The brochure of the conference can be found here!
NCK’s spring conference 2020 took place February 12-13 2020 with the theme Shaping sustainable futures through heritage.
It took place in Östersund, Sweden, in Rentzhogsalen at Jamtli Museum.
The conference engaged with the challenging but important question of how heritage can be used in order to move towards a more sustainable future. We discussed how different fields within the heritage sector may have different approaches to the future. Instead of seeing the future as an abstract and distant entity we aimed for an approach which highlights how the future is continuously shaped by our present-day actions. From the perspective of heritage management, the future can be seen as a result of institutionalized practices within the sector. In other words: heritage shapes futures! Therefore, informed future-perspectives will benefit the heritage sector: it will prepare the sector to meet other demands and expectations that a different future will place on heritage, and – ideally – make the sector an active creator of a more sustainable future. However, in order for this to happen, discussions and exchanges of ideas and perspectives are necessary.
We approached sustainable futures from the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development as listed in UN’s Agenda 2030, which involves building an inclusive, diverse and just society. The conference included three main sub-themes: 1) Conflict resolution through dissonant heritage 2) Creating a future of diversity through heritage and 3) Heritage and climate change. These three sub-themes was selected because they engage with pivotal points within the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, that is: Climate Action; Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions as well as Reduced Inequalities. The conference hosted speakers from universities, museums, and archives, in order to reach a broad discussion. It also initiated workshops in which each participant actively contributed. It was our aim to create an inclusive, engaging and forward-oriented meeting.