Dean Slocum delivered Key Note Address at ACRA’s Annual Conference

Dean was invited to make the key note address at the annual meeting of the American Cultural Resources Association’s annual meeting in Cincinnati in September.  He was asked to address members on how to understand and articulate the value of cultural resources to project developers and business leaders in their terms, using Acorn International’s lessons learned from helping global extractive industries and investors build the business case for protecting natural and community resources.  Dean started with concepts of resource value from thinkers as diverse as Peter Drucker to Karl Marx to Avery Lovins, then shared case studies and concluded that ACRA members will need to develop the knowledge and skills to think and communicate like investors to promote the value of cultural resource preservation beyond what is just required by law. See Dean’s presentation here.