Exploring impacts of participation in heritage management: reciprocal links between communities and heritage institutions in the case of Orkney islands

This thesis explores the reciprocal links between local community wellbeing and sustainable heritage management, through community’s active participation in heritage. Special emphasis is placed on the impact of heritage participation on increasing social capital, and through this, collective level community well-being as well as perceived sense of place. Reciprocal relationships of the aforementioned impacts will be explored through a case study approach, focusing on small islands that represent common challenges of rural communities and landscapes: challenges towards sustaining both communities and heritage due to isolation, accessibility issues but also restricted resources that assert pressures on heritage management. The case of Orkney Islands, Scotland has been chosen as a representative example of islands where a variety of heritage participation projects have occurred in the last few years funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and consists the context of the study. The researcher adopts a bottom-up stance to impact evaluation that combines multiple perspectives: indicators of social outcomes are emerging from in-depth interviews and discussions with local residents and heritage managers. This approach enables a qualitative inductive exploration of contextually relevant impact areas, using social capital attributes as key assessment parameters to understand the leverage of participation for both heritage institutions and local community groups. The thesis aspires to challenge existing and develop contextually relevant indicators useful to define (and subsequently measure) wellbeing and social outcomes, in contrast to generic frameworks for impact evaluation studies related to heritage participation. It also proposes a framework for reciprocal impact assessment for participatory projects that combines considerations of institutional, instrumental and intrinsic values of heritage. The novelty of the contribution lies in providing evidence for the social contribution of participatory practices and relating them through the concept of reciprocity with knock-on impacts on institutional practices and heritage management approaches, ultimately looking at sustaining heritage resources on local level and supporting community well being through engagement with heritage

Transformative approaches for trans-disciplinary sustainability curriculum design

This paper aims at addressing challenge sin developing novel ESD curricula in higher education, aiming at furthering policy and practice towards sustainability oriented inter and trans-disciplinarity in teaching and learning. Achieving trans disciplinarity in sustainability programmes in mainstream institutions has been considered particularly difficult, as it usually stumbles upon mis-fitting between integrative approaches (and participatory pedagogies on one hand), and rather traditional discipline-based university structures and methods on the other. With this in mind, the paper discusses experiences and lessons-learnt from developing a new MSc curriculum in the University of Strathclyde, a traditionally technically-oriented university, aiming at combining cross-faculty resources to deliver unique trans-disciplinary education on sustainable development. The paper will specifically discuss the skills-oriented approach for developing the curriculum, linking with 21st century skills (critical and systemic thinking, dealing with complexity) and typical employers’ calls for graduates holding ‘real world’ and ‘soft’ skills that allow collaboration, design thinking and flexibility. Secondly the paper discusses key pedagogical approaches that can be integrated into such curricula to ensure they are driving problem-based learning and active learning through practice-based activities or real-world working experience. In conclusion recommendations for actions and approaches new lecturers and learning development teams can take to deal with major challenges described above will be developed. The paper aspires to contribute to the body of resources available to expand ESD within higher education and transform curricula

Heritage and pathways to wellbeing : from personal to social benefits, between experience identity and capability shaping

The impact of historic places and assets on community wellbeing has been the focus on many studies for more than two decades now, with latest policy and academic research focusing more on mental and physical health benefits from engagement with heritage for individuals and certain groups as well. This paper presents a first, comprehensive realist review of wellbeing benefits and pathways through which those emerge. Benefits related to exposure to or engagement with historic places are discussed, attempting a classification of academic papers and empirical published studies, according to various types of place experiences (range from experiencing to living in a historic environment). The complexity of defining what heritage is, lies in the heart of unpicking any wellbeing benefits stemming from experiencing or engaging with it. The evidence are structured under eight key ‘pathways to wellbeing’, summarising effects through identity, experience, capabilities changes (direct effects) or wider improvements on wellbeing through quality of one's living environment (indirect effects). The multiplicity of wellbeing aspects (from eudemonic to hedonic, personal or social) observed and the indirect health-related outcomes mapped further perplexes the evidence reporting, as different interventions may trigger and generate different health and wellbeing outcomes. The papers aims to assist further researchers to understand better the ways in which heritage activities can stimulate mental or physical health outcomes directly or indirectly, improve reporting across different types of places and help study the mechanisms of how these benefits occur at the individual and community level in further depth

