, more extreme weather events and aridification, the extensive impacts of climate are evident at heritage sites globally and the pace of this change is startling. In most parts of the world the rate of loss is exceeding adaptive capacity and this deficit is only getting worse, especially in the global south. Decisions on conservation and preservation begin with a detailed understanding of a place's vulnerability. The choices made will directly impact that ability to effectively integrate the goals of safeguarding cultural heritage, adapting and mitigating climate change, and driving sustainable development. Previous assessment methodologies must be revised to accurately evaluate the vulnerability of cultural heritage sites and their associated communities in the face of a changing climate. There is an urgent need to develop community-based, quick (and yet effective) new techniques and methodologies, and these must be scalable globally. The CVI Africa Project seeks to address this need. The proposed research project centres on training heritage professionals through piloting a new, protype heritage management methodology known as the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) in Africa. CVI provides an assessment of the physical and ecological impacts of current and projected climate change on the heritage values of sites and also provides a high-level assessment of the economic, social and cultural consequences of climate change for the site and the associated community. The Project is designed both to adapt existing methodology to the African cultural context and also draw on African expertise to inform refinements in the general CVI methodology. The CVI Africa project will provide foundational training in vulnerability assessment using the CVI method to train six heritage professionals from low and middle income African countries. It will utilise UK and international expertise to develop and deliver online, transferrable and scalable training resources to training participants. The project will culminate in two workshops in Nigeria (Sukur Cultural Landscape) and Tanzania (The Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara) which are impacted by climate change. These workshops will include the training participants, local and national experts and stakeholders, and international partners and will culminate in a publicly available and locally published report. The project will also foster new relationships and encourage knowledge exchange by bringing together collaborators from many organisations and working with new and existing members of the Climate Heritage Network (CHN), a network of arts, culture and heritage organisations committed to aiding their communities in tackling climate change and achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. These include lead investigators from Queen's University Belfast, Historic Environment Scotland, the University of Highlands and Islands and the African World Heritage Fund. Local partner organisations include the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Other international partner organisations include the International Committee on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Historic England, the International National Trust Organisation (INTO) and the Union of Concerned Scientists who will all play roles in project training and/ or workshop participation. Finally, the project will work with the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and other similar projects to develop a longer term and sustainable Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) funded workstream, to respond effectively to climate change impacts on cultural heritage focused on developing countries.

The ENGAGE Network aims to develop an evidence-based understanding of the role and potential of heritage sites, practices and communities in developing long-term sustainable and inclusive peace across conflict-prone border regions through creative modes of cultural productions, education, tourism, interdependent economy and social justice. Designed around the notion of 'humanitarian heritage' as common endeavour of humanity that is indiscriminate about human race, culture, ethnicity or religion, the Network anticipates developing transferable models and forums of 'humanitarian heritage partnerships' as a long-term reverse mechanism for conflict prevention and counter-terrorism strategy in vulnerable and neglected border regions. It will advance discourse and policy on cultural heritage as a source of economic prosperity,transcending political and cultural barriers. It will investigate strategies to counter cultural conflict rhetoric through inclusive education, heritage-centred growth, rural development and infrastructures of peace. The purpose of ENGAGE Network is to re-contextualise heritage to mobilise discussion regarding its common elements - as meeting places, trading points, sites of shared enjoyment - and as a catalyst for much needed economic and social development and Social Justice. The Network's research programme is designed around five themes: Infrastructures and Models of Regional Partnerships for Inclusive Growth; Sustainable Heritage of Hospitality Across Borders; Creative Art, Craft and Cultural Co-production; Heritage Education for Inclusiveness and Diversity; and Navigating Narratives of Displacement, Slavery and Shared Grievances in Border Conflicts. The ENGAGE Network will work within 2 areas - The Middle East and North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Iran) and Southern Asia (including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and India). These regions/countries have been chosen due to sustained and recurring armed, cultural, or ideological conflicts. The Network activities will operate via 5 Regional Partnership Hubs in the designated areas: Tataouine (Tunisia), Baghdad-Erbil (Iraq/ Kurdistan), Umm-Qais (Jordan); Jaffna (Sri Lanka); and the Greater Lumbini Area (Nepal), reaching out to communities in all beneficiary countries through the Network capacity-building funded projects programme. This GCRF Development Award project will take the form of a pilot study to test the ENGAGE Network's research framework and methodology through the development of 3 of the 5 the proposed Regional Research Partnership Hubs - Iraq, Tunisia and Southern Nepal. The project will develop and increase links and knowledge transfer between the ENGAGE Network's international partners, PI and UK and overseas co-investigators. The award will also enable 3 collaborative workshops with stakeholders, research partners and community representatives from the regions. These workshops will explore research methodologies, approaches and challenges to the models of partnership hubs. They will take place in Tataouine (Tunisia), Baghdad-Erbil (Iraq/ Kurdistan), and the Greater Lumbini Area (Nepal). The workshops are designed to operate a number of engagements, meetings and focus group interviews to map local and regional perspectives in the co-design and co-production of the ENGAGE Network's research agenda, methodology and delivery plan. This Development Award will enable and facilitate collaborative research with partners and stakeholders in the global south to investigate strategies to counter cultural conflict rhetoric through inclusive education, heritage-centred growth, rural development and infrastructures of peace. The multi-disciplinary team includes specialists from politics, social sciences, human rights, heritage, tourism, archaeology, architecture, economics, museums and education.