Global Practice Community

https://www.achp.gov/initiatives/sustainability-climate-resilience/climate-heritage-conference

Register Now!

Join the ACHP on October 4, 2024, for an in-person and virtual one-day conference, U.S. Climate Heritage in the International Context. Co-convened by ACHP Chair Sara C. Bronin and Georgetown Law Professor J. Peter Byrne, the event is generously co-sponsored by Georgetown University Law Center, Georgetown Climate Center, Cornell Law School, Cornell Center for Social Sciences, and the American Institute of Architects, and will feature leaders who will address domestic and international climate heritage.

Register here. 

The conference will be livestreamed. Link coming soon.

Description

In light of the first multi-agency (ACHP) U.S. federal policy statements on Climate Change and Historic Preservation and on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation, this conference will focus on how federal preservation and cultural heritage policy of the United States can be informed by the domestic activities of other countries to both better adapt and protect the nation's cultural heritage from the effects of climate change and utilize historic buildings as a climate change mitigation tool.

Speakers will highlight other nations' efforts to:

• re-use existing buildings as a key decarbonization tool;
• support Indigenous Knowledge to prepare for climate change and support self-determination;
• adapt historic sites to climate change; and
• center climate heritage in their domestic policy.

Location

Georgetown University Law Center
Gewirz Student Center, 12th Floor
600 New Jersey Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.

Preliminary Agenda

Registration 9-9:30 a.m.

Opening Remarks 9:30-10 a.m.

• Professor J. Peter Byrne, John Hampton Baumgartner, Jr. Professor of Real Property Law; Faculty Director, Georgetown Climate Center
• The Honorable Sara C. Bronin, Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
• Kathleen Lane, Managing Director of Climate Action and Design Excellence, American Institute of Architects

Panel 1: Indigenous Knowledge's Role in Climate Change Response 10-11:30 a.m.

Indigenous Knowledge offers invaluable insights into understanding, adapting to, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Incorporating this knowledge into national climate change strategies can improve the effectiveness of national responses.

Moderator: TBC

Panelists:

• Sarah Forgesson, a New Zealand-born, Māori archaeologist, Education and Knowledge Director of the ICOMOS/National Geographic project "Preserving Legacies: A Future for our Past"
• Luana Campos, a Brazil-based historian who works with Quilombolos on heritage and climate change matters

Keynote Speaker: George Kremlis 11:30 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.

George Kremlis is the President of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute at the European Public Law Organization and the former Principal Advisor to the Greek Prime Minister on energy, climate, environment and circular economy issues.

Lunch 12:15-1:15 p.m.

Panel 2: Climate Mitigation Strategies Incorporating Heritage 1:15-2:30 p.m.

For governments to have an effective response to climate change, mitigation strategies must be incorporated into all levels of policy. This panel will discuss the importance of centering the re-use of existing and historic buildings as a key tool towards decarbonization and will identify other mitigation strategies that incorporate historic properties as a key element within policy.

Moderator: Erica Avrami, Expert Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation

Panelists:

• Simon Sturgis, UK-based architect and expert on decarbonization in the built environment, founder of Targeting Zero, the Carbon Consultancy
• Antonio Jesús Antequera Delgado, a civil servant in the General Subdirectorate of Management and Coordination of the Cultural Assets at the Ministry of Culture of Spain; oversaw the Spanish government's report on managing cultural heritage in the face of climate change

Panel 3: Climate Change Adaptation: Domestic Efforts Towards Climate Heritage Policy 2:45-4 p.m.

While climate heritage policy continues to grow in stature on the world stage, at home, individual countries are working to implement domestic policies to support climate heritage. This panel will discuss comprehensive national approaches that center the importance of historic and cultural resources

Moderator: Andrew Potts, Community of Practice Director of Preserving Legacies, member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Experts Advisory Committee

Panelists:

• Carlos del Cairo Hurtado, a Colombia-based anthropologist involved in the study of political ecology, conservation policies, and social-ecological transitions in the Amazon region
• Cathy Daly, was the lead researcher and author for Ireland's "Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan for Built and Archaeological Heritage," (2019) and is assisting the Irish government with its implementation. She is a Lecturer in Conservation at the University of Lincoln UK, and research consultant with Carrig Conservation in Ireland.

Closing Remarks 4:00-4:30 p.m.

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

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Marina Wray, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Global Policy and Practice Manager
American Institute of Architects
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