Participation in urban and rural heritage within landscape: a systemic approach exploring social and institutional impacts

This paper argues that there is a reciprocal relationship between social and institutional impacts derived from participation in heritage. By reciprocal relationship, we refer on how participation in heritage projects can benefit community wellbeing while leading to benefits in processes of heritage management (Smith,2006) and heritage protection, and the other way around. More specifically, the paper looks at heritage participation in rural landscapes which constitute a rather under-examined context. Through an in-depth case study from the remote and rural context of Orkney islands, Scotland, UK, the analysis focuses on participation in five projects realized within the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership scheme, a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) supported scheme (2009-12). 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with local inhabitants, including 16 heritage professionals and 24 community members who were involved in the projects. The qualitative data were firstly analyzed thematically with particular emphasis on motivations for participation, perceived social impacts on community level and institutional impacts on organizational level. A second method of analysis was applied to understand how impacts are interrelated: employing a systemic conceptualization (Avrami, 2012) of interactions between community, place and institutions, we use causal loop diagrams ( a tool from system dynamics) to illustrate causal relationships between variables and understand how participation has contributed to output and finally impact formation and what are the interactions between social and heritage related impacts. One of the key causal interrelationships observed is that people’s interactions with rural elements of the historic environment increase social capital (assessed through social indicators such as social networks and social cohesion among others). Through the creation of new social networks and heritage associations this leads to reinforcing sense of place and community awareness of rural heritage. This locates local heritage institutions at the heart of local place -making processes, increasing community links with and trust towards heritage planning related agencies. This paper provides the first systemic attempt to illustrate the causal interrelationships by offering a novel methodological approach applicable for complex heritage systems such as rural heritage landscapes. We hope that this approach will inspire practitioners to think “beyond boundaries” of specific sites (Ackerman, 2014), understanding further socio-spatial associations between communities and heritage but also between communities and institutions. Key words; participation, engagement, rural landscapes, social impacts, heritage for sustainable development, institutional impacts, reciprocit

Applying social impact assessment (SIA) principles in assessing contribution of cultural heritage to social sustainability in rural landscapes

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of social impact assessment (SIA) principles to evaluate the contribution of cultural heritage to social sustainability, supporting both a people-centered and socially responsible approach to heritage management. Design/methodology/approach: Specifically, the paper explores SIA as a methodological tool for post-project evaluation, used to define projects’ contributions to aspects of social sustainability through analyzing impacts of participation in a rural context case study, that of the Scapa Flow landscape heritage scheme in Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK. Findings: Based on research findings from the thematic analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews on impacts (with heritage managers, planners and participants in the scheme), the paper proposes a combination of heritage value assessment process with social impact identification to achieve a context-relevant assessment of social sustainability. Existing research around social capital and sense of place supports the analysis of relevant impacts and heritage values. Findings support overlaps between socio-environmental impacts, when looking at the role of heritage for community well-being in rural contexts. Research limitations/implications: The qualitative approach allows for a context-relevant, bottom up impact assessment and allows for multiple stakeholders perceptions to be included. Practical implications: The proposed methodological approach has greater implications for the work of institutions and professionals involved in project evaluations that can inform participatory heritage project planning, ensuring high social relevance. Social implications: Application of SIA principles in heritage sector can increase social benefits of heritage projects and enable wider community participation in processes of heritage management. Originality/value: Through this case study, the effectiveness of SIA principles when applied in cultural heritage project evaluation is discussed, reflecting on a novel methodology for impact assessment in heritage

Co-creation of sustainability education : 'made by students'

