INTO Bavaria: Places with purpose
Community, connection and the case for heritage

1 – 4 November 2026

This INTO conference will bring together our global family of National Trusts to explore how heritage can serve communities, foster connection and shape a sustainable future. Hosted in Freising and Munich by Kultur Erbe Bayern, this conference offers opportunities for learning, networking and experiencing how different trusts protect places with meaning.

Brent Leggs is the eleventh President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and has served in the role since 2026.

Brent has been with the National Trust for over twenty years, most recently as the founding executive director of its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, which has raised over $200 million for the preservation of sites associated with Black history across the country.

Wanjiru Koinange is an award-winning writer, library restorer, and entrepreneur from Nairobi, Kenya. Her debut novel, The Havoc of Choice, was published in the UK (2019) and Kenya (2020), where it became a national bestseller.

In 2015, she published a piece about Kenya’s second-oldest library, McMillan Memorial Library. This story went on to spark something much bigger. That spark became Book Bunk, the independent non-profit she co-founded to restore and manage Nairobi’s historic public libraries.

Prof. Dr Hermann Parzinger is an archaeologist who served as President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) from 2008 to 2025. With 25 museums, libraries, archives and research institutes, the SPK is one of the largest cultural institutions in the world.

Dr Jessica Moody is Associate Professor in Public History and Principal Investigator on the UKRI funded Future Leaders Fellowship Plants, Enslavement and Public History: Re-imagining green spaces as places of heritage and healing

To secure your place or apply for support, please use the links below:

👉 Book your conference ticket
👉 Apply for a green travel bursary

• INTO member full price – €240
• Non-INTO member full price – €300

Included in the ticket price:
Day 1: Opening reception with drinks and small food
Day 2 and 3: 2 full days conference including keynote speakers, in-conversation sessions, panel discussions and break out workshops
Lunches and tea/ coffee during conference sessions
Celebration dinner on day 3
Day 4: Site visit, including transport to the venue and refreshments

Not included: transportation to Freising, visas, hotels, breakfasts and other meals not listed in the conference package.

All ticket and travel bursaries have now been allocated and grantees have been notified. Green bursary applications are still open.

Please note places for delegates from the National Trust (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) have now been filled – please visit this link before making any bookings.

Hosted by Kultur Erbe Bayern at the Diözesanmuseum in Freising – just outside Munich – this four‑day gathering offers a vibrant mix of discussion, discovery and hands‑on learning shaped by the priorities of our global movement.

Our four keynote speakers will explore big, future‑facing questions:

• What does it mean to be a National Trust today? Lessons from Kultur Erbe Bayern’s first ten years.
• How can heritage organisations plan for the long term in an increasingly polarised world?
• How can we build deeper, more meaningful connections between people, heritage and nature – benefiting both communities and the planet?
• How can we better understand the needs of the communities we wish to welcome?

Panel discussions will build on these themes, offering real‑world insights from international case studies on climate adaptation, youth engagement, religious heritage, and futureproofing organisations for the decades ahead.

©Diözesanmuseum Freising, Foto Dirk Daniel Mann

Delegates will have opportunities to join smaller breakout sessions – interactive, practical workshops led by participants themselves. These sessions span a wide range of topics including property acquisition, membership growth, community regeneration, disappearing heritage skills, policy engagement and creative responses to climate adaptation.

A signature highlight of every INTO conference is the chance to learn directly from live case studies. INTO Bavaria delegates will visit inspiring sites across the region and take part in workshops helping to shape Kultur Erbe Bayern’s developing visitor offer.

Most importantly, INTO Bavaria offers space to connect – with peers from every corner of our international network, sharing ideas, building partnerships and discovering new approaches to support your work at home. Browse the programme to learn more – this will be updated as more details, speakers and sessions are confirmed.

The INTO conference is at the heart of everything we do.

Born in the 1970s as the International Conference for National Trusts (ICNT), this brilliant event gathers people from across the globe to collaborate for the protection of cultural and natural heritage.

It is an opportunity for our network to meet and discuss collective goals and challenges. Each biennial conference is hosted by a member of our global family in partnership with INTO.