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Research paper thumbnail of World Heritage Sites and Tentative Lists "Filling the Gap"- Africa

Papers by Dr. Tokie Laotan-Brown

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural heritage in the management and resolution of conflicts in Indigenous communities

Routledge eBooks, Mar 14, 2024

Research paper thumbnail of The New Scramble and Its Economic Impact on West African Women

Universitaire Pers Leuven eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Reflections on the Customary Laws of Benin Kingdom and Its Living Cultural Objects in the Discourse of Ownership and Restitution

Santander Art and Culture Law Review

The British punitive expedition of 1897 led to the theft and vandalization of the cultural herita... more The British punitive expedition of 1897 led to the theft and vandalization of the cultural heritage of the Benin kingdom. The plunder included more than 3,000 cultural objects made of bronzes, ivories, beads, and other objects, which were produced since the 1st century AD to commemorate historical moments, political transitions, and ritual purposes. This theft dishonoured the spiritual and ritual significance of these living cultural objects, and has turned them into museum artefacts. As international debates on restitution and the return of Benin Bronzes intensify, two pertinent questions which arise are: Who will be the custodians of the returned artefacts?; and How will they be conserved? In this article, we address these two questions through the lens of Benin customary laws and practices. We argue that within this local jurisprudence, the Emwin Arre– the living cultural heritage described above –belong to the Oba of Benin and should be returned to the royal Palace, where they w...

Research paper thumbnail of Marginalised Heritages Building Bridges to Recognition and Protection

HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT, 2020

Across the world, the heritage of women, LGBTQIA+ groups and ethnic/religious minorities are incr... more Across the world, the heritage of women, LGBTQIA+ groups and ethnic/religious minorities are increasingly being recognised and gradually incorporated into o icial heritage regimes. While such heritages are being embraced, they also continue to be marginalised, ignored, shunned or erased. This paper examines issues and challenges associated with the recognition of the heritages of gender, sexually diverse groups and minority communities; it explores the reasons such heritages may be resisted, contested or repressed in certain times and places; and explores how they might be imagined in the future. In doing so, the paper sets the scene and o ers provocations for discussions, debates and explorations on the idea of 'Marginalised Heritages'-an intended theme of the ICOMOS 2020 Scientific Symposium. Drawing on three case studies, we view some of the challenges to the recognition of women, LGBTQIA+ and ethnic/religious minorities heritages, such as the suitability of place-based and values-based heritage systems in their identification, documentation and assessment; the necessity of integrating tangible and intangible attributes; the place of human and cultural rights; how diversity can be incorporated into mainstream heritage policies and practices; and envisioning a heritagefutures approach via bridging gaps.

Research paper thumbnail of Contextual differences in the perception of thermal comfort scales – the data base from a large-scale international questionnaire study

Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Bu... more Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings (http://annex69.org/), we are conducting an international questionnaire study related to thermal comfort scales. Our objective is the analysis of influences on the perception of thermal comfort scales. In particular, we are looking at the effect of the current thermal state, peoples climatic background, and level of adaptation on the relationship between thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal acceptance.

Research paper thumbnail of Contextual differences in the interpretation of thermal perception scales – a large-scale international questionnaire study

Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Bu... more Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings (http://annex69.org/), we are conducting an international questionnaire study related to thermal comfort scales. Our objective is the analysis of influences on the perception of thermal comfort scales. In particular, we are looking at the effect of the current thermal state, peoples climatic background, and level of adaptation on the relationship between thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal acceptance.

Research paper thumbnail of African Cities Cultural Heritage, Urban Fragmentation, and Territorial Spatial Development

Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies

The contemporary African city tends to become a geographic platform for establishing and showing ... more The contemporary African city tends to become a geographic platform for establishing and showing a territorial spatial–social identity. This shows that global openness and accessibility may run parallel to closed and fragmented cultural clusters. Urban scholarship calls for a broader orientation in the field of cultural heritage dynamics, with a focus on the following: citizenship and identity, economic creative activities and innovation, the impact of popular culture, and the interface between traditional societal perspectives and open attitudes regarding contemporary interwoven cultures. Against this background, African cities have always been meeting places for people of different cultures, education, and talents. The contemporary African city is an open milieu, where ideas from a diversity of cultures and nations come together. The major challenge for a modern African city will be to turn possible tensions in such a intercultural milieu into positive synergetic energy.

Research paper thumbnail of Africans Residing in Galway City, Ireland: The significance of social housing policies, social and cultural inclusions

The paper examines how social capital (specifically cultural and social ties) shape the adjustmen... more The paper examines how social capital (specifically cultural and social ties) shape the adjustment and adaptation of African migrants in Galway. It documents a residence-based initiative to integrate members of the African communities into the Irish society. It highlights five significant themes on recent migration and social inclusion policies in the republic of Ireland, including, language competency as critical to the development of effective social housing policies; social and cultural exclusivity and the role of the family in assessing social housing; assimilation as an agent of immigrant's social exclusion and vulnerability; the influence of money and culture on migrants social capital within the wider Irish community; institutions and institutional norms and values as key to the positive generation of social and culturally sensitive policies for minorities. These themes provide empirical evidence of the connections between social housing policies, cultural and social inclusion mechanisms for Africans in Galway. The study demonstrates that social housing policy processes are key to our understanding of the kinds of vulnerabilities, risks and supports among the African communities who have settled in the West of Ireland, particularly in Galway. The findings illustrate that the critical function of social housing policies on social and cultural inclusions in understanding the development of African migrant adaptation and adjustment in new settled societies has not attracted enough attention among researchers and policy makers.

