Heritage Data: making the best use of it.

With the publication of the Scottish Historic Environment Audit 2016 we thought it timely to have a seminar looking at how data on the historic environment is currently being used, and how we can make the best use of it. We have invited Jonathan Schifferes to discuss the Heritage Index and Phil Prentice to talk about Understanding Scotland’s Places, examine how we can use them and perhaps recommend additional data that might be useful.

Heritage Index

“In summer 2015 the RSA first set out to measure the strength of heritage at the local level. We started to organise existing data covering both heritage assets (material and tangible stuff like buildings and nature reserves) and heritage activities (things like volunteering, investment and community initiatives). We’ve take a broad and inclusive view of how you measure heritage. We’ve combined data on the UK’s 10,000 blue plaques, through to size of ancient woodland and the number of local foods with protected naming status (like Cornish pasties). Now in its second year, we want to reflect in our data what we have heard at workshops and events up and down the UK – heritage is a matter not just of what you have but what you do with it, and it’s up to citizens to decide: heritage is what you choose to make it.”

Jonathan Schifferes is an Associate Director at the RSA, where his focus is on public services, communities, and the built environment. Jonathan leads on housing within the Inclusive Growth Commission, and served as research lead for the RSA’s City Growth Commission in 2014. He leads the RSA’s work on heritage, identity and place, compiling the Heritage Index for DCMS and HLF. He has led major social research projects, working to understand and forecast social and economic impact on behalf of central and local government, and clients such as John Lewis Partnership, the Crown Estate and British Land. Previously, Jonathan has worked at the New Economics Foundation and at Strategic Planning Advice, supporting large scale planning applications for business parks and new towns in the UK.

Understanding Scottish Places

“USP is a unique typology tool which attempts to classify each town in Scotland with a population of 1,000 or more. Developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, Carnegie UK Trust, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and Stirling University, there are approximately 100,000 pieces of data which measure social and economic function across a dependency to independency scale. We are continually updating and improving the tool and exploring new and relevant datasets. With over 30,000 hits and 4,000 monthly users, the www.usp.scot platform has proven to be a really helpful tool for towns and communities across the country. Let’s explore how collectively we can ensure that the Heritage value in towns can be captured.”

With over 20 years’ experience in the field of Economic Development, Phil Prentice is the Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership. Prior to his appointment in November 2014, Phil headed up Economic Development, Regeneration and Employability services within East Renfrewshire Council. He has also worked as a senior executive for Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Milk Marketing Board and in the private sector, in construction and small business sectors. A graduate of the Universities of Ulster, West of Scotland and Glasgow, Phil is now focussed on helping improve the economic and social fortune of towns and smaller settlements across the country.