Newman Wine Vaults Open For the 2010 Summer Season!
| Report From 2009 Heritage Canada Foundation Conference |
| Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:08 |
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On September 24-26, the Heritage Canada Foundation held its yearly conference at the historic Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. Prior to the official start of the conference HCF hosted a Built Heritage Leadership forum for representatives of heritage organizations country-wide. The Newfoundland Historic Trust was represented by President, Kimberley Blanchard and Director, Deborah O’Rielly at both the forum and the conference. Many issues were discussed at the leadership forum, from membership to website presence. It was advantageous to sit and talk to heritage leaders from other jurisdictions and learn what problems and opportunities they encounter. Former Senator Pat Carney made an appearance to discuss the Lighthouse Bill, and her efforts in helping the Bill pass parliament.The HCF Conference saw more than 300 delegates eager to discuss the environmental issues facing Canadians today. The theme of the conference centered around linking green ideas with the rehabilitation of heritage buildings. This idea is most significant today, during these times of great economic change. Heritage buildings have inherent energy and potential. The conference speakers were eager to get out the message that the public is largely unaware of this embodied energy, and that incentives are critical to getting the message out there. Buildings hold great potential when one has the vision to see that they are more than mortar and stone. As speaker Carl Elephante created the mantra, “the greenest building is one that is already built”, we were shown that fundamental challenges facing environmental sustainability and heritage conservation movements are ready to be addressed now. The HCF Conference 2009 strived to create a link between environmental issues facing Canadians and sustainable stewardship of our country’s non-renewable heritage assets. But what it really did was start the discussion, and create more questions. It is up to all of us to continue this conversation with the next generation, who will be the stewards of our built heritage, as well as the environment. The 2010 Heritage Canada Conference will be held in St. John’s, and we look forward to bringing this discussion home when we talk about next year’s theme: Revitalization. |
