Cultural Heritage Context
The landscape in the United Kingdom of cultural heritage research and provision is rich and varied. A wide range of institutions supporting a vast array of activities are engaged in cultural heritage research both directly and indirectly, from universities and research institutions to national and regional museums and, galleries, libraries and archives. Independent heritage organisations support research by making collections, heritage buildings and sites available for research, either to increase knowledge, or to better explain a problem or to define solutions. Cultural heritage research is not only defined by its materials and assemblages but also by qualitative investigations relating to the value and significance of heritage to diverse audiences.
Cultural Heritage Governance and Policy
Responsibility for culture heritage in England resides with the Department (Ministry) of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It has recently appointed a Chief Scientific Adviser and a Sciecne and Research Advisory Committee to advise on the scientific and technological research with which DCMS should engage in the fulfillment of its remit. Culture is a devolved responsibility in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. DCMS “believes it is more efficient for decisions on what conservation or IT skills and resources are required [to] be delegated to the experts in the bodies it sponsors and the wider cultural sector”. DCMS sponsors a wide range of Non- Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs). The largest is English Heritage, which is responsible for the conservation of the historic environment, including the historic maritime environment, archaeology and landscapes in England. DCMS also sponsors the National Museums and Galleries (NMGs).
Cultural Heritage Funding
English Heritage has a budget for all research (including conservation science) of ~€ 11 Million per annum. Most of the NMGs invest a proportion of their core funding in conservation and research, and in many cases they have world-class reputations in their fields. The governance arrangements for universities are separate from the heritage sector, and heritage-related scientific research across a number of physical and natural science disciplines and their applications, depend on time-limited external funding for heritage science research projects by means of competitive applications to the Research Councils. More recently, in response to recommendations by a House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee Inquiry on “Science and Heritage”, the Arts and Humanities Research Council has become the lead research council for heritage science and has announced the launch of a Science and Heritage Programme (~€ 9 Million) to fund research and other activities in this area.
The devolved nature of governance has also meant that there have been few large-scale targeted funding programmes in this area. Much of the funding has operated in responsive mode. On the publication of its 2006 research policy, English Heritage has identified two priority research areas: “Studying and assessing the risks to historic assets” (€ 2.5m per annum) and “Discovering, studying and defining historic assets” (€7m per annum). Similarly, the Arts and Humanities Research Council has a large budget for the support for research training through its postgraduate awards (~€45m per annum), but only a small portion of the research funded is directly relevant to heritage research.
However, it does support a postgraduate programme, Collaborative Doctoral Awards (approx € 1M per annum), which supports partnerships between universities and other sectors, predominantly the heritage sector. It also provides postdoctoral project funding across its remit which includes Archeology (~€ 1.6M spend per annum) and museums’ practice, librarianship and information science (~€ 700K spend per annum) – again largely through responsive mode. In targeted mode, the AHRC Landscape and Environment programme (which looks at the relationship between culture and environment) funds research in the region of € 1.6M per annum, while seed-funding for projects is provided through its Museums and Galleries Research Programme projects (€ 700K spend per annum).
Cultural Heritage Research
The setting of research priorities is in practice largely devolved to individual institutions. English Heritage has published a Research Strategy. The National Museums Directors’ Conference provides a level of co-ordination of common strategic issues. There are also informal exchanges between the heads of conservation in the NMGs, including those from the National Museums of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Due to the devolved nature of governance for heritage science research in the UK, the whole sector (both moveable and immoveable heritage) is working together to devise a national research strategy for science and heritage.
Cultural Heritage Education and Outreach
Cultural heritage education takes place across many institutions at all levels of educations, and it is delivered through both formal programmes and informal courses. Length varies from a few days to several years and the final certification ranges from a certificate of attendance to a formal university degree with a range of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training courses available as well. Many heritage organisations such as museums, galleries, archives and libraries, either provide in-house training for staff or support staff in attending courses or conferences as part of their CPD. All heritage professionals engaged in research within museums, galleries, libraries and archives and heritage organisations are expected to communicate their research to a wide range of audiences including other researchers, practitioners and the public. The cultural heritage field is seen as an important vehicle for public engagement with science in the United Kingdom.
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written by Craig Kennedy , January 11, 2010
In Scotland, culture and cultural heritage are devolved from the United Kingdom government. The Scottish Government has a Minister for Culture who oversees the cultural institutions in Scotland.
Historic Scotland is Scotland’s equivalent organisation to English Heritage. Historic Scotland is responsible for the care of the built historic environment in Scotland and funds research in to built heritage and archaeology. This work is carried out through a combination of in-house research, collaborative research programmes and funded research. The archaeological and historic built environment are surveyed and recorded by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).
Scotland’s national collections are cared for and displayed by the National Museums, Galleries, Library and Archives of Scotland. Each of these have in-house conservation facilities while National Museums Scotland have scientific research facilities applied to better understanding the artefact and natural history collections.
The Institute for Conservation, the UK’s leading body of professional conservators, conservation scientists and restorers, also recognises Scotland’s unique cultural past through the formation of the ICON Scotland Group.
As part of the United Kingdom, Scottish institutions can bid, in collaboration with Universities, or in some cases directly, for funding from the UK research councils, including from programmes such as the AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme.
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