When inheritance becomes a question for the future

This provides researchers, lecturers and students with a space to network, develop projects together, secure funding and share knowledge.

What is important and valuable to us, and what reflects our values and identities? How do we decide what aspects of the past we wish to carry forward into the future? And why do societies find it so difficult to cope with change and loss? With the relaunch of the Heritage Centre, the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) is bringing together its research into cultural and natural heritage in a new, open forum dedicated to these and many other questions. The launch took place on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, at the Cottbus main campus, attended by numerous members of the university community from all faculties.

A centre for the pressing questions of our time

Heritage research has long since ceased to be a niche topic for specialists; rather, it lies at the intersection of several disciplines, ranging from philosophy and the arts through the social sciences and humanities to Physics, chemistry, engineering and technology. It addresses political polarisation and armed conflicts just as much as social injustice and climate change. Its strength lies in its interdisciplinary and international nature. It is precisely in this area that the BTU possesses particularly broad expertise and commitment: heritage-related topics are researched in almost all faculties at the university. The Heritage Centre brings this expertise together. It sees itself as a forum for researchers, lecturers and students. 

The Heritage Centre’s objectives are

• to build networks and establish collaborations with partners both within and outside the university,
• to develop projects and secure funding,
• to organise events and publish jointly,
• to share knowledge and resources.

The Centre’s activities are aimed at anyone involved in heritage work – both on campus and beyond. Anyone interested can become a member, take part in a wide range of activities and play an active role in shaping the heritage research and study programme at BTU.

“Heritage is not about looking back, but about the future. With the HC, we are creating a space where the unique wealth of expertise and commitment at the BTU can give rise to joint research, new ideas and international collaboration,” says Prof. Dr Johanna Blokker, Head of the Heritage Centre and UNESCO Chair in Heritage Studies.

Background

The BTU has held a UNESCO Chair in Heritage Studies since 2003. Since December 2025, the chair has been held by Prof. Dr Johanna Blokker (Architectural Conservation chair), who also heads the Heritage Centre. Under the umbrella of the UNESCO Chair, she and her team aim to develop the HC into a vibrant hub for exchange. This continues a decades-long success story in research and teaching on heritage at the BTU, which culminated in the DFG-funded Graduate College ‘Cultural and Technical Values of Historic Buildings’ (2014–2023) and led to the establishment of the original Cultural Heritage Centre. 

Today, heritage topics and approaches can be explored in depth across several BTU study programmes: in addition to the international Master’s programmes in World Heritage Studies (M.A.) and Heritage Conservation and Site Management (M.A.), as well as the PhD programme in Heritage Studies (Ph.D.), issues and methods from the broad field of heritage are also fully integrated into the study programmes in Building History and Art History (M.A.), Urban Design and Sustainable Revitalization (M.Sc.), Transformation Studies (M.A.), Architecture (M.Sc.) and Technology, Science and Society / TeSS (D.A.S.).

Academic contact
Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Johanna Blokker
Heritage Centre, UNESCO Chair in Heritage Studies
BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
T +49 (0) 355 69 3992 | heritage-centre(at)b-tu.de
Instagram: @heritage_centre_btu