As Antony Macnaghten joins CCGHT for a placement he discusses the research focus and what brought him to study at Queen’s this year.
After spending 10 years working as a Tour Guide sharing stories of the people and places of the Causeway Coast and Glens, in 2021 I had a bit of career rethink.
Through working in the heritage sector of the North Coast for over a decade, I have learnt about many of the challenges facing the environment, the community and the economy around the Causeway along with the need for a more sustainable approach to address these challenges. In order to gain a better understanding of these issues, in September 2021 I enrolled in the MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development at the Gibson Institute, Queen’s University Belfast.
This postgraduate course involves an intense 4-month period of study in the classroom at Queen’s, learning from a range of international experts about different aspects of sustainable development, followed by a research project to apply this learning. I now have the exciting opportunity of working on a research project with the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust to research sustainable development of the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site.
In response to unprecedented global threats from the emerging climate crisis, in 2015 the United Nations produced a blueprint for Sustainable Development that was adopted by 193 countries around the world. At the heart of this blueprint are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to nurture a global partnership for people, prosperity, and the planet in order to transform the world by 2030. 
My research will look at these 17 SDGs and the various UNESCO policies that flow from them. I am currently researching UNESCO policy around sustainable development for heritage properties, case studies at similar properties around the world, along with considering the Giant’s Causeway in more detail to understand which of the 17 UN SDGs the Steering Group for this World Heritage Site might champion.
The research part of this project will end in mid-March and then findings will be presented in a paper to the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site Steering Group to help them decide which SDGs to champion.