Day 1
Director-General, ICCROM
Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, United Nations (UN)
Alexandra Xanthaki was appointed UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights in October 2021. Ms. Xanthaki is Greek and lives in the United Kingdom where she works as a Professor of Laws at Brunel University London, United Kingdom. Throughout her academic career, she published on multiple topics related to cultural rights, and especially the cultural rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and cultural diversity.
To end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.
Key questions
Poverty (absolute, relative and multidimensional) exists in all countries, but unequally. Hunger and malnutrition are a massive barrier to social progress. What key interventions can make the most substantial differences to addressing poverty and hunger, who are the key actors?
How can collections-based organizations contribute to poverty reduction by mobilizing the potential of collections, as public spaces, employers, and by reducing their own contributions to poverty? How can they support healthy, nutritious diets, and promote healthy lives and well-being for all? How can they contribute to social cohesion, e.g. through gender equality and inclusion of different demographic groups?
What is ‘First Aid to Cultural Heritage’: unravelling how and why saving heritage can save everyone
When you rescue heritage at risk, you take great pains to ensure that you do not damage the heritage. However, if you rescue heritage, you are also interacting with the custodians of that heritage, and may run the risk of saving the heritage but unknowingly leaving psychological scars. First aid to cultural heritage (FAC) asks you to think of culture as not only objects or practices, but as also being linked to people, and as something that can link people to other people. This asks you to think of how you can save both heritage and people. However, just being well-intentioned does not mean that you will not unintentionally harm somebody. To do FAC, you need to understand the underlying principles of the human aspects of FAC, particularly psychosocial support and resilience, and how these relate to culture. We provide a simple overview of the meaning of both of these terms. When viewed in human terms, the importance of heritage derives from its meaning for its custodians, rather than any ‘intrinsic’ value of the heritage itself. We then introduce a unique case study which evaluates how FAC has actually helped custodians after the disaster of 2011 in Japan.
International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Japan
John Morris has lived in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan for 51 years. He holds a Ph.D. in Japanese history from Tohoku University, and is a founding member of Miyagi Shiryō Net, an NGO which conducted over 100 rescues of privately-owned collections of historical documents after the triple disaster of March, 2011. His home town was inundated in the tsunami, and speaks from the perspective of both academic and disaster survivor.
Preservation of Historical & Cultural Heritage Lab, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Japan
Machiko Kamiyama’s field is clinical psychology. She received her introduction to the theory and practice of psychosocial support after the tsunami of 2011, in her dual position of a clinical specialist living in the disaster area, and a disaster survivor. Since 2011, she has conducted research as a two-way process providing various different kinds of psychosocial support to children, school teachers, elderly people, and heritage workers.
12:40 – 13:10 (CEST)
Why Heritage Matters: A global survey on the impacts of heritage collections on people’s lives
This lightning talk presents key insights from an ICCROM survey that asked the global public how their lives would be impacted by living in a world without heritage collections. It synthesizes findings from two studies analyzing nearly 2,400 responses to this open, multilingual survey, from individuals in 103 different countries ranging from 9 to 88 years old. Using a mixed-methods approach combining statistical and qualitative analyses, the research found that survey respondents overwhelmingly reported that losing the world’s collections would significantly impact their lives, citing diverse categories of impact concerning their senses of identity, continuity, and more. A second study, which mapped categories of reported impacts onto an integrated wellbeing framework, highlighted an unexpected emphasis on spiritual/existential wellbeing—a dimension often overlooked in broader health research. To truly capture why heritage matters to people, we must confront and better articulate the more abstract values and wellbeing concepts to which it most profoundly contributes.
Program Manager, Urban Heritage Accelerator, Cultural Heritage Finance Alliance (CHiFA)
Specializing in international heritage contexts, Amy Iwasaki has worked in research, data analysis, and program support across ICCROM, Getty Conservation Institute, and World Monuments Fund. She currently manages the Urban Heritage Regeneration Accelerator, a program of the Cultural Heritage Finance Alliance (CHiFA) in collaboration with the Organization of World Heritage Cities. She holds an MPhil in Heritage Studies from the University of Cambridge.
