Caring For Country Committee – A Working Group of Australia ICOMOS

The role of the Caring for Country Committee, a working group of Australia ICOMOS, was to create a conversation around the issues arising in Oceania on climate change and the impacts for Indigenous people on Country and culture. The Caring for Country Committee engaged with these issues over 3 years through development of a series of webinars from mid-2021, involvement in the ICCROM Climate.Culture.Peace conference, followed by a workshop at the ICOMOS GA2023 and the preparation of an article in a special GA2023 edition of Australia ICOMOS Historic Environment.

Links to recordings of all these events are available at the end of the webpage.

CARING FOR COUNTRY COMMITTEES

The Caring for Country Committee was established in 2020 and endorsed by the Australia ICOMOS Executive Committee as a working group of Australia ICOMOS in 2021. Working groups run for three years so the committee has now finished its term and its assigned tasks.

Our members were involved in other related ICOMOS International Scientific Committees (ISCs) and Working Groups and Reference Groups, including the ICOMOS Climate Change and Heritage Working Group (CCHWG), ISC on Risk Preparedness (ICORP), International Scientific Committee on Energy and Sustainability (ISCES), as well as Australia ICOMOS committees such as the National Scientific Committee on Energy and Sustainability (NSCES), Pacific Heritage Reference Group, Climate Change and Cultural Heritage Working Group, and the World Heritage Reference Group.

The Caring for Country Committee (2020-2021)

Co-Convenor: Helen Wilson (email) (Australia ICOMOS)
Co-Convenor: Kerime Danis (email) (Australia ICOMOS)
Samara Allen (Australia ICOMOS)
Geoff Ashley (Australia ICOMOS)
Steve Brown (Australia ICOMOS)
Jaye Cook (Australia ICOMOS)
(Waskam) Emelda Davis (Chair, Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson))
Elizabeth Edwards (ICOMOS Pasifika)
Catherine Forbes (Australia ICOMOS)
Marie Geissler (Australia ICOMOS)
Diane Menzies (ICOMOS NZ)
Ellie Peedom (Australia ICOMOS)
Anne Poelina, Professor (Nyikina Warrwa woman, Kimberley)
Jean Rice (Australia ICOMOS)
Candida Rolla (ICOMOS NZ)
Anita Smith (Australia ICOMOS)
Demi Spencer (Australia ICOMOS)
Stacy Vallis (ICOMOS NZ)

The Caring for Country Workshop Committee (2021-2023) organised the workshop as part of the GA2023 Scientific Symposium:

Co-Convenor: Helen Wilson (email) (Australia ICOMOS)
Co-Convenor: Kerime Danis (email) (Australia ICOMOS)
Elizabeth Edwards (ICOMOS Pasifika)
Catherine Forbes (Australia ICOMOS)
Sarah Forgesson (ICOMOS CAWG)
Marcy Rockman (Lifting Rocks, Washington)
Melissa Malu (Manager of Pasifika Collections and Engagement, Australian Museum)
Drew Kennedy (Australia ICOMOS)

Both Committees were Oceania-wide, and included Indigenous and non-Indigenous members from ICOMOS, as well as non-ICOMOS members. Not all members were present for the whole time, but changed as the committee evolved and according to the webinar being organised.

Why the Committee was established

The Caring for Country Committee was established to organise a workshop as a side event to the ICOMOS GA2020: Caring for Country: Pacific and Indigenous Voices on Culture, Heritage and the Climate Crisis. This workshop was to be a space for Indigenous Pacific people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island voices on cultural heritage as human right and on caring for places and community in a changing climate, as well as for discussing partnerships and solidarity with the global cultural heritage community.

“The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging cultural heritage in climate action” ICOMOS 2019, notes:

Indigenous people are among the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change because, among other reasons, their existence is often inextricably tied to the land. As a result, indigenous advocates have been amongst the first to make the point that climate change threatens not only landscapes but also cultural identity.

Organisation of a workshop on climate change and Indigenous heritage had been started in 2018-2019 by Andrew Potts, the convenor of CCWG, and was carried on by the Caring for Country Committee formed by Convenor Helen Wilson. Helen and Kerime later became Co-Convenors. When GA2020 was postponed because of global events the Committee was well underway organising the workshop, speakers and delegates.

To keep the conversation going, make contact with others interested, and in solidarity and support for Indigenous people in Australia and the Pacific dealing with these issues, the Committee held a series of webinars with some of our keynotes and speakers.

