COUNTERNARRATIVES as a key to sustainable conservation practices

You are cordially invited to attend the research seminar by Clara Rellensmann:

Date: 3 Oct 2025
Time:3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Venue: SDE3 Level 4, LT424

COUNTERNARRATIVES
as a key to sustainable conservation practices 

Abstract
As urgent calls for a radical transformation of the construction sector intensify, architectural conservation must also be rethought in light of climate and sustainability imperatives. What can a discipline that is – at least on the surface – concerned with the past contribute to future-making and climate action? How can heritage professionals diversify the heritage landscape and work towards sustainability goals?

This talk explores the potential of counternarratives in conservation practices to generate positive outcomes for both the environment and human wellbeing. Drawing on research, research-led teaching formats, and collaborative conservation projects from diverse cultural contexts, the talk reflects on how heritage-making can become a form of activism that engages with questions of social justice and environmental sustainability thereby contributing to more future-resilient societies.

Clara Rellensmann is a cultural studies scholar with a PhD in architectural conservation. She has worked internationally in the cultural heritage field for fifteen years shared between academia and practice. Her experience includes having worked for authorizing bodies of the heritage sector such as UNESCO and ICOMOS as well as for grass-roots initiatives. Clara situates her work at the intersection of heritage conservation, critical heritage studies, and architectural history and theory. She understands conservation as an applied science and creative practice, which is reflected in her practice-oriented research and teaching.

She currently teaches at the Department of Architectural Conservation of the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU). She has also worked as a researcher at the University of Zurich and was a visiting researcher at Carleton University. Her award-winning PhD dissertation was published in the Springer Series Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market under the title “Appropriating Sacred Spaces: Heritage Politics in Myanmar”