Roadmap to Net Zero Conference and Workshop
The Roadmap to Net Zero Conference and Workshop is designed to help NSW Cultural Institutions create a net zero strategy and identify where they can reduce emissions most effectively.
Hosted by the Australian Museum in collaboration with International Conservation Services (ICS).
Join us for the Roadmap to Net Zero Conference and Workshop, a comprehensive, full-day event designed to help NSW museums and galleries create a net zero strategy, engage staff and audiences with sustainability and learn practical and efficient ways they can cut emissions within their institutions.
- Learn about the vital role cultural institutions play in facing up to the climate emergency.
- Hear real-life examples from industry peers on how they’ve made progress towards sustainable museum practice.
- Learn about the many ways cultural institutions can engage the public in climate solutions, including programming, lectures, and sustainable exhibitions.
- Participate in practical activities to help you map out a sustainability roadmap of your own.
Morning session: Case studies from the experts
Hear inspiring stories from leading NSW museums and galleries who have successfully reduced their carbon footprint and built engagement in sustainability. Full of practical advice, you’ll learn from their experiences of engaging staff and the public, discover what resources are available and gain valuable insights into best practices for sustainability.
- Lunch: For those attending in person, you’ll have the opportunity to network with your peers over a delicious lunch at the Australian Museum’s rooftop restaurant, Bistro Gadi.
Afternoon session: Hands-on workshop - Creating your net zero roadmap
Whether you’re just at the beginning of creating your net zero roadmap or you’ve already made a start, our series of activities will help you formulate or simply refine your organisation’s own sustainability strategy.
We’ll guide you through the practical steps involved in creating and implementing a sustainability action plan, what impact your institution can expect to achieve and how best to report on this.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to gain the practical knowledge and tools needed to create your institution’s sustainability strategy and address climate challenges effectively.
Join us at the Australian Museum or online and take the next step towards a sustainable future.
Registrations close at midday Friday 25 October.
Supporting Partner
Speakers and Facilitators
Kim McKay AO
Speaker
Kim McKay’s career has focussed on public advocacy and community engagement programs around the natural environment and science both in Australia and internationally.
In her current role as Director and CEO of the Australian Museum, Kim is responsible for the management of the nation’s first museum, including a collection of over 22 million natural science specimens and cultural objects.
Anders Alexander, Australian Museum
Speaker
Anders is a Graphic Designer in the Australian Museum Design Team. With twenty years experience at the intersection of natural history and design, Anders is tasked with creating engaging visitor experiences that support the Australian Museum’s activities through creative thinking. Designing exhibitions that are high quality, durable and sustainable is the ongoing challenge.
Julian Bickersteth AO, International Conservation Services
Opening Speaker
Julian Bickersteth AO is the CEO of ICS, a materials conservation company head quartered in Sydney, and currently the President of IIC, the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Julian has worked all over the world from Antarctica to the Gulf states and seen the impact of climate change on cultural heritage. He is passionate about working to mitigate these impacts.
ICS' support of the Australian Museum has assisted in funding the delivery of the Roadmap to Net Zero Conference and Workshop.
Craig Donarski, White Bay Power Station
Speaker
Craig Donarski is the new Manager Arts, Culture & Creative Industries at White Bay Power Station and is grappling with the sustainability issues unique to the adaptive reuse of heritage sites. His previous seven years as Director of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre saw him introduce an organic garden-to-plate restaurant onsite there, alongside several exhibitions and conferences highlighting climate issues.
Dr Lee-Anne Hall, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Speaker
Dr Lee-Anne Hall is the Director of Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and National Art Glass Collection. She has over three decades' experience in the arts and tertiary education sectors, including as the Director of Penrith Regional Gallery. As the Director of WWAG, in 2023 she led a year-long consideration of the global environmental crisis across 20 exhibitions, artist commissions, education and public programs.
Rene Hernandez, Australian Museum
Speaker and Workshop Leader
Rene Hernandez is an executive asset manager with 20 years of experience and is passionate about ESG. Rene has implemented projects to help reduce GHG emissions across a range of organisations from government agencies to multinationals.
His pragmatic approach has secured funding for sustainability-related projects at the National Maritime Museum and now at the Australian Museum. Rene holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and has on-the-tools experience in Australia and South America.
Emily Jateff, Australian National Maritime Museum
Speaker
Emily Jateff is the Senior Curator, Maritime Trade and Industry and inaugural Curator of Ocean Science and Technology at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Her remit includes ocean sciences, marine technologies, climate change and sustainability. Emily leads the Museum’s Ocean Futures pillar and associated ten-year program in support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
Erik Maranik, Australian Museum
Speaker
Erik has recently joined the Australian Museum as the Director of Corporate Services. Erik is a renowned natural resource management and environmental engineer who is a leading advocate in social infrastructure robustness and resilience. With a career spanning close to three decades, Erik has made significant contributions to social infrastructure in the utilities, housing, health and education sectors.
Dr Jenny Newell, Australian Museum
Panel and Workshop Leader
Dr Jenny Newell is the Curator for Climate Change at the Climate Solutions Centre at the Australian Museum. She has a background in environmental history and working in museums in the UK, USA and Australia. She creates exhibitions, conversations, publications and resources that encourage positive action for a safer future.
Jonathan Prendergast, Business Renewables Centre – Australia
Panel and Workshop Leader
Jonathan is a clean energy project and procurement advisor and manager, with 12 years’ experience in development of innovative projects and contract structures.
Jonathan wears a few hats, including Technical Director of the Business Renewable Centre providing training and know how to corporate Australia to do Corporate PPAs to finance new solar and wind farms.
Elizabeth Reed, Australian Museum
Speaker
Elizabeth Reed is a Collection Care Conservator at the Australian Museum. She holds a Bachelor of Heritage, Museums and Conservation from the University of Canberra. Elizabeth has worked as an objects conservator across a wide variety of collection types and is now dedicated to holistic collection care through preventive programs.
Sabrina Roesner, Artefact
Panel
Sabrina Roesner is a Curator, Arts Leader and Heritage Practitioner with over 15 years of working experience in the heritage, arts and cultural sector.
Her focus has been on developing exhibitions, arts programs and best practice guidelines for the arts and heritage sector focused on environmental and sustainability outcomes. Most recently she produced the ‘Environmental Sustainability Report & Toolkit for the NSW Arts & Cultural Sector’.
Adrian Wiggins, ARUP
Workshop Leader and Facilitator
Adrian Wiggins is sustainability project leader specialising in stakeholder engagement, multidisciplinary collaboration, user-centred design, agile and innovation for nature-based solutions, net zero and transition planning. He is in the Climate and Sustainability team at Arup, where he works with a range of government and private sector clients across arts and culture, transport infrastructure, energy and water, and nature and biodiversity. He's also leading co-design facilitator for complex sustainability challenges.
Christopher Wilson, Pangolin Associates
Speaker
Chris, a sustainability expert with 20+ years of experience, excels in building environmental frameworks and management systems for climate leadership. As a certified Greenhouse Gas Auditor, he’s recognised for advancing natural capital accounting and strategic sustainability in cultural and governmental sectors, driving best practices and long-term environmental resilience.
