Climate Change Impacts and Mitigation at U.S. World Heritage Sites

On November 21 and 22, 2024, we will convene the 2024 ICOMOS-USA Conference and Symposium focussing on climate change. Make plans now to learn about the latest research and thinking on ways to arrest climate change. Join the conversation and networking. The venue will be the Sumner School in Washington, DC, directly across the street from the National Geographic Headquarters. We are honored to have as keynote speakers Dr. Patrick Gonzalez, former Assistant Director for Climate and Biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and current Executive Director, UC Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity, and Prof. Gary E. Machlis, Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Clemson University and former Science Advisor to the Director, U.S. National Park Service (NPS). Prof. Machlis is author of the recently published book Sustainability for the Forgotten (University of Utah Pres, 2024).

Join us as we set the course for how we, as the United States National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites and our supporting organization of World Heritage USA can mobilize our professionals, practitioners, and the public to combat climate change.

Members receive special pricing. Please join or renew now.

Tentative Schedule

Thursday, 21 November:  DAY 1 – World Heritage and Climate Change (9am-5pm)

Welcome – ICOMOS-USA President Dr. Doug Comer 

Keynote –Dr. Patrick Gonzalez, University of California, Berkeley 

Patrick Gonzalez, Ph.D., is a climate change scientist and forest ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley. He advances science-based action on human-caused climate change to protect nature and people, through research on climate change, ecosystems, and carbon solutions and assistance to local people and policymakers. Dr. Gonzalez has conducted field research in Africa, Latin America, and the U.S., published in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and other journals, and assisted field managers and local people in 269 U.S. national parks and 26 countries. He has stood publicly for scientific integrity and broadened public understanding of climate change in the New York Times and other media. He served as Principal Climate Change Scientist of the U.S. National Park Service and Assistant Director for Climate and Biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dr. Gonzalez has served as a lead author for four reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the science panel awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Panel 1 – Climate Change Impacts and Risks – as seen in U.S. World Heritage Sites  10-11am

Panel 2 – Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation – as seen in U.S. World Heritage Sites 11-12pm

Lunch break 12-1pm

Panel 3 – Carbon Solutions and Sustainability – Reducing the Cause of Climate Change 1-2pm

Panel 4 – Climate Change – The Role of World Heritage Sites in Communication and Education 2-3pm

Panel 5 – Climate Change – National Policy and World Heritage Site Action (Administration and Congress) 3-4pm

Free time to explore museum/network 4-5pm

Friday, 22 November: DAY 2 – Social Justice and Sustainability in the Face of Climate Change (9am-12 noon)

Welcome – Dr. Doug Comer, ICOMOS-USA President 

Keynote – Dr. Gary Machlis: “Maria’s Dilemma and the Challenge of Climate Justice” 

Dr. Gary E. Machlis is University Professor of Environmental Sustainability at Clemson University. Prior to joining the faculty at Clemson, he served as Science Advisor to the Director, U.S. National Park Service (NPS) during both terms of the Obama administration.Dr. Machlis received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Washington, and his Ph.D. in human ecology from Yale University. He has written numerous books and scientific papers on issues of conservation, sustainability, disaster response, and the politics of science, including The Future of Conservation in America: A Chart for Rough Water published by the University of Chicago Press. His newest book is Sustainability for the Forgotten, published in 2024. At Clemson, he teaches courses on social ecology, scientific integrity, and the politics of science.

Dr. Machlis has been active in international conservation and has worked in China on the giant panda, in the Galápagos Islands, and in Kenya, Cuba, and Eastern Europe. He serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Environmental Change and Society, its Sustainability Science and Technology Roundtable, and is an Advisor to the Academies’ Scientists and Engineers in Exile or Displaced Program. In 2010, Dr. Machlis was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Panel 6 – How United Nations’ Strategic Development Goals (UN SDGs) fail to take climate change into full account 10-11am

Panel 7 – How Climate Change response should treat all fairly 11-12pm

Lunch break 12-1pm

End of Day 2 Regular Programming: attendees are welcome to explore the Sumner School Museum until close at 5pm

Celebration of World Heritage to take place 6-10pm

This year’s Symposium and Celebration are being ticketed separately, so please be sure to register separately for each. Thank you!

Register to attend our 14th Annual Celebration of World Heritage:

Click here to reserve your seat!

Are you interested in sponsoring this year’s Symposium and Celebration? Click here to view sponsorship opportunities, or email Kelsey Tabela-Baxter at development [at] worldheritageusa.org for more information!

Accommodations

We have reserved block of rooms at the following hotels for this event. Please be sure to register via the links below.

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Learn about our past Symposia