The Heritage is Living Podcast – Available Now!
The first 4 episodes of the ‘Heritage is Living’ Podcast are available now.
Join host Patricia Kell, Executive Director of the National Trust for Canada, as we explore and challenge what heritage is and how it fits into our world today. Through this podcast, we will speak with experts in the heritage field and beyond, to understand how heritage can help us to live aware, with care, and with purpose.
In this season, we will explore how heritage conservation connects to climate action, reconciliation, diversity and inclusion, and to social issues like affordable housing, and economics.
Heritage is Living is recorded in Ottawa – on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. The Trust works on the lands and territories of many Indigenous peoples across what is now known as Canada.
Episode 1 : Heritage and Climate Action with Lloyd Alter (Available in English)
From the concept of embodied carbon to what we can learn from existing buildings, on this episode Patricia Kell discusses the connection between heritage conservation and climate action with Lloyd Alter.
Lloyd Alter has been an architect, real estate developer, and writer, and is a Past President of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. He teaches Sustainable Design at Toronto Metropolitan University. He has contributed to many publications, including The Guardian, Green Building Advisor, Corporate Knights and Azure Magazines, and was a contributor and editor at Treehugger.com for 15 years. Lloyd is the author of Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle, from New Society Publishers. His new book, The story of Upfront Carbon, was published in May 2024.
Episode 2 – Heritage and Economy with Natalie Voland (Available in French)
On this episode guest speaker Natalie Voland challenges assumptions about the economic viability of investing in built heritage, while simultaneously prioritizing social and environmental sustainability goals.
Natalie Voland is a pioneering real estate developer with 25 years of experience, employing her social work background with a commitment to historic protection that also unites communities and pushes environmental advocacy. An award-winning developer and leader of the Quebec B Corp movement, she manages 1.5 million square feet of properties, supports over 500 entrepreneurs, and actively invests in carbon-mitigated housing through her newest venture “Quo Vadis Capital,” all while contributing to ESG development and sustainability research. Natalie is a PhD candidate and member of the Concordia Chair of Excellence in Research on Smart and Resilient Cities and the Next Generation Cities Institute specializing in the bridge of market business practices that drive sustainability on the built environment.
Episode 3 – Heritage and Reconciliation with Dr. Kisha Supernant (Available in English)
On this episode, Dr. Kisha Supernant discusses the importance of community centered approaches to archaeology and heritage practices and how the heritage sector must change to better center Indigenous perspectives and priorities.
Dr. Kisha Supernant (Métis/Papaschase/British) is President of the Indigenous Heritage Circle, the Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology and a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. An award-winning teacher, researcher, and writer, her research interests include the relationship between cultural identities, landscapes, and the use of space, Métis archaeology, and heart-centered archaeological practice. Her research with Indigenous communities (including Métis and First Nations) in western Canada explores how archaeologists and communities can build collaborative research relationships and uphold Indigenous rights to cultural heritage.
04 – Heritage and Inclusion with Parker Mah (Available in French)
From challenging gentrification and displacement to protecting intangible heritage values, on this episode, Parker Mah discusses the connection between heritage and inclusion through the case study of Montréal’s Chinatown.
Parker Mah 馬世聰 is a fourth-generation Chinese Montrealer of Toisanese descent, based in Tio’tia:ke. Multimedia artist, musician, and DJ, his diverse body of work tackles themes and realities of migration, hybridization and identity. He is also active in different cultural and activist spaces as a curator, moderator, trainer and community organizer. He is a founding member of Progressive Chinese Quebecers, and of the Jia Foundation. He co-hosted the feature length documentary Being Chinese in Quebec (2013), with Bethany Or. He also acted as curator and artistic director for two major site-based Chinatown exhibitions produced by the centre des mémoires montréalaises (MEM).
