The National Preservation Awards, announced on the week of the annual PastForward conference, are bestowed on distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and corporations whose skill and determination have given new meaning to their communities through preservation and sustainability of our architectural and cultural heritage. These efforts include citizen attempts to save or retrofit important landmarks; companies and craftsmen whose work restores the richness of the past using modern techniques; the vision of public officials who support preservation projects and legislation in their communities; and educators and journalists who help Americans understand the economic, environmental, and educational value of preservation.

The National Trust is now accepting nominations in the following categories:

• the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award
• the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards
• the National Trust/Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation
• the Trustees’ Award for Organizational Excellence
• the Trustees Emeritus Award for Historic Site Stewardship

The deadline to submit nominations has been extended to Friday, January 10, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. your local timezone.

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

 For any other questions, please contact awards@savingplaces.org.

PastForward Milwaukee 2025 - Advancing Innovation  

In 2025, the PastForward conference will explore cutting-edge innovation, ground-breaking creativity, and experimentation in the dynamic field of preservation.  

With your peers from a range of fields—advocates, archaeologists, architects, developers, economic development officials, engineers, family historians, geographers, historic trades, historians, Main Street directors, mayors, policy experts, planners, and regulators—help us examine technological changes and new ways to increase the connections to our past and to each other. For example, new technologies allow someone to survey historic resources more thoroughly and more quickly than before while new ways of creating cultural districts can help us expand engagement with new audiences.   

Together we will also explore Milwaukee’s unique history and culture, where local citizens proudly continue their long history of innovation in manufacturing, culinary arts as illustrated in the most recent Top Chef series, music, and more!   

The National Trust is currently seeking proposals for great content to highlight during PastForward: 

• Responding to Challenges - Consider proposing sessions to show how preservationists, and those in the allied fields like housing creation and carbon reduction, creatively respond to challenges such as the lack of a trained rehabilitation workforce and the need for sustainably sourced materials. Offer to teach how improved incentives and new policies make this work possible.  
• Using Different Educational Formats - In addition to content that showcases innovative practices, the National Trust is also seeking innovative ways to present educational content through different formats. Submit a plan that will leave conference attendees more educated, more inspired, and more able to preserve the places and traditions that matter to them.  
• Sharing Lessons Learned - Sometimes the best lessons come from our failures – so please also consider sharing how your pioneering effort failed the first, second, and third time so attendees can avoid making similar mistakes. Also, if you are a subject matter expert, consider proposing a session that provides a good grounding for those new-to-the-field. 
• Describing the Wide Range of Innovations - From survey to storytelling and retrofits to research, please consider describing how recent innovations improve efficiency and extend the reach of our work during the PastForward conference.  

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 2025 will offer a variety of formats to complement the cutting-edge content presented by dynamic speakers. Submit your proposal by January 10, 2025.

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

For any other questions contact conference@savingplaces.org.