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Climate change poses a major threat to cultural and industrial heritage conservation in Damietta. Not only does sea- level rise endanger significant heritage sites, but also puts at risk the conservation and continuance of cultural values and practices that form irreplaceable layers of history in this community, embodied in the local craft and value chain, as well as the industry's social capital and spatio-temporal networks. Critically, the interrelated tangible and intangible cultural heritage directly affect the city's resilience and economic growth. This project aims to examine, quantitatively map and promote the cultural and economic resilience of Damietta, which is under threat from climate change and contemporary political decision-making that is insensitive to its socio-cultural heritage. By documenting and highlighting indigenouss knowlege and the tangible cultural heritage of this craft industry and its social networks, a strong case can be made to protect these practices and save the economic livelihood of the city's inhabitants. The methodology adopts a mixed methods approach, comprising interviews, focus groups and stakeholder workshops, which verify a geospatial GIS network map based on field survey. The research utilises Network Theory, Social Capital Theory and Competitive Advantage Theory as a basis for the evidence to quantity Social Capital and visualise its resilience in relation to space. The project outputs include visual GIS mapping of Social Capital networks as cultural heritage, online interactive platform as a shared arena for furniture industry community awareness towards climate change mitigation, recommendations for inclusive decision-making for municipalities and local authorities, as well as building the case for Damietta's furniture industry network for recognition in UNESCO's ICH programme. This project tackles several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that relate to cultural heritage, economic growth/reform and sustainability in terms of climate action: decent work and economic growth; industry and innovation; sustainable cities and communities; and climate action (SDG 8, 9, 11, and 13). This offers an opportunity for data-driven sustainable development in Egypt, which is included in the ODA list on reporting for 2020 aid to mitigate against climate change.
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