Meet the Experts - Mike's passion for cultural heritage

With over 30 years’ experience in the industry and nine years working specifically on cultural heritage management plans in Victoria, Dr Mike Green is a true expert.

 Mike is our Principal Heritage Advisor and Cultural Heritage Team Leader, delivering heritage management services including cultural heritage management plans and baseline studies supporting environmental impact assessments nationally and internationally in partnership with our regional offices throughout Australia and Tetra Tech Coffey. On any given day Mike could be coordinating field programs across a broad range of projects, preparing expert witness statements, talking to existing or prospective clients, writing reports, or just keeping the Melbourne heritage team on the straight and narrow.

How do you explain what you do for work at dinner parties?

I guide developers and their contractors through the planning and approvals process. ELA’s role is to help our clients ensure that cultural heritage is front of mind when the potential for damaging impacts is being considered. 

There is an increasing collective awareness of the value of cultural heritage, and as a community we want to preserve our heritage as much as possible. My role at ELA is to help balance this aspiration with the myriad of practical matters that are a natural part of any changing society. I consider all interests to find suitable solutions for clients and pride myself on advocating for heritage.

What do you love about heritage?

If we understand and cherish our past, we are better equipped to deal with our present in a way that promotes positive progress towards the future. This concept is close to my heart.  

Much like heritage, people can look back at their childhood and understand that their experiences have shaped them into the person they have become. Reflecting on the past as a society and understanding how experiences have shaped our community allows us to make active and informed decisions about the type of society we want to be. Heritage is an integral part of this idea as it links us to our tangible past through an appreciation of physical places and objects, and to a shared intangible memory that includes stories, art, dance, song and other forms of cultural expression and knowledge.

What would you say is one of your greatest career achievements?

I was very proud to be the President of the Archaeological and Anthropological Society of Victoria for seven years. In this role I provided service and guidance to people with a non-professional interest in archaeology.  I found my interactions with the members extremely rewarding.

What do you nerd out over?

I try to keep up to date with the latest paleoanthropological discoveries (palaeoanthropology is the study of human evolution through fossil and archaeological records). 

I’m still trying to get my head around the idea of Homo floresiensis (the ‘Hobbit’ species found on Flores in 2004), and the idea that another miniature archaic human species was recently found nearly 3,000km away on Luzon in the Philippines.    

Dating to around 50,000 – 67,000 years ago, Homo luzonensis was announced to the world in 2019 and is forcing us to rethink (yet again!) the evolutionary pathways traversed by our ancestors over the last 2 million years.

What’s the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

I was lucky enough to be involved in a mining project in Papua New Guinea over a six-year period. During that time I undertook surveys with local landowners which enabled me to develop a thorough understanding of the archaeological landscape across the project area. More importantly though, through the generosity of the landowners I was able understand the deep connections they have with the place which are expressed in their mythologies, their origin stories and their oral histories.

The landowners and I built relationships based on trust. Understanding the richness of their stories enabled me to provide meaningful advice to my client regarding the design of their project. 

I was able to facilitate decision making around new designs that allowed the project to proceed in ways that aligned with everyone’s priorities, including the developer and the landowners. This rewarding project provided me with a wealth of knowledge I will always be grateful for. 

Mike and the ELA team with Traditional Owners and client representatives in Victoria after completing a smoking ceremony, before an investigation for Aboriginal Ancestral remains commenced. 

Your favourite band or musician and why?

My music taste is pretty broad, so I don’t really have a standout band or musician. However, I’m a child of the seventies and my all-time favourite song is Golden Earring’s ‘Radar Love’ – it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing, when that driving beat starts up I just feel revved! 

To share your genius, what’s your one tip for clients working on heritage projects?

I can’t stress this enough – do your due diligence as early as possible in the project to ensure you understand the full range of heritage-related constraints that may affect your project. This will save you time and money in the long run. 

It’s amazing the number of times we have identified potential showstoppers at the beginning of a project and once we bring the client and stakeholders together, we work collaboratively to resolve the issue with considered design solutions.

If you leave heritage considerations to the last minute, or worse, don’t consider them at all, you may find yourself locked into a project design that doesn’t allow for flexible responses. This approach can result in significant cost and scheduling issues down the line. 

What’s an interesting fun fact your team or your clients might not know about you?

I’ve become a chicken farmer over the last few years! My flock (if you can call it that) currently includes four Hyline Browns and four Barter Blacks. They’re great layers and we’ve been giving away lots of eggs!

Mike in his happy place, with his flock of chickens.

How would you love to change the world through your role at ELA?

Every day I work with Traditional Owners. Over the past 30 years I have been privileged to get to know some of them very well. I am constantly in awe of their tough resilience as well as their genuine desire to get their message across to the wider community. 

I feel like I’m assisting in that process every time I bring clients together with Traditional Owners to discuss projects. When my clients go away with a better understanding of the nature and the value of cultural heritage, I feel as though I’ve done my part.

Mike in the field in Papua New Guinea.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise Mike! 

Got a project that needs heritage expertise? Contact: 

Mike Green
Principal Heritage Advisor | Cultural Heritage Team Leader
Phone +61 401 421 161
Email Mike.Green@ecoaus.com.au