Research paper thumbnail of World Heritage Sites and Tentative Lists "Filling the Gap"- Africa

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural heritage in the management and resolution of conflicts in Indigenous communities

Routledge eBooks, Mar 14, 2024

Research paper thumbnail of The New Scramble and Its Economic Impact on West African Women

Universitaire Pers Leuven eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Reflections on the Customary Laws of Benin Kingdom and Its Living Cultural Objects in the Discourse of Ownership and Restitution

Santander Art and Culture Law Review

The British punitive expedition of 1897 led to the theft and vandalization of the cultural herita... more The British punitive expedition of 1897 led to the theft and vandalization of the cultural heritage of the Benin kingdom. The plunder included more than 3,000 cultural objects made of bronzes, ivories, beads, and other objects, which were produced since the 1st century AD to commemorate historical moments, political transitions, and ritual purposes. This theft dishonoured the spiritual and ritual significance of these living cultural objects, and has turned them into museum artefacts. As international debates on restitution and the return of Benin Bronzes intensify, two pertinent questions which arise are: Who will be the custodians of the returned artefacts?; and How will they be conserved? In this article, we address these two questions through the lens of Benin customary laws and practices. We argue that within this local jurisprudence, the Emwin Arre– the living cultural heritage described above –belong to the Oba of Benin and should be returned to the royal Palace, where they w...

Research paper thumbnail of Marginalised Heritages Building Bridges to Recognition and Protection

HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT, 2020

Across the world, the heritage of women, LGBTQIA+ groups and ethnic/religious minorities are incr... more Across the world, the heritage of women, LGBTQIA+ groups and ethnic/religious minorities are increasingly being recognised and gradually incorporated into o icial heritage regimes. While such heritages are being embraced, they also continue to be marginalised, ignored, shunned or erased. This paper examines issues and challenges associated with the recognition of the heritages of gender, sexually diverse groups and minority communities; it explores the reasons such heritages may be resisted, contested or repressed in certain times and places; and explores how they might be imagined in the future. In doing so, the paper sets the scene and o ers provocations for discussions, debates and explorations on the idea of 'Marginalised Heritages'-an intended theme of the ICOMOS 2020 Scientific Symposium. Drawing on three case studies, we view some of the challenges to the recognition of women, LGBTQIA+ and ethnic/religious minorities heritages, such as the suitability of place-based and values-based heritage systems in their identification, documentation and assessment; the necessity of integrating tangible and intangible attributes; the place of human and cultural rights; how diversity can be incorporated into mainstream heritage policies and practices; and envisioning a heritagefutures approach via bridging gaps.

Research paper thumbnail of Contextual differences in the perception of thermal comfort scales – the data base from a large-scale international questionnaire study

Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Bu... more Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings (http://annex69.org/), we are conducting an international questionnaire study related to thermal comfort scales. Our objective is the analysis of influences on the perception of thermal comfort scales. In particular, we are looking at the effect of the current thermal state, peoples climatic background, and level of adaptation on the relationship between thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal acceptance.

Research paper thumbnail of Contextual differences in the interpretation of thermal perception scales – a large-scale international questionnaire study

Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Bu... more Within the IEA EBC Annex 69 on Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings (http://annex69.org/), we are conducting an international questionnaire study related to thermal comfort scales. Our objective is the analysis of influences on the perception of thermal comfort scales. In particular, we are looking at the effect of the current thermal state, peoples climatic background, and level of adaptation on the relationship between thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal acceptance.

Research paper thumbnail of African Cities Cultural Heritage, Urban Fragmentation, and Territorial Spatial Development

Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies

The contemporary African city tends to become a geographic platform for establishing and showing ... more The contemporary African city tends to become a geographic platform for establishing and showing a territorial spatial–social identity. This shows that global openness and accessibility may run parallel to closed and fragmented cultural clusters. Urban scholarship calls for a broader orientation in the field of cultural heritage dynamics, with a focus on the following: citizenship and identity, economic creative activities and innovation, the impact of popular culture, and the interface between traditional societal perspectives and open attitudes regarding contemporary interwoven cultures. Against this background, African cities have always been meeting places for people of different cultures, education, and talents. The contemporary African city is an open milieu, where ideas from a diversity of cultures and nations come together. The major challenge for a modern African city will be to turn possible tensions in such a intercultural milieu into positive synergetic energy.

Research paper thumbnail of Africans Residing in Galway City, Ireland: The significance of social housing policies, social and cultural inclusions

The paper examines how social capital (specifically cultural and social ties) shape the adjustmen... more The paper examines how social capital (specifically cultural and social ties) shape the adjustment and adaptation of African migrants in Galway. It documents a residence-based initiative to integrate members of the African communities into the Irish society. It highlights five significant themes on recent migration and social inclusion policies in the republic of Ireland, including, language competency as critical to the development of effective social housing policies; social and cultural exclusivity and the role of the family in assessing social housing; assimilation as an agent of immigrant's social exclusion and vulnerability; the influence of money and culture on migrants social capital within the wider Irish community; institutions and institutional norms and values as key to the positive generation of social and culturally sensitive policies for minorities. These themes provide empirical evidence of the connections between social housing policies, cultural and social inclusion mechanisms for Africans in Galway. The study demonstrates that social housing policy processes are key to our understanding of the kinds of vulnerabilities, risks and supports among the African communities who have settled in the West of Ireland, particularly in Galway. The findings illustrate that the critical function of social housing policies on social and cultural inclusions in understanding the development of African migrant adaptation and adjustment in new settled societies has not attracted enough attention among researchers and policy makers.