2021 Heritage BC Conference

Register for the 2021 Heritage BC Conference

Anyone involved in the heritage field knows that heritage is always in action. We bring the past into the present and guide it toward the future. We interpret and re-interpret. We tell stories over and over, adding nuances of learning and new understanding.

We memorialize, regenerate, develop, and represent. We conserve and protect. We forget and we remember.

Perhaps more than ever, we have seen the heritage field needs greater action and better results. The pandemic, climate change, and calls of racism have laid bare many archaic structures and systemic problems. We have seen the sector evolve and new priorities have come to the forefront.

The 2021 Heritage BC Conference is about action – the strategies of taking concrete steps and making measurable differences. This is about doing and achieving.

The Heritage BC Conference will be presented online over four weeks in May 2021.

Building Back Better

Thursday, May 6 and Friday, May 7

Detailed Information

Breaking Barriers: Why People with Interest Do Not Visit – And What to Do About It
Thursday, May 6, 10:00am – 11:00am

Presented with:
Colleen Dilenschneider, Know Your Own Bone and Chief Market Engagement Officer, IMPACTS Experience
Jim Hekkers, IMPACTS Experience

Maintaining Respectful Workplaces
Thursday, May 6, 1:00pm – 4:30pm

Presented with Grégoire Gagnon, Executive Director, Cultural Human Resources Council

Gaining Community and Political Buy-In
Friday, May 7, 10:00am – 11:00am

Presenter with Amanda Shatzko, Vice-Chair, Electoral Area “C”, Director, Regional District of the North Okanagan, BC

Going Forward: Connections and Engagement in the Virtual World
Friday, May 7, 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Presented with Inga Petri, CAIP, Strategic Moves

Reconciliation: It’s Time for Action

Thursday, May 13

Detailed Information

By Working Together with Dr. Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams

Unique Cultures • Unique Communities • Unique Collaborations

Setting the Bar: A Guide to Achieve New Standards for Reconciliation within the Heritage Sector

Open Forum Meetings

Friday, May 14, 10:00am

• • Not-for-profit organizations (register)

    To open the conversation, we ask “Does Passion Pay?” Passion is the fuel that drives the not-for-profit sector, but we all know passion does not pay the bills and NFPs are notorious for poor compensation packages. If employers ask for too much (“Master’s degree with experience”)  and they pay too little in return ($20/hour), are we not endangering the workforce?

  • Local Government: staff and commissions (register)

    To open the conversation, we ask “Is this the New Normal?” In the past year, there have been indicators that Local Governments are reducing their budgets and time spent on heritage programming and conservation. At the same time, demolitions seem to be on the increase. Is this a phase or is the appreciation of heritage values at its lowest ebb (as one planner suggested)?

  • Heritage Consultants and Planners (register)

    To open the conversation, we ask “Where does traditional “bricks and mortar” conservation fit into the evolving practice of heritage?” Heritage is no longer just about the restoration of an old building, as other priorities (reconciliation and intangible cultural heritage to name two) have moved to centre stage. For some, these changes offer exciting, new opportunities. For others, these changes offer incompatible challenges that threaten conservation as we have known it. Is it still possible to find a balance between “old-school” heritage with newer priorities? Do we need new reframe our understanding of conservation?

We are thrilled to be able to again organize these three networking meetings for an open exchange of information. While these meetings are open to the issues you bring forward, this year we are suggesting challenging topics to open the conversations.

Everyone is welcome to attend the open forum meetings; conference registration is not a requirement. If you are interested in more than one meeting, register for two or three to receive the unique meeting links. You will then have the ability to switch between the meetings.

Climate Adaptation: It’s Time for Action

Thursday, May 20

Detailed Information

Bringing the Power of Heritage to Climate Action

Presented with Mark Thompson Brandt, OAA, RAIC, CAHP, LEED AP, Principal, Senior Conservation Architect & Urbanist, MTBA Associates

First Nations Perspectives on Environmental conservation

Presented with:
Dr. Agnes Pawlowska-Mainville, BA, MA, PhD, Associate Professor, First Nations Studies, University of Northern BC
First Peoples’ Cultural Council

Climate Adaptation: A Framework for Action

Annual General Meeting

Dogwood Heritage Society of BC, dba Heritage BC
Friday, May 21 at 1:00pm

Business will include a management report, presentation of financial statements, and nominations for the board of directors.

Conference registration is not required to attend the AGM. Members in good standing will be able to participate in the proceedings. Register here for the 2021 AGM. Become a Heritage BC member.

Intangible Heritage in a Tangible World: Writing the Playbook

Thursday, May 27

Detailed Information

• • • Cody Groat: Indigenous Heritage Circle; Department of History, Simon Fraser University
    • Don Luxton: Donald Luxton & Associates
    • George P. Nicholas: Department of Archaeology Simon Fraser University
    • Agnes Pawlowska-Mainville: University of Northern BC; Member International Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage ICOMOS
    • Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra: South Asian Studies Institute, University of Fraser Valley
    • Katharine Turvey: Canadian Commission for UNESCO
    • David Schimpky, Director of Secretariat at Canadian Commission for UNESCO

Heritage BC is proud to have the support of these leading businesses:

The schedule and program may change without notice. Conference information will be updated on a regular basis.