The National Trust for Historic Preservation is looking for your proposals for the annual PastForward conference in New Orleans, LA. At the PastForward conference (October 28-30, 2024), the National Trust for Historic Preservation kicks off a celebration of its 75th anniversary and the evolving practice of preservation in one of the country’s most historic cities, New Orleans.  Joining us will be the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans celebrating its 50th anniversary, Main Street Louisiana, marking its 40th anniversary, and the National Center for Preservation Trades and Technology founded thirty years ago.   

Because preservation is an evolving practice, the National Trust invites you to submit a session proposal that instructs how we as individuals, organizations, and institutions can help address three of our nation’s biggest challenges:  

Track:  Creating Climate Resilience Through Historic Preservation 

Preservationists play a leadership role in helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change because buildings are responsible for approximately 40 percent of carbon emissions and more than a third of existing buildings in the U.S. are over 50 years old. For example, the National Trust welcomes submissions that: 

· highlight strategies to mitigate climate change including the addition of energy-saving materials, upgrades, and processes.  

· describe how to conserve, reuse, and retrofit older and historic buildings to help reduce carbon emissions, or how to adapt historic places to withstand current and future climate impacts;  

· share knowledge of quickly evolving climate policy that strengthens connections between real estate development, planning, historic preservation, and sustainability. 

 Track: Ensuring a Representative Preservation Movement   

How we decide and who decides what places should be recognized, interpreted, and protected is being reexamined to increase the diversity of people empowered to lead and to tell a more complete story of our nation.  Consider submitting a session to:  

· teach lessons in growing the participation in the preservation field so that it more fully represents all communities, cultures, and heritage; 

· describe how to lower barriers to participation in the preservation field and processes; or  

· share ways to provide people with earlier exposure to preservation as a viable career path. 

 Track: Encouraging Historic Preservation-Based Community Development 

As one of the country’s preeminent Main Street programs, Louisiana Main Street promotes economic development with historic preservation at its core. As one of the highest users of the federal historic tax credit, Louisiana residents embrace historic preservation as an economic development tool. The state also offers one of the best tax credits for incentivizing the reuse of its older buildings. Help teach and advocate for expanding the role that cultural heritage and its preservation plays in the vitality and equitable growth of our communities by submitting proposals that:  

· share preservation-based strategies for equitable development that respect the historical and present-day realities such as a growing population needing adequate housing;  

· highlight strategies to ensure a level playing field for those wishing to retain and invest in their own neighborhood; or 

· describe ways to support the multiple tradecrafts needed to rehabilitate, adapt, and retrofit historic places.   

The conference encourages participation of new and diverse voices as session presenters. We are particularly interested in featuring content and narratives of underrepresented groups of people. Underrepresented groups include, but are not limited to, women, immigrants, Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ+ communities. PastForward 2024 will offer a variety of formats to complement the cutting-edge content presented by dynamic speakers. Submit your proposal by January 12, 2024.

For technical assistance with the application form, please visit https://www.submittable.com/help/submitter/

For any other questions contact conference@savingplaces.org.