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Scotland enjoys one of the most unique and celebrated built historic environments in the world.
Its importance in terms of our economic growth, continued prosperity and national identity cannot be under-estimated. It currently generates in excess of £2.3 billion to the Scottish economy, and supports more than 60,000 full time employees.
Individually and as organisations we share a passion for our historic and built environment, and it is important that there is a forum to share that passion.
It was for that reason therefore that I was proud to be part of the first ever Built and Historic Environment Summit, which Historic Scotland hosted at the beautiful Bute Hall in Glasgow in November. The summit brought together over 100 representatives from a broad range of organisations and individuals who care for Scotland’s rich historic and built environment.
It came at a time when I had recently joined the team at Historic Scotland as Interim Chief Executive. It was inspiring to meet the wealth of talent and enthusiasm in the room, and experience first hand the pride and drive of those working across the many facets of the sector.
The summit, which was chaired by the Scottish Government’s Culture Minister focussed on recognising and celebrating the inspiring work that is happening across the historic and built environment. It also sought to provide an opportunity to discuss roles and share knowledge in terms of how the sector moves forward.
This is a prime opportunity to harness a new and shared purpose for Scotland’s historic and built environment and it is clear that by working together we have enormous opportunities. This includes:
communicating the enthusiasm we feel in ways which will engage the people of Scotland to make the connections between our historic environment and the natural landscape to create new partnerships to deliver better outcomes
For those working both inside and outside government, we need to look at how we take this partnership working to the next level. As it was put to us ‘we need to build a Scotland which values the legacy of the past, and understand that if we approach it with the right attitude our rich patrimony- natural and man made- is the foundation for building a self confident future.’
As a key player in protecting and enhancing that heritage, I believe that Historic Scotland has an important role to play in helping to achieve this vision. When I joined the agency I was impressed by the enthusiasm, knowledge and talent of the team. It’s important therefore that that enthusiasm, knowledge and talent is opened up and shared and made available and communicated externally so we can work with partners and the wider public to help protect and enjoy our built and natural historic environment. To do that we need to continue to look at ways to help meet the challenges affecting the sector on a daily basis and look to both extend existing and create new partnerships across the board.
We also need to continue to share expertise and look at new ways to do so. There is an enormous scope and breadth of work undertaken at Historic Scotland. We look after more than 8000 scheduled monuments and run 345 sites across Scotland from Skara Brae in Orkney through to Scotland’s number one paid visitor attraction, Edinburgh Castle. Our staff work with organisations across Scotland to help protect and enhance our built environment. We have teams working on maintaining and preserving buildings and supporting traditional skills in the process. Meanwhile our education and interpretation staff do a fantastic job in inspiring the next generation to develop a passion and a pride for their built and historic environment through our interactive schools programme. The sector is vibrant and evolving and provides a whole host of opportunities for those working within it.
This is why events such as this Summit are so important in sharing information and ideas and debating the key issues across the built and historic environment in Scotland. As the Minister argued ‘It’s a chance to hear people’s ideas regarding changes to the way that we work, how we can work more collaboratively across the sector, remove barriers and provide innovative solutions which can improve our outcomes and deliver more effectively for the people of Scotland. Only then can we truly unlock our potential and harness our collective enthusiasm for Scotland’s past to service Scotland’s future.’
I hope in my time here I can help facilitate this and can play a small part in helping to protect and enhance our historic and built environment for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
Ruth Parsons: Ruth Parsons is Chief Executive of Historic Scotland.
Its importance in terms of our economic growth, continued prosperity and national identity cannot be under-estimated. It currently generates in excess of £2.3 billion to the Scottish economy, and supports more than 60,000 full time employees.
Individually and as organisations we share a passion for our historic and built environment, and it is important that there is a forum to share that passion.
It was for that reason therefore that I was proud to be part of the first ever Built and Historic Environment Summit, which Historic Scotland hosted at the beautiful Bute Hall in Glasgow in November. The summit brought together over 100 representatives from a broad range of organisations and individuals who care for Scotland’s rich historic and built environment.
It came at a time when I had recently joined the team at Historic Scotland as Interim Chief Executive. It was inspiring to meet the wealth of talent and enthusiasm in the room, and experience first hand the pride and drive of those working across the many facets of the sector.
The summit, which was chaired by the Scottish Government’s Culture Minister focussed on recognising and celebrating the inspiring work that is happening across the historic and built environment. It also sought to provide an opportunity to discuss roles and share knowledge in terms of how the sector moves forward.
This is a prime opportunity to harness a new and shared purpose for Scotland’s historic and built environment and it is clear that by working together we have enormous opportunities. This includes:
communicating the enthusiasm we feel in ways which will engage the people of Scotland to make the connections between our historic environment and the natural landscape to create new partnerships to deliver better outcomes
For those working both inside and outside government, we need to look at how we take this partnership working to the next level. As it was put to us ‘we need to build a Scotland which values the legacy of the past, and understand that if we approach it with the right attitude our rich patrimony- natural and man made- is the foundation for building a self confident future.’
As a key player in protecting and enhancing that heritage, I believe that Historic Scotland has an important role to play in helping to achieve this vision. When I joined the agency I was impressed by the enthusiasm, knowledge and talent of the team. It’s important therefore that that enthusiasm, knowledge and talent is opened up and shared and made available and communicated externally so we can work with partners and the wider public to help protect and enjoy our built and natural historic environment. To do that we need to continue to look at ways to help meet the challenges affecting the sector on a daily basis and look to both extend existing and create new partnerships across the board.
We also need to continue to share expertise and look at new ways to do so. There is an enormous scope and breadth of work undertaken at Historic Scotland. We look after more than 8000 scheduled monuments and run 345 sites across Scotland from Skara Brae in Orkney through to Scotland’s number one paid visitor attraction, Edinburgh Castle. Our staff work with organisations across Scotland to help protect and enhance our built environment. We have teams working on maintaining and preserving buildings and supporting traditional skills in the process. Meanwhile our education and interpretation staff do a fantastic job in inspiring the next generation to develop a passion and a pride for their built and historic environment through our interactive schools programme. The sector is vibrant and evolving and provides a whole host of opportunities for those working within it.
This is why events such as this Summit are so important in sharing information and ideas and debating the key issues across the built and historic environment in Scotland. As the Minister argued ‘It’s a chance to hear people’s ideas regarding changes to the way that we work, how we can work more collaboratively across the sector, remove barriers and provide innovative solutions which can improve our outcomes and deliver more effectively for the people of Scotland. Only then can we truly unlock our potential and harness our collective enthusiasm for Scotland’s past to service Scotland’s future.’
I hope in my time here I can help facilitate this and can play a small part in helping to protect and enhance our historic and built environment for the enjoyment of present and future generations.
Ruth Parsons: Ruth Parsons is Chief Executive of Historic Scotland.