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ICOM SUSTAIN

International Committee on Museums and Sustainable Development

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September 10, 2026

Program Release: ICOM-SUSTAIN 2026 Conference Conference, SUSTAIN Activity Reports

ICOM-SUSTAIN is pleased to announce details about the 2026 online conference, Museums for Our Futures: Sustain, Adapt, Regenerate. 

The conference begins at 08:00 UTC on 19 November 2026 and continues to 20:00 UTC. See the “Location and Local Time” chart at the bottom of this page to help you plan your personal attendance at the online gathering.

SUSTAIN also encourages formation of local watch groups. For details, please consult this file: Host-A-Hub-WatchGroups

ICOM SUSTAIN will use EventBrite as the registration system for this FREE offering and will livestream the event via ZOOM.  

The Schedule-at-a-Glance follows: 

Block 1 (3 hours) 8:00 – 11:00 UTC 

Adapt  UTC 
Opening  08:00–08:10
Keynote (40 min)  

Melissa Malu, Head of Pasifika Collections and Engagement, Australian Museum, Sydney 

08:10–08:50 
Panel (55 min) 

Caroline Markiewicz & Aurelia Weritz (Germany): The Cheerleader Model: Motivation, Data, and the Art of Persistence / of Keeping Going / of Going On

Julia Rajacic (Italy): MUSE – The Energy for Tomorrow: Radical Climate Leadership through the World’s First Zero-Energy Digital Exhibition

Salsabilla Sakinah (Indonesia): From the museums into the wider world: tracing museums’ staging of climate crisis exhibitions, visitors’ responses, and the remnants of the visits beyond the museum walls

08:50–09:45 
Break  09:45–09:55 
Lightning Round 1 (25 min / 3 min each) 

9:55-10:00: Antonia Carver, Ichraq Bouzidi, Daniya Jawwad (United Arab Emirates): Adapting Standards in Practice: Collection Care, Climate Control, and Local Materials in the Gulf

10:00-10:05: Hoang Le (Vietnam): Adaptive Cultural Infrastructure: The Vu Dan Tan Museum as a Contemporary Case from Vietnam

10:05-10:10: Dr. Laura Johanna Noll (Switzerland): How Are Leading Museums Organising the Institutional Transformation Toward Sustainability? On Governance Models, Sustainability Roles, and Required Competencies

10:10-10:15: Nicola Urbino, PhD (Italy): Italian Museums and Climate Change: Assessing Current Engagement, Best Practices and Operational Policy Gaps in an International Perspective

10:15-10:20: Riyazul Samad Binmohammad, Wahaj Akhtar Abedeen, and Rummana Khanam, PhD (India): Reimagining the Riverine Museum: Curating Urban Flood Management and Biocultural Heritage along the Yamuna River 

09:55–10:20 
Lightning Round 2 (25 min / 3 min each) 

10:30-10:35: Melanie Appleby and Claudia Ruane (United Kingdom): Closing the Loop: A Circular Approach to Reuse in Sustainable Exhibition Practice

10:35-10:40: Dr Maria Shehade (presenting) and Dr Panagiotis Ntzeremes (Cyprus): Adapting Museums to Climate Change: Results from the First National Survey of Museum Climate Resilience in Cyprus 

10:40-10:45: Yanni Chen (United Kingdom): A Diagnostic Framework for Sustainability-Oriented Art-Science Collaboration in Museums and Cultural Institutions 

10:45-10:50: Guido Guarino (Italy): Reconnecting with Nature through Language: Good Practices from Vesuvius National Park, Italy

10:50-10:55: Elena N. Mironenko (Russia): The Junction of Science and Art as a Synergy for Regenerating Public Space: The ATOM Museum Model

10:30–10:55 
Closing  10:55–11:00 

 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY (90 min) 

SUSTAIN will livestream the General Assembly. Members (and those interested in attending) should register for the General Assembly through EventBrite (details coming soon). Only SUSTAIN members can vote but all are welcome to attend to learn more about SUSTAIN.

  UTC  Agenda / Speakers 
General Assembly  12:00–13:30  ICOM International Committee Business 

ICOM SUSTAIN Board & Members 

 

Block 2 (3 hours) — 14:00 – 17:00 UTC 

Regenerate UTC 
Opening  14:00–14:10 
Keynote (40 min)  

Fábio Scarano, Professor of Ecology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and UNESCO Chair on Futures Literacy at the Museum of Tomorrow (Instituto de Desenvolvimento e Gestão) — Brazil 

14:10–14:50 
Panel (55 min) 

Justine Boussard (United Kingdom): The Amateur Ancestor Project: Raising the ambition for sustainability through museum collections

Carolina Quintero Agámez (Colombia): Caminos de Agua | Diiggalmala | Baydo Õ | Banyã Õ. Memories, Practices, and Resistances from the Darién

Kirsty Robertson & Heather Igloliorte (Canada): Objects as Temporal Entities and As It Melts as Regenerative Engagement with the Arts

14:50–15:45 
Break  15:45–15:55 
Lightning Round 1 (25 min / 3 min each) 

15:55-16:00: Gabrielle Cardoso Meneses (Brazil): Rethinking Collections and Collecting Practices in Dialogue with Indigenous Knowledge 

16:00-16:05: Oli Beeby Maglaque and Kitt Peacock (The Netherlands): Activating Institutional Mineral Collections Through Digital Storytelling

