ICOMOS Hybrid Conference “European Heritage Homes in Climate Policies and Action” on 6.10 in Tallinn
Conference Venue: The Office of the Chancellor of Justice History of the building | Õiguskantsler
Organisers: ICOMOS Estonia in cooperation ICOMOS Climate Action Working Group, ICOMOS ISCES and ICOMOS Europe group, Ministry of Culture of Estonia, Ministry of Climate of Estonia, National Heritage Board, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian Academy of Arts, Chancellor of Justice
Europe’s green transition must build upon its cultural foundations. Europe’s path toward climate neutrality must be one that values its past as much as its future. Historic buildings are living witnesses of our shared heritage, identity, and craftsmanship – yet they are too often overlooked or treated as obstacles in the race towards energy efficiency. Historic buildings are living assets – repositories of craft, identity, and embodied energy. Their continued use and adaptation are critical for achieving climate neutrality.
Aims of the conference: 1) to highlight current trends and strategies for cultural heritage and historic buildings in climate policies in the world and in Europe; 2) to exchange experiences from ongoing research and development programmes on the role of historic buildings in climate action and energy renovation; 3) to discuss challenges and ways forward on the climate action for historic buildings from policies to practice
Programme:
9.00 Coffee and registration
9.30-12.30 Cultural Heritage in Climate Action: Principles and Policies
Welcome from the Chancellor of Justice. The Role of Culture in the Legislative Framework of Europe. Ülle Madise
The Role of Historic Buildings in Climate Policies in Europe. Johanna Leisner, RCH
The Role of Cultural Heritage in Global Climate Policies. Ave Paulus, ICOMOS CAWG
Maintenance as sustainability strategy for historic housing. James Ritson, ICOMOS UK
Decarbonizing the Built Environment through Heritage: Heritage Now! – Lori Ferriss, ICOMOS USA
European Heritage Homes and EPBD. Riin Alatalu, ICOMOS Estonia
Moderated panel discussion
12.30 Lunch buffet
13.30-16.30 Historic Homes in Climate Action: Examples
Heritage Homes Legacy Report, Estonia. Perspectives of project partners, Kadri Kallast, Henry Kuningas, Elo Lutsepp, Laura Ingerpuu, Ave Paulus (ICOMOS Estonia), Alois Andreas Põdra
Ireland historic houses programme, Europa Nostra Award winner – ICOMOS Ireland, Grainne Shaffrey
Futurhist Project. Philipp Hesse, ICOMOS Denmark
Energy and environmental improvement of built heritage, why and how? – Filippo Calcerano, Institute of Heritage Science of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR ISPC)
EPBD and Latvian historic buildings. Jana Jakobsone, ICOMOS Latvia
Moderated panel discussion
The conference is supported by the LIFE heritageHOME programme, led by the Estonian Ministry of Culture and co-funded by the European Union, launched to promote energy retrofitting of historical buildings while preserving their culturally valuable qualities. The Legacy Report of the three year project, coming to end in October 2026, will be presented at the conference, including a demo of the newly piloted online renovation services to assist homeowners. Find out more about the programme: https://www.kul.ee/en/heritagehome.
The conference is targeted to European policy makers, heritage experts, architects and engineers, state and local administrations, heritage communities and scientific networks.
The conference language is English, with a simultaneous Zoom translation option. The conference is livestreamed worldwide in ICOMOS, ICOMOS Estonia and partnerś web pages and facebook page. NB! All the times are in the Tallinn/Helsinki time zone, (GMT +3). The conference starts at 10 AM Tallinn time, which means 9 AM CET.
Registration opens 7.09
Contact: estonia@icomos.org
