Unveiling Climate-Adaptive World Heritage Management Strategies: The Netherlands as a Case Study
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI am impressed with you research into how the Netherlands has established climate-adaptive strategies shaped by its long history of water-related climate events. The use of UNESCO World Heritage (WH) properties in the Netherlands as a case study provides an informative basis for your analysis of the formal documents used for WH management. The article has the worthy aim of understanding how climate-adaptive management strategies by using WH properties in the Netherlands as case study.
The article provides a strong opportunity to further reflect how cultural and natural landscape are interwoven and how the centuries of human intervention including spatial design and hydraulic engineering can provide the basis for understanding and addressing climate adaptation challenges.
Clearly there article represents a significant research and in my view is worthy of publication in its current form. However, if the editors and other reviewers recommend revision, I would like see the main insight drawn out more strongly. That is I suspect there three or four critically important insights which could drive the narrative structure and provide coherence from the introduction to the conclusion. From my reading, the case studies reveal important dimension of how greater recognition of the roles of all cultural landscapes in supporting climate adaptation. And further, there is a central idea that by more fully embracing the climate adaptation challenges, the protection of WH sites could become learning and research hubs, advancing knowledge, innovation and experimentation in adaptation theory, policy and practice.
Author Response
Comments 1: I am impressed with you research into how the Netherlands has established climate-adaptive strategies shaped by its long history of water-related climate events. The use of UNESCO World Heritage (WH) properties in the Netherlands as a case study provides an informative basis for your analysis of the formal documents used for WH management. The article has the worthy aim of understanding how climate-adaptive management strategies by using WH properties in the Netherlands as case study. The article provides a strong opportunity to further reflect how cultural and natural landscape are interwoven and how the centuries of human intervention including spatial design and hydraulic engineering can provide the basis for understanding and addressing climate adaptation challenges.
Response 1: Thank you for your thoughtful assessment of our manuscript. We greatly appreciate your recognition of the research aim through World Heritage (WH) properties in the Netherlands.
Comments 2: Clearly there article represents a significant research and in my view is worthy of publication in its current form. However, if the editors and other reviewers recommend revision, I would like see the main insight drawn out more strongly. That is I suspect there three or four critically important insights which could drive the narrative structure and provide coherence from the introduction to the conclusion.
Response 2: Thank you for your suggestion to enhance the coherence and narrative structure based on the research insights, particularly the role of cultural landscapes in climate adaptation and using WH properties as knowledge hubs. We agree with your comment and have revised the manuscript accordingly.
Comments 3: From my reading, the case studies reveal important dimension of how greater recognition of the roles of all cultural landscapes in supporting climate adaptation.
Response 3: Concerning cultural landscapes, we noted how they represent human interactions with environments to address climate challenges in PP1-2 Lines 41-43, and also stressed that in P2 Lines 79-80. In P9 Lines 234-239, we rephrased initial sentences to clarify the connection between human interaction and the environment, reflecting the cultural landscapes of WH properties related to climate adaptation. In P11 Lines 287-289, we rephrased the initial sentence to present ‘keur’ gardens and trees as crucial for the 17th-century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam within the Singelgracht’s vegetation cover. P15 Lines 363-365 pointed out traditional water and landscape management as key human interventions in shaping the cultural landscapes of WH properties. In P16 Lines 410-412, Lines 413-415, and Lines 428-433, sentences were rephrased to highlight the “inherent role” of vegetation and hydraulic structures in supporting urban climate regulation and water management. This was also reiterated in P18 Lines 517-519.
Comments 4: And further, there is a central idea that by more fully embracing the climate adaptation challenges, the protection of WH sites could become learning and research hubs, advancing knowledge, innovation and experimentation in adaptation theory, policy and practice.
