The project to develop new Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment was launched at the CIfA Annual Conference on 26 April.
The Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) have signed an agreement to author these new guidelines.
The three authors alongside other professionals have formed a project Advisory Panel (the Panel), which is also a sub-group to the IEMA Impact Assessment Network.
The Panel believes there is a pressing need for guidelines that present a clear, well respected and authoritative view of what constitutes current good practice in cultural heritage studies for impact assessment. The primary purpose of the new Guidelines is:
"…to show how the broad principles and key assessment requirements of the impact assessment process apply to cultural heritage issues throughout the project lifecycle.”
In order to achieve this goal, the Guidelines will need to explicitly address a number of key challenges that face the sector when undertaking impact assessment.
The objective would be to greatly enhance assessment and achieve the following:
- all developments are assessed by a suitably qualified heritage professional or team of
professionals; - there is an appropriate level of engagement in all stages of the planning and design
process; - assessments are proportionate to the nature of the development and the heritage
resource affected; and - findings are presented in a form that uses well-defined terminology.
It is recognised that the success of the Guidelines is dependent on effective consultation across the sector and building support for the project through appropriate engagement and consultation, a programme for which is under preparation by the Panel.
Further announcements will follow, but in the meantime anyone interested in sponsoring the guidelines can download further information here
