CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS

Africa Heritage in the Age of Climate Change: Challenges and Sustainable Futures

Africa’s rich cultural and natural heritage is increasingly under threat from the intersecting pressures of climate change, rapid urbanisation, extractive industries, and infrastructural development. From coastal erosion affecting heritage sites along the continent’s shorelines to desertification in arid regions and flooding in urban settlements, climate change poses both immediate and long-term risks to heritage preservation. At the same time, African legal systems—shaped by plural traditions including customary law, colonial legacies, and post-independence constitutional frameworks—face growing demands to reconcile heritage protection with development imperatives. These tensions raise critical questions about justice, governance, and the role of communities in safeguarding heritage. This edited volume seeks to foreground African perspectives and experiences, contributing to global debates while centring local knowledge systems, decolonial approaches, and context-specific legal and policy responses.

Themes and Topics

We invite contributions and encourage submissions from African scholars and early-career researchers; practitioners in heritage management, environmental law, and development planning; and policymakers and civil society actors working in heritage and climate governance that engage with, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Heritage and Climate Vulnerability in Africa - Impacts of climate change on cultural and natural heritage sites across African regions
• Legal Pluralism and Heritage Governance - Intersections between customary law, statutory law, and international frameworks
• Decolonising Heritage and Archives - Reclaiming African narratives, memory, and epistemologies in heritage discourse
• Development vs Preservation - Infrastructure projects, mining, land reform, and their implications for heritage
• Climate Justice and Environmental Governance - Equity, accountability, and the protection of vulnerable communities
• Indigenous Knowledge Systems - Role of traditional ecological knowledge in climate adaptation and heritage conservation
• Land, Identity, and Restitution - Heritage in the context of land rights, dispossession, and post-colonial redress
• Urbanisation and Heritage Loss - Pressures on heritage in rapidly expanding African cities
• Regional and Continental Legal Frameworks - The role of institutions such as the African Union and instruments like the African
• Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
• Case Studies from African Countries - Empirical and comparative analyses from across the continent
• Digital Heritage and Innovation - Technology-driven approaches to documenting and protecting heritage
• Heritage, Tourism, and Sustainable Development - Balancing economic growth with conservation

Submission Guidelines

• Abstracts: 300 words clearly outlining the research question, methodology, and key argument
• Full Chapters: 6,000–8,000 words (including references)
• Referencing Style: APA 7th Edition
• Submissions must be original and not under consideration elsewhere

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: Friday, 15 May 2026

Notification of acceptance: Monday, 15 June 2026

Full chapter submission: Tuesday, 15 September 2026

Include a brief author biography (100–150 words), indicating institutional affiliation and research interests.

Submission Process

Please submit abstracts and chapters to: pmasake@nust.na or shiningayamweagnes@gmail.com

Scientific Committee

Prof Pilisano Masake (NUST); Ms Agnes Shiningayamwe (Heritage Council of Namibia)