Presenters:

Berdine Jonker, Acting Senior Heritage Planner, BC Heritage Branch, Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment

Judith Cook, Acting Heritage Planner, BC Heritge Branch, Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment

With so much emphasis put on reducing, reusing and recycling resources, why is it that existing buildings are so often left out of that equation? This session will explore what can be done to ensure that our historic built environment survives so that future generations can experience it, learn from it and be inspired by it. Rediscover the benefits of traditional design, and learn about successful building rehabilitation projects throughout British Columbia.

Presenter Bios

Berdine Jonker
Berdine Jonker is Acting Senior Heritage Planner with the BC Heritage Branch, Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment. She has been working in the heritage conservation field since 1998, focusing primarily on building local government capacity for heritage conservation planning. Berdine has also worked with groups such as Smart Growth BC to further develop the connection between heritage conservation and healthy community development. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Art History) (1998), a Diploma in Cultural Resource Management (2003), and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (2010) from the University of Victoria.

Judith Cook
Judith joined Heritage Branch in 2007. With a background in environmental studies, writing and public relations, she has worked in a communications capacity for several organizations in the public, private and non-profit sector. She continues to develop outreach material which illustrates the natural overlap of heritage conservation with sustainability paradigms. Through tradeshow exhibits and presentations, she has shared these ideas at a number of events including the Green Living Show (2008), BC Land Summit (2009), Gaining Ground Conference (2009) and Building SustainAble Communities Conference (2010).