Response 4: Regarding WH properties as knowledge hubs, P2 Lines 43-46 mentioned their role in knowledge-building, “where traditional knowledge embedded in human-environment interaction continues to inform water management and spatial planning in the Netherlands. " P12 Lines 298-299, Lines 302-303 elaborated on WH properties' support for education and cross-sectoral collaboration. P12 Lines 312-315 detailed Van Nellefabriek as the “focus of research in optimising energy consumption, contributing to climate adaptation efforts". P14 Lines 336-337, Lines 352-355 reaffirmed the identification of WH properties as knowledge hubs. P18 Lines 520-521, Lines 523-524 were also rephrased to emphasise this further.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis study analyzes the keywords from official documents related to the Netherlands’ World Heritage sites to identify climate adaptation strategies. Overall, I believe the categories are understandable, though the implications may be limited as they summarize interests expressed in documents through keyword analysis. Nevertheless, given that the ambition of this study is to organize and clarify the current situation, I believe there is no problem. I found it interesting to read.
Author Response
Comments 1: This study analyzes the keywords from official documents related to the Netherlands’ World Heritage sites to identify climate adaptation strategies. Overall, I believe the categories are understandable, though the implications may be limited as they summarize interests expressed in documents through keyword analysis. Nevertheless, given that the ambition of this study is to organize and clarify the current situation, I believe there is no problem. I found it interesting to read.
Response 1: Thank you for highlighting the limitations of keyword analysis in shaping the implications of our study. We completely agree with the comment and have revised the manuscript accordingly. In P2 Lines 66-67 and Lines 81-82, we outlined our research ambition to use an organised, structured approach to unveil climate-adaptive World Heritage management strategies due to “fragmented information available online and limited structured insights on how the heritage sector supports climate adaptation in a real-world context”. In P17 Lines 490-499, we added a new paragraph, highlighting the limitation of this structured approach and reliance on the list of keywords prepared beforehand. Additionally, we provide recommendations on how future studies can mitigate this limitation.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis is a well researched and structured paper that applies Grounded Theory to generate key benefits of integrating World Heritage properties into sustainable management plans. You examined UNESCO World Heritage Convention website documents related to 12 WH properties in the Netherlands. Your Grounded Theory approach inductively generated codes from text. Subsequent visualisation helped distil themes. From this analysis, you concluded that the two main benefits of climate-adaptive World Heritage management are conservation and the fostering of collaborative knowledge hubs. Conservation of vegetation helps mitigate Urban Heat Island effects while hydraulic conservation contributes to sustainable water management. Heritage hubs enrich culture and education. You advocate for stronger integration of WH assets in climate adaptation and environmental management initiatives or strategies.
The authors provide reassuringly transparent acknowledgement of limitations of the paper in relation to the source documents and outline how future heritage-sustainability research could be improved by:
- Expanding literature corpus international and national climate adaptation policies
- Conducting qualitative interviews
- Considering influence of Dutch heritage legislation and legal instruments, or
- Internationalising the the document analysis.
Altogether, an excellent paper.
Author Response
Comments 1: This is a well researched and structured paper that applies Grounded Theory to generate key benefits of integrating World Heritage properties into sustainable management plans. You examined UNESCO World Heritage Convention website documents related to 12 WH properties in the Netherlands. Your Grounded Theory approach inductively generated codes from text. Subsequent visualisation helped distil themes. From this analysis, you concluded that the two main benefits of climate-adaptive World Heritage management are conservation and the fostering of collaborative knowledge hubs. Conservation of vegetation helps mitigate Urban Heat Island effects while hydraulic conservation contributes to sustainable water management. Heritage hubs enrich culture and education. You advocate for stronger integration of WH assets in climate adaptation and environmental management initiatives or strategies.
The authors provide reassuringly transparent acknowledgement of limitations of the paper in relation to the source documents and outline how future heritage-sustainability research could be improved by:
- Expanding literature corpus international and national climate adaptation policies
- Conducting qualitative interviews
- Considering influence of Dutch heritage legislation and legal instruments, or
- Internationalising the the document analysis.
Altogether, an excellent paper.
Response 1: Thanks a lot for your time and efforts in reading and summarizing our paper with great accuracy. We are pleased to see that our research aim, approach, conclusion, and the proposed future steps are clearly understood.
