Duncan Wilson OBE, Chief Executive at Historic England, the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment.

“The IHBC Annual School is one of the pre-eminent regular events in the heritage calendar, an important opportunity for those of us who share the passion of historic building conservation to come together, reflect on key developments and learn from each other. This year is no exception, particularly in the context of a new government with its energy, focus and commitment on growth, homes and decarbonisation. I’m looking forward to sharing views on where heritage intersects with this mission-led agenda and what might need to change”. 

Duncan Wilson
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Aishwarya Tipnis, Aishwarya Tipnis Architects 

Speaker Bio: 
Aishwarya Tipnis is an award-winning Indian architect, educator and heritage conservationist based in New Delhi, India. Born and raised in New Delhi, she completed her bachelor’s degree at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and went on to earn a master’s degree in European urban Conservation from the University of Dundee, Scotland. She holds a PhD in Urban Design and works at the intersection of architecture, urbanism and heritage conservation. In 2016, her work was recognised by the UNESCO Award for Heritage Conservation in the Asia-Pacific Region and in 2018 she was conferred Chevalier Des Arts et Des Lettre (Knight of the Arts and Letters), by the Government of France in 2018 for her outstanding commitment to preservation of French Heritage in India. In 2019, she co-founded Jugaadopolis, a social innovation enterprise to work with youth in making the rich heritage of India relevant to local communities in the contemporary context through a process of co-creation.     

She has been widely recognized as a global cultural leader and is committed to preserving India’s rich cultural heritage through her work in architectural conservation.  In 2022, she spearheaded The Restoration Toolbox, a community led project that works at empowering citizens to restore their own heritage, which was recognised as one of the most innovative projects in international cultural relations by EUNIC in 2023. Some of her notable projects include Retrofit Design for Woodstock School Mussoorie, Restoration of The Doon School Dehradun. She was the urban conservation consultant on the UNESCO team for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway World Heritage Site and has been a champion for the community-led revitalisation of Chandernagore, an erstwhile French town in West Bengal India. She is a published author and currently visiting faculty at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and serves as the member of the Academic Council at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environmental Studies, Mumbai as well as the Board of Review of CEPT University. She also serves as the Heritage Expert on the Heritage Conservation Committee for Delhi, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Government of India. 

Social media links 
Twitter: @studio_ata Instagram: @studio.ata.delhi and @Aishwarya Tipnis  
LinkedIn: Aishwarya Tipnis| LinkedIn

Alan Powers - Lecturer at New York University London

Speaker Bio: Alan Powers has written many books on twentieth century visual arts, with a specialism in British mid-century. His involvement in conservation began as the first caseworker for The Thirties Society and continued when it became the Twentieth Century Society, of which he is currently a trustee with responsibility for publications. He teaches at New York University, London, University of Kent, London School of Architecture and on the Cambridge Building History Masters' Course. In his contribution to the IHBC conference/school, he will take a polemical stance in favour of intelligent flexibility rather than rigid rules where the mixing of old and new is concerned, and look for what other kinds of rules might be more appropriate. 

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Melissa Murphy - KC King’s Counsel Planning & Environmental Law, Landmark Chambers 
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Imogen Wood MSc FLI MCIfA IHBC, Senior National Consultant, Heritage & Climate at the National Trust 

‘An opportunity to consider terms like contingency planning, adaptive release, pathway planning and climate change adaptation and what they mean in the context of historic building conservation. How can we both conserve what is special about places, while accepting uncertain futures and our need to both control change and let go of control at the same time?’ 

Speaker Bio:
Imogen Wood MSc FLI CIfA IHBC is a senior conservation practitioner at the National Trust, balancing nature, history, design and access in her work, which has focused on conservation philosophy that cross-cuts devolved regulatory approaches and accounts for services and public benefit of the National Trust’s charitable purpose, conservation management approaches and their application across landscapes and different asset types, and planning and development work that seeks sustainable approaches to accessible rural estate management. Previous work for Historic England, Natural England and private consultancy has been centred around conservation management approaches and project planning for heritage at risk, including parks and gardens, historic buildings and archaeological features. Imogen has worked internationally on the climate crisis, attending COP and other overseas events on climate and heritage, and developing and speaking about methods for climate change adaptation approaches for the historic environment. 

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Stephen Levrant RIBA, AA Dip, IHBC, Dip Cons(AA), ACArch, FRSA, Principal Architect at Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture

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Chaired by Rachel Parry

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Jessica Jones, Vice Chair of RICS Conservation Steering Group: Response to the Session
 
Author Bio: 
 
Jessica is vice-chair of the RICS Building Conservation Advisory Group, which provides expert advice to RICS and its members across all aspects of the historic environment. She is both a fellow of the RICS and a full member of the IHBC.  Jessica has a particular interest in heritage-led regeneration and placemak

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IHBC's North Branch introduces plans for the IHBC's 2026 School

Close of Day School - Rachel Parry, West Midlands Branch Chair 
Close of Annual School David McDonald, IHBC Chair

Please note that the Day School will end at 15:45 for on-line delegates