Allowing space for the students as co-creators is viewed as a novel pedagogical approach1 2with particular gain for teaching in interdisciplinary cohorts, from embracing new aspects of participatory content creation, empowering young researchers to informing educational content with state-of-the art ideas, and rendering content relevant to the classrooms of the future. At the University of Strathclyde, a number of projects are currently underway that adopt a co-creation model: from the design of an undergraduate module in the School of Psychological Science and Health and a postgraduate interdisciplinary module on Nature-based solutions at the Centre for Sustainable Development, new space is created for staff-student collaboration through empowering students as co-creators and giving them equal role to staff, as content generators. The paper will describe the process and lessons learnt from establishing those co-creation projects on novel educational resources development for both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, focusing on the role of tutor and students as co-creators (3) and moving on to discussing challenges and benefits for both, aiming at supporting the effective application of this model across more higher education institutional settings. Such teaching and learning experiences form part of the university’s approach to integrating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in learning both in terms of adoption of pedagogical innovations but also in terms of new content development. ESD aims to equip people to develop the skills and competencies to play an effective part in real-world action for sustainable development, often by employing transdisciplinary processes of learning and action (4;5). Finally a critical review of links to ESD competencies integration through this co-creation approach is included here opening up the discourse for new ways of co-developing content that can support learning for sustainability from a bottom-up approach

Creating space for active learning : (Opportunities from) using technology in research-based education

This chapter (2.6) deals with the challenges of using technology to enhance the education process and the student learning experience – not just to replace the teacher by technological or digital gimmicks. The secret of this process is to base it on the student’s active participation in the development of their own learning tools. The chapter (2.6) subsequently discusses methods and tools in research-based education, for enabling students in higher education the experience of producing knowledge themselves through digital tools. The chapter talks about how this interaction can help challenge the traditional hierarchical relationship between staff and students. Using technology in the classroom sometimes puts students in the role of teacher if the staff member is not technologically fluent, or can create environments where students can take on a more equal role in the class, such as sharing resources or engaging in a discussion with peers on Moodle, or developing videos to teach others about physics research, using examples from teaching and learning experience at UCL. (3.7

Perceived place qualities, restorative effects and self-reported wellbeing benefits of visits to heritage sites : empirical evidence from a visitor survey in England

Heritage sites are complex environments that cannot be easily be located within a nature – built space dichotomy. Although a small but growing body of evidence supports the potential of visits to heritage sites in generating wellbeing benefits, there is a gap in understanding how such benefits may be related to the perceived qualities or affordances of heritage sites. We present an exploratory survey instrument designed and tested to generate empirical evidence on the association between the qualities of heritage sites, the restorative effects of a heritage visit, and the extent to which these are positively associated with self-reported subjective wellbeing benefits. The survey was given to sample of 780 visitors to 7 heritage sites in England from June to October 2020. Factor analysis of responses led to extraction of 3 core components related to how participants evaluated their experience of the qualities of place, and 2 core components linked to the restorative effects of the visit. Using these core components to create composite variables, regression models were fitted to understand which qualities of place and effects of the visit predict self-reported wellbeing benefits. The results suggest that different components of heritage sites may contribute to increase in positive affect and reduction in anxiety elements of wellbeing. They suggest potential therapeutic benefits of visits to heritage sites for self-directed visits, and thus potential means of sustainably delivering support for public wellbeing at scale

Heritage sites, value and wellbeing : learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in England

The COVID-19 lockdown of society in 2020 deprived people of access to many heritage sites. This made the public uniquely aware of why they visited heritage sites and what they valued about the visits, once heritage sites reopened. In particular, regaining access framed visits in terms of personal agency and wellbeing. Notions of capability, social connections, ontological security, and trust–all important elements of wellbeing–were widely shared values. Heritage sites also offered distinct opportunities for combining hedonic (subjective) and eudaimonic (psychological) wellbeing effects. While heritage value cannot be reduced to wellbeing effects, we suggest that constructive awareness of how these effects may be generated can enhance the outcome of visits to heritage sites

Places of joy : the role of heritage after lockdown

[Abstract not available