16:05-16:10: Richard Piacentini and Sonja Bochart (United States): Regenerative Futures for Cultural Institutions (The Climate Toolkit)

16:10-16:15: Hsin-lin WEN (Tiawan): Regenerating Woodcraft Heritage through Education and Collaboration: The Role of the Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum, Taiwan 

16:15-16:20: Eric Thrift, PhD (Canada): Indigenous Environmentalism in the Museum: Reflections on a Sturgeon Skin Jar

16:20-16:25:  Lucimara Letelier (Brazil): From Climate Anxiety to Active Hope: Regenerative Museums reimagining the Future

15:55–16:25
Lightning Round 2 (25 min / 3 min each) 

16:30-16:35: Tara Brahme (Germany): “Is This Also My History?”: The Conflictorium as a Living Archive in a Divided City [Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India]

16:35-16:40: Carlos Arturo Rojas Pérez (Colombia): EXPOSICIÓN Terca Esperanza Un espacio para la memoria en Bogotá

16:40-16:45: Sebastián Vivanco (Chile): So We Do Not Lose Memory: Museo Semilla as a Regenerative Community Practice

16:45-16:50: Dr. Yrine MATCHINDA (Western Cameroon): Displaying Objects, Representing Cultures: Rethinking Sacred Heritage in Museum Futures between Cameroon and Germany

16:50-16:55: Oksana Bondarenko (Russia): De la remise à garage au lieu de rassemblement : régénérer le lien social par le patrimoine industriel – le cas du Musée des Transports de Moscou

16:30–16:55 
Closing  16:55–17:00 

 

Block 3 (3 hours) – 17:00-20:00 UTC

Sustain  UTC 
Opening  17:00-17:10 
Keynote (40 min)  

Prossy Nanyondo, Manager, Railway Museum at The Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda, Jinja-Kampala 

17:10–17:50 
Panel (55 min) 

Altea Bondioni (Italy): Co-creation: The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) as a Multidimensional Evaluation Methodology

Juliana De Lucca (Brazil): From Assessment to Action: Developing the MAC USP Sustainability Plan Based on the Ibermuseus Guide

Yumiko Tachibana (Japan): Sustaining Inclusive Museums: Audience Data, Museum Governance, and Evidence-Based Practice in Japan (Awaiting confirmation)

17:50–18:45 
Break  18:45–18:55 
Lightning Round 1 (25 min / 3 min each) 

18:55-19:00: Marije Remigius and Femke Bijlsma (The Netherlands): Designing for Circularity from Day One: How Circu leren and Kossmann de Jong embedded Sustainability into the Naturalis Exhibition

19:00-19:05: Claudia Roberta Lima Carvalho e Lima and Tânia Cristina Azevedo, PhD (Brazil): Urban sustainability in museums: a study in the municipality of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil

19:05-19:10: Kekelwa Mundia (Zambia): Preserving the Kuomboka Spirit: Sustainable Heritage and CommunityLed Ecology at the Nayuma Museum

19:10-19:15: Rocío del Pozo Sánchez (Spain): Circular Museums: Creativity and Networks for Sustainability in Spanish Museums

19:15-19:20: Narges Esfahani (Iran): Goran Living Museum of Wooden Dhows

18:55–19:20 
Lightning Round 2 (25 min / 3 min each) 

19:30-19:35:  Dr. Marwa Mahmoud Mohamed Hendi (Egypt): Digital Synthesis of Art History: The Role of Scientific Exploratory Centers in Sustaining Archaeological Heritage

19:35-19:40: Shanice Martin (Jamaica) Resilient Communities, Resilient Heritage: Museums, Climate Change, and Social Sustainability in a Changing World 

19:40-19:45: Päivi Nieppola (Finland): Embedding Sustainability in Museum Practice: Lessons from ISO 14001 at Serlachius

19:45-19:50:  India Golding with Dr Scott Allan Orr, Dr Sung Min Hong, and Dr Gemma Moore (United Kingdom): When Carbon Is Not the Driver: Governing Environmental Sustainability in Museums

19:50-19:55: TBD

19:30–19:55 
Closing  19:55–20:00 

 

LOCATION AND LOCAL TIME CHART

Location  Local Time  Time Zone  UTC Offset 
Corresponding UTC (London, GMT)  Thursday, November 19, 2026 at 08:00:00     
Paris (France) / Lagos (Nigeria)  Thursday 9:00:00 am  CET / WAT  UTC+1 
Kampala (Uganda)  Thursday 11:00:00 noon  EAT  UTC+3  
Dubai (United Arab Emirates)  Thursday 12:00:00 noon  GST  UTC+4  
Delhi (India)  Thursday 1:30:00 pm  IST  UTC+5:30 
Beijing (China) / Hong Kong  Thursday 4:00:00 pm  CST / HKT  UTC+8 
Tokyo (Japan)  Thursday 5:00:00 pm  JST  UTC+9 
Sydney (Australia)  Thursday 7:00:00 pm  AEDT  UTC+11 
Buenos Aires (Argentina)  Thursday 5:00:00 am  ART  UTC-3 
New York (USA)  Thursday 3:00:00 am  EST  UTC-5 
Winnipeg (Canada)  Thursday 2:00:00 am  CST  UTC-6 

 

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