Museums and social participation in Brazil
During the administration of the Brazilian Institute of Museums in President Lula da Silva’s third term, two main guidelines were adopted: professional management and social participation. The first translates into the consolidation and expansion of public policies for museums and memory, as well as legal instruments and mechanisms for public participation in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of public policies. The second translates the first into practice: it opens Ibram to a shared management of its public policies and actions, with institutional initiatives and support for civil society actions. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the structuring of Brazilian museum public policy, with examples of its application, focusing on participation, sustainability, and the consolidation of democracy as a central element for Brazilian museums.
President, Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM), Brazil
Fernanda Castro is President of the Brazilian Institute of Museums (2023-), was Interim Director and Head of the Technical Division of the National Historical Museum (2022). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History (UFRJ, 2005), a Specialist in Teaching History and Culture of Africa and Black People in Brazil (UCAM, 2007), a Master’s and Doctorate in Education (UFRJ, 2013 / UFF, 2018), and a Master’s degree in Museology and Heritage from UFRGS (2024).
Unlocking inspiring collections at FAO
This presentation highlights FAO’s role in preserving cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. It also presents shared values between FAO and ICCROM, emphasizing their collaboration on cultural heritage and sustainable development – particularly through food systems and museum development. A key milestone is the upcoming launch of the FAO MuNe global museum and network initiative on 16 October 2025, marking FAO’s 80th anniversary. It describes FAO’s mission since its founding in 1945 and its responsibility to disseminate knowledge, stressing the value of publications as timeless references.
Chief of Publications Branch, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Anne Aubert is Chief of the Publications Branch at FAO. She has been working on digital publishing for more than 25 years, looking at how technology can help to innovate and streamline internal workflows and external dissemination. She participated in several international trainings to increase capacity development in creating online repositories, selecting the right formats and engaging with stakeholders. Anne is also deeply involved in the FAO Publications Governance, liaising with Senior Management on the decision-making process to improve FAO’s publishing activity and visibility.
Creative Health and the Role of Collections-Based Institutions: Psychological Mechanisms of Creativity in Cross-Cultural Mental Health Research
Heritage collections in museums, libraries and archives serve as pivotal catalysts for therapeutic processes that generate significant health outcomes through distinct psychosocial pathways. This presentation examines the psychological mechanisms underlying creativity in cross-cultural mental health research, demonstrating how collections-based institutions activate neurological processes fundamental to personal expression, cognitive reasoning, and psychological flexibility.
Drawing from randomised controlled trial evidence, we present findings from culture-based prescribing showing significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Research reveals that creative engagement with heritage collections facilitates sensory-motor integration, embodied cognition, and temporal bridging that anchors imagination in cultural continuity.
Key mechanisms include symbolic expression that transforms internal relational states into external expression, collective meaning-making through mirror neuron systems, and transitional spaces where culture meets inner experience. Economic analysis demonstrates substantial healthcare cost reductions, with arts-based interventions yielding £2.14-£8.56 return on investment through decreased healthcare appointments and emergency department visits.
The presentation outlines a comprehensive theory of change for global advocacy, positioning caring heritage collection-based institutions as drivers of wellbeing and systemic transformation. We argue that creative museum practices serve as essential solutions for building resilient and just futures, integrating creative health approaches into public health strategies as effective complementary tools for sustainable development and cross-sector partnerships.
Archaeologist–museologist and cultural mediator, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Greece
Katerina Mavromichali bridges museums with outreach, education, therapeutic approaches, and interdisciplinary practice. Her work advances sustainable development through cross-sector collaboration in national and international research, policy, and operational contexts. She holds a PhD in Archaeology, an MA in Cultural and Creative Industries from King’s College London, and art therapy training with BAAT. She launched Outreach, a creative health programme in Thessaloniki in 2018, serves as Secretary General of EFAT, and is a research team member of Art-on-Prescription Greece.
