2020 Heritage Futures Forum
Heritage Futures Forum Report
A storybook of insights from leaders, disruptors and creators across the heritage sector and beyond. Bridging the gap between the past and the future.
About the Forum
The Forum was convened with a simple yet powerful intention: to discuss the concept of ‘heritage’ and explore possible future ‘worlds’ where heritage plays a central role in creating positive outcomes for people and places.
What emerged was a compelling set of stories—visions of the future—that invite us to reflect, respond, and rethink how we meet the challenges of today. The timing of this gathering was profound, offering an opportunity to collectively navigate uncertainty and strengthen our ability to reimagine the future.
It has never been more important to remain focused on the future and to celebrate what heritage means to each and every one of us.
The National Trust sincerely thanks Liveability Victoria International, JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), and The Big Group for their generous support and for hosting us at Myer Mural Hall.
Speakers
Ben Hamley
Asia Pacific Lead: Future of Work, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)
Ben Hamley leads JLL’s Point of View on the Future of Work in Asia Pacific and is responsible for creating an integrated strategic design framework that helps JLL’s clients, partners and people to change why, how and where they work around the world. He works across JLL’s entire business operations in Asia Pacific to connect the dots between research, thought leadership, business model innovation and service design drawing on JLL’s expertise in workplace design, consulting, asset management, integrated facilities management, project development and more to help create, shape and manage the future of work in partnership with JLL’s clients.
Ben has an eclectic background that spans the Entertainment, Education, Not for Profit, Culture, Technology and Professional Services industries and is perhaps best described as an Expert Generalist; specialising in not specialising. Ben has built a career out of interdisciplinary multi-party collaborations, working on high profile international projects, including Cisco’s CHILL program, the development of the Asia Pacific Design Library, the re-design of MySpace, the World Science Festival in Brisbane and led the Queensland Museum to be one of the first Australian institutions to partner with Google for their ‘Arts & Culture’ platform.
Ian Hamm
Board Director, National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
A Yorta Yorta man, Ian has extensive government and community sector experience, particularly at executive and governance levels. Ian has overseen major policy and strategic reforms for government and community organisations. He works with people from a vast array of backgrounds, managing complex and sensitive relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Ian was CEO of a major Aboriginal community organisation from January to August 2018. He is now devoting himself to improving the representation of Aboriginal people on boards and other high level governance, through strategic action, advocacy and mentoring.
Natalie O’Brien OAM
Natalie O’Brien & CO
Natalie has her own consultancy Natalie O’Brien & CO providing strategic advice to the tourism, retail and events sectors. Collaborating with an incredible collection of innovative and creative minds many of who are thought leaders in their field. The business is a Customer Experience knowledge bank with proven IP & methodology.
Natalie is the former CEO of Food + Wine Victoria who produces Australia’s internationally acclaimed Melbourne Food & Wine Festival which shines a light on the Australian chefs, winemakers and producers together with profiling international presenters, products and trends.
Natalie was recognised among ‘Australia’s 50 most influential people in food’ in Gourmet Traveller (Nov 2016) and has extensive global networks within the industries she has worked in to create strong business opportunities.
Emma Telfer
Director of Culture & Strategy, Assemble Communities
Emma is a passionate urbanist and well-respected brand strategist and cultural leader. Emma recently joined Assemble as Director of Culture & Strategy, leading all brand, community engagement, and cultural and social initiatives across the business. Emma previously spent three years at the helm of Open House Melbourne, a public architecture organisation and registered charity that works to improve design literacy and appreciation for the value of good design in the built environment. Assemble is a build to rent development and community management company focused on delivering affordable housing projects where good design, community, and sustainability go hand-in-hand.
Background Reading for Future Visioning
The Greenest Building Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse
This landmark 2011 report by the Preservation Green Lab for the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impact reductions associated with building reuse. The report found that “building reuse almost always yields fewer environmental impacts than new construction when comparing buildings of similar size and functionality.”
Culture: urban future; global report on culture for sustainable urban development
Through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international community has recognized the essential role of culture as an enabler of development. Among the 2030 Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 11 on sustainable cities makes it clear that culture has an essential role to play in realizing sustainable urban development, particularly through strengthened efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage. This groundbreaking report, published by UNESCO in 2016, explores the role of culture for sustainable urban development, looking at a range of international case studies.
2050 Scenarios: Four Plausible Futures
What will the world look like in 2050? This report by Arup explores four plausible future scenarios based on the intersection between our planet’s health and societal conditions. By envisioning different futures, we can identify and visualise what is worth striving for, and what to avoid.
Transformative: Impacts of Culture and Creativity
The evidence is clear: when people have opportunities to engage in some form of cultural or creative activity, they generally have better educational outcomes, are less lonely, are healthier both physically and mentally, and enjoy a happier and healthier life in old age. This report by A New Approach, an independent think tank championing effective investment and return in Australian arts and culture, provides a snapshot of current research and findings about the positive impacts of artistic, creative and cultural activity on seven different parts of our lives.
This report by SGS Economics, for Heritage Victoria, in partnership with the Heritage Council of Victoria, looks at the scale and nature of the value that Victorians place on heritage. It found that Victorians place a high value on our heritage places, and that there is strong support amongst Victorians for heritage protection. It also found that there is significant scope for improving community engagement with this field of public policy through better promotion and education, and that there is a strong case for further investment in heritage identification and protection, on cost benefit grounds. The accompanying Literature Review provides an overview of heritage and its cultural and economic values.
