With Heritage Declares calling for action, this seminar will look at climate change and our heritage and its settings. Just as more than 100 local councils in the UK have declared a climate emergency and are looking at what this means for their strategic policies and day-to-day actions, so the heritage sector has a new call for action. While the inherent sustainability of re-using existing buildings is well-known, how persuasive are we at arguing for their retention in energy terms, or the microclimate of their settings? How we balance adapting historic places to be more environmentally-responsible whilst not harming their historic character is a key challenge.

With low and zero carbon strategies becoming increasingly important not only to places but also to organisations, what are the kind of actions that can be taken – large and small? What role can communities play when setting their own agendas for neighbourhood plans or rescuing historic buildings?

This seminar will address these issues, for professional and communities alike, and will explore the principles of the Heritage Declares charter (www.heritagedeclares.org/):

1. Be a platform for change
2. Shift conservation priorities
3. Build and share the evidence
4. Conserve embodied resources
5. Plan for sustainability
6. Rethink heritage tourism
7. Empower practitioners
8. Protect skills and materials
9. Detoxify conservation practice
10. Pursue ethical finance.

PROGRAMME

10am    Tea and coffee on arrival

10.30am           Welcome, Louise Thomas, HTVF Director

10.45am           Heritage Declares: Why the heritage sector needs to address climate change, Hannah Parham, Associate Director, Donald Insall Associates

11.15am           Old House Eco House: Retrofitting for energy efficiency and sustainability, Marianne Suhr, The Old House Consultancy

11.45am           Understanding embodied energy in existing buildings: Richmond House, Whitehall, Mark Hines, Mark Hines architects

12.15   Q&A

12.45pm          Lunch

1.45pm            Climate change and conservation in neighbourhood planning and community initiatives, Dan Stone, Project Manager, Low Carbon Neighbourhood Planning Programme, Centre for Sustainable Energy

2.15pm            What declaring a climate emergency means for heritage and conservation policies and practice, TBC

2.45pm            Low carbon strategies for historic buildings and areas, Julie Godefroy, Director, Julie Godefroy Sustainability

3.15pm            Tea and coffee

3.45pm            Heritage and conservation policies and practice in a local authority, TBC

4.15pm Discussion and Close

This event has been kindly supported by Donald Insall Associates.