Professor of Practice in Arts Therapies, Brunel University London, UK
In adition to his professorship at Brunel University London, Dominik Havsteen-Franklin is a consultant in Arts Psychotherapies at CNWL NHS Foundation Trust and Vice President of the European Federation of Art Therapy. His research integrates creative methodologies into healthcare, focusing on practice-based evidence, participatory digital arts, and wellbeing measurement. He leads internationally recognised studies on arts-based interventions for mental health, with extensive publications and grants totaling over £2.3 million in research funding across interdisciplinary health and social change initiatives.
Chair, International Association of Women's and Gender Museums (IAWM)
Executive coordinator, International Association of Women's and Gender Museums (IAWM)
Tijana Jakovljević Šević is a research associate at the Museum of Women’s Culture Regional-International (Germany) and executive coordinator of the International Association of Women’s Museums. She holds a PhD in ethnology and anthropology from the University of Belgrade and previously worked as senior curator at the Museum of the City of Novi Sad (Serbia).
Library Collections Enabling Sustainable Development: Knowledge, education, culture
This lightning talk presents a case for how libraries -through their collections as well as their spaces and staff – help drive progress on the “people” dimension of sustainable development. It explores this through three dimensions: access to information, education and culture. The thesis of this presentation is that access to information is an essential precondition for development. As memory institutions like libraries have a strong track record of championing human rights, as well as the flexibility to leave no one behind, they are strong partners in comprehensive and holistic approach to access to information. This talk further examines how library collections help users access information and knowledge that enables lifelong learning, as well as upholds cultural rights for all. Collections in all types of libraries help community members see themselves reflected in society. This extends beyond the materials collected, as they become a catalyst for dialogue, discovery, and exchange, powering multiculturalism and linguistic diversity. Libraries therefore both contribute directly to improving lives within their communities, and advocate on a wider scale for essential enablers of sustainable development.
Policy and Advocacy Manager,International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
Claire McGuire is the Manager of Policy and Advocacy at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). She coordinates IFLA’s work with UNESCO, and especially oversees policy and advocacy related to culture, heritage, education, sustainable development, and climate action. She works to integrate the perspective and impact of the global library field into international policy processes and advocate for a supportive environment for libraries in which they can deliver on their missions and realise their potential.
13:10-13:25 (CEST)
13:35-14:20 (CEST)
Head of Sustainable Development Projects, Latvian Museum Association, Latvia
Rooted in arts, literature and language studies, Inga has found her professional passion in the heritage field as it embodies a unique combination of scientific expertise and artistic creation and has proven its potential for being part of solutions for contemporary challenges. Inga has been involved in several international projects addressing the cultural sector’s impact on sustainable development, with a special focus on health and well-being.
Peter Kraus Associate Professor in Philosophy, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Krushil’s research addresses fundamental questions in ethics, politics, and Indigenous philosophy. She engages at the intersections of diverse philosophical traditions, pursues collaborative transdisciplinarity, and recognizes the critical role of local communities for global change. Alongside her work with the UN, ISC, and Earth Commission, she works closely with marae communities in Northland. She belongs to the tribal communities of Ngāti Manu, Te Hikutu, Ngāti Whātua ō Orākei, and Tonga in the wider Pacific.
An AI of Our Own Project Coordinator; Founder, AI for Cultural Heritage and Conservatech AI, Zimbabwe
Tatenda Tavingeyi is a heritage professional and AI enthusiast dedicated to bridging technology, heritage, and equity in global conservation efforts. He has extensive experience in international cultural policy, participatory heritage projects, ethical AI governance, and AI projects for cultural heritage management. As a founder of AI for Cultural Heritage, he champions inclusive and community-centered approaches to heritage preservation and sustainable development using AI and citizen participatory tools.
Director, International Institute for Environment and Development - Europe (IIED Europe)
Alexandre is the director of IIED Europe, an organisation promoting fair and transformative interactions between Europe and the Majority World. Alexandre has more than 20 years of experience in academic institutions, government agencies, not-for-profit research organisations, and intergovernmental initiatives on climate, biodiversity, water and oceans. With a research background in the biological sciences, Alexandre is passionate about providing knowledge and solutions for effective and just climate action and sustainable development.
14:30-15:35 (CEST)
15:35-15:45 (CEST)
Collections 2030 and Beyond supports the Sustainable Development Goals