Knowledge transfer at the interface of cultural and cultural heritage sites often face special challenges. One such case is Petra in Jordan, which, with its stone-carved facades, is located directly at this interface. On December 7th and 8th, 2020, the online symposium SXNCH (Sites at the Intersection of Natural and Cultural Heritage) took place for the exchange of knowledge and networking on issues relating to the preservation, management and perspectives of such cultural heritage sites. The goal: to bring together interest groups with similar challenges from preventive conservation, monument preservation and nature conservation and to build a network. The cooperative project PETRA was funded by a cooperation of the Federal Foreign Office with actors from Petra, the Oxford Resilient Buildings and Landscape Laboratory (OxRBL) of the University of Oxford and the Fraunhofer Institutes for Building Physics IBP and International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW. During the two-day symposium, participants found synergetic approaches and built common ground and training strategies.

The program was packed with keynote speakers, breakout sessions and panel discussions with international participants and contributions outlined new perspectives on a number of international cultural heritage sites. One of the focal points was the question of how to envision solutions to the current challenges involved in adapting monument preservation to climate change. The event concluded with a Wikipedia edit-a-thon, a special event format in cooperation with the Wiki Media Foundation, in which authors collaboratively created articles. The aim of creating an online platform for the development of networking opportunities and recording the common competencies was documented by several pages on Wikipedia on appropriate topics of the preservation of cultural assets at the interface of nature and culture. Additionally, the chapter “Conservation” was added to the English Wikipedia page on Petra, Jordan.