Defining future heritage practice: Voices from the 2013 Australia ICOMOS Conference

Where now for heritage practice? This significant question was integral to the Australia ICOMOS 2013 conference Imagined pasts…, imagined futures. This paper describes how ‘voices’ from the floor of the conference were captured in quick interviews held between sessions, and examines the themes that emerged both from these interviews and a short post-conference survey. Overwhelmingly, conference delegates who contributed through the interviews and survey expressed a desire to look beyond traditional approaches to heritage practice, and to develop considered responses to challenges associated with cultural diversity, globalisation and sustainability. Heritage practice, in their view, needs to become less expert-driven, more creative in responding to change, and more open to different ways of valuing heritage, especially in relation to cultural diversity both at home in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region.