ACTIVITIES

Webinar Series, 2021-2022

The 2021-2022 webinar series on Caring for Country combined interests in Indigenous heritage, cultural landscape and climate change in the Pacific and Australia. Organised through ICOMOS and available on the ICOMOS website and below, the webinar series extended the idea of a workshop on Caring for Country and climate change, with work on Indigenous heritage as a theme through the GA2020/GA2023 Scientific Symposium Indigenous Heritage Theme co-chair Diane Menzies (Rongowhaata/Aitanga a māhaki), and participants from Australia, Aotearoa NZ and Pasifika.

ICCROM ‘Ignite Pacific’ Panel Session, January 2022

Each of the three Caring for Country webinars attracted around 150 registrations and more than 100 attendees and led to hosting a Panel session ‘Ignite Pacific’: Climate change, culture and peace in the Pacific region as part of the ICCROM Climate.Culture.Peace conference.

The webinar series and the ‘Ignite Pacific’ session resulted in a great collaboration of different community groups and the exploration of a variety of different Indigenous and traditional practices, through multiple and very successful events held on different platforms and organisations with a worldwide audience. It has allowed a voice for Indigenous people in the region and created a conversation around the issues arising in Oceania on climate change and the impacts for Indigenous people on country and culture.

These online events have allowed for the discussion to continue in the leadup to GA2023 in Sydney.

GA2023 Workshop

A day-long workshop, Caring for Country in a Changing Climate: Indigenous Voices on Culture, Heritage and the Climate Crisis, was held on 2 September 2023 at the Australian Museum in Sydney, as part of the ICOMOS GA2023 Scientific Symposium..

The Caring for Country Workshop was an important element in the strong Oceania Indigenous Peoples’ voice that characterised the ICOMOS GA2023.  It provided the opportunity to create a conversation around climate change and the impacts for Indigenous people on country and culture in Oceania and drew on the outcomes of the previous webinars and the ‘Ignite Pacific’ session. The workshop was designed as a space for Indigenous Pacific people’s and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices on cultural heritage as a human right and on caring for places and communities affected by climate change.

The Caring for Country workshop involved people on the frontline, experiencing first-hand the impacts of climate change in our region.  The two keynote speakers were Dr Maina Talia, speaking on the imminent threat posed by climate change to the people and country of Tuvalu; and Karen Paroissien, presenting a case study on Narran Lakes NSW on behalf of Jason Wilson. A panel discussion followed, moderated by Diane Menzies Rongowhakaata, New Zealand. As well as the keynote speakers, panellists included and Chrissy Grant, Eastern Kuku Yalanji in Cape York and Mualgal from the Torres Straits, Australia; Elizabeth Edwards, a Fijian woman hailing from Nakaile village, Tokatoku, Tailavu of the mataqali (clan) Nataraturaga; and Sarah Forgesson Māori (Ngāti Whakaue), New Zealand. Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy acted as moderator and rapporteur and Helen Wilson was the facilitator for the workshop.

The workshop also included discussion on three Indigenous resolutions developed by ICOMOS members. These resolutions were submitted to the 21st General Assembly for decision and were all resoundingly passed:

  • Resolution 21GA 2023/15 – Climate Change and Indigenous Heritage. This was a direct outcome of the webinar and workshop series and submitted to the General Assembly jointly by Australia ICOMOS, ICOMOS New Zealand, ICOMOS Brazil, and ICOMOS – IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes.
  • Resolution 21GA 2023/21 – Indigenous Inclusion throughout ICOMOS
  • Resolution 21GA 2023/18 – Recognizing Peoples’ Values and Interconnections between Culture and Nature in the Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage Sites.

Historic Environment, 2024

An article in the GA2023 Special Editions of the Australia ICOMOS Historic Environment on the outcomes of GA2023 Scientific Symposium, including on the content and outcomes of the Caring for Country Workshop.

VIDEOS, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

GA2023 Workshop

  • Watch the videos of GA2023 Caring for Country in a Climate Crisis Workshop Parts 1-5,

at ICOMOS Webinar series – YouTube

 ICCROM ‘Ignite Pacific’: Climate change, culture and peace in the Pacific region’, 2022 

Webinars, 2020-2021

Newsletters

Award, 2022

Congratulations to the Caring for Country Committee and all the webinar presenters for together achieving this award for the ‘Caring for Country in a Climate Crisis Webinar Series’. The Co-Convenors Helen Wilson and Kerime Danis sincerely thank all Presenters and Elders for generously sharing their knowledge and wisdom for a climate chance.