CIfAs Voluntary and Community Special Interest Group (VCSIG) releases their report on community engagement work requested within the UK planning system with key suggestions to implementing public benefit activities in development-led investigations. The report can be found on VCSIG's webpage and directly here.
The historic environment, like the natural environment, is a shared, irreplaceable resource. It is managed – and researched, cared for and conserved – on behalf of, and for the benefit of, society. Increasing understanding of the past is at the heart of everything archaeologists do and is, itself, a public benefit. Some public benefit in the UK is delivered through community engagement practice supported by the planning system.
This report comes from a survey led by CIfA's Voluntary and Community Special Interest Group, which asked local archaeological planning advisors about what types of community engagement work was being requested a part of the planning process and identifying percieved barriers and, furthermore, the potential routes to increase the delivery and impact of engagement work.
“Generally, even very modest 'public engagement' in a very simple form, is often appreciated by developers as contributing to the social value of their development.”
- Survey respondent
The report takes an angle previously unhighlighted by survey. To read the full report visit VCSIG's webpage, or click here. For futher information on public benefit and archaeology, see CIfA's information sheet.
