Public engagement in development projects
The historic environment sector is complex. Stakeholders include private businesses, state bodies, agencies, charities and grant-giving agencies, as well as representative groups and professional bodies. Through the delivery of our work, archaeologists are connected to and framed by both politics and civil society.
Government policy, and especially the planning frameworks which exist across the UK, require and enable archaeological work to take place within developer-led projects. This provision introduces responsibilities and opportunities to produce public benefit from archaeological work. Our professional ethics and accreditation create a framework which encourages engagement with, dissemination of, and access to archaeological work. This ecosystem is what both enables, and requires, us to deliver meaningful public engagement within the planning process.
This section of the resource considers how the process of commissioning archaeological work, or procuring teams to deliver archaeology, can facilitate meaningful public engagement.
What are the legal and policy considerations?
National planning frameworks drive how archaeology is delivered within development-funded projects across the UK. Legislation and policy differs within each of the UK’s four nations; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, other types of development regimes can require archaeological work to be delivered, including nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), development consent orders (DCOs) and environment impact assessments (EIAs).
Most archaeological work in the UK happens within the planning system, with an estimated 70 per cent of UK archaeologists employed within the commercial archaeology sector at the time of writing (about 4,700) (see the most recent State of the Archaeological Market report). The main source of funding in 2020–2021 was private sector clients (88%), most of which related to residential development (34%) and transport (33%).
Planning policy across the UK requires archaeological work to contribute to public benefit outcomes beyond simply recording archaeological remains, including creating wider social impacts and contributions to local distinctiveness (see Infosheet 2 - Planning frameworks, ethics and public benefit). This means archaeologists working at the early stages of commercial project development can embed meaningful and proportionate public engagement in projects from the outset.
In this context, social and communal values contribute to understanding the significance of a place and inform conservation practice. A key piece of legislation which enshrines this approach in England and Wales is the Public Services (Social Value) Act, which came into force in 2013 and identifies three key aspects of social value: Economic, Social and Environmental (see more in 2.3 - Procuring public engagement).
The use of social value terminology also appears within the construction industry, providing the potential for linkage into planning objectives which seek to achieve economic, social and environmental benefits. Where achieving public benefit is perhaps more closely aligned with planning legislation, and therefore the requirements made by a planning archaeologist, social value can be an ambition of the overall development (see 1.1 - What can public engagement do?). Documents including The Construction Playbook (PDF) and CIRIA’s good practice guidance for Archaeology and Construction describe how social value can maximise the benefits achieved within development projects.
Archaeology can play a positive role in delivering measurable social value impact, for example by reaching wider audiences, providing opportunities to participate, be included and learn, support placemaking, address the challenge of climate change, and encourage diversity, access, and inclusion initiatives (see 1.4 - Public benefit and social value from archaeology).
What are the ethical considerations?
In addition to legislation and policy, professional ethics also drives archaeologists towards achieving public benefit (see Infosheet 2 - Planning frameworks, ethics and public benefit) and construction professionals also have their own ethical guidelines and codes of conduct. Within CIfA’s Code of conduct (PDF), archaeologists are expected to be mindful of duties to society (Rule 1.2), to consider impact on place and communities (Rule 1.12) and to provide access to and disseminate information to the public (Rule 4.6).
Individual Standards and guidance reinforce the Code of conduct, providing a clear steer towards embedding public engagement and benefit within our work, such as consideration of ‘how public benefits may be achieved by means of engagement, participation and/or dissemination of the results both during and after the project’ (Standard and guidance for archaeological excavation (PDF), 3.2.13).
The Standards for archaeological excavation, field evaluation and watching brief, as well as advice by historic environment services, stewardship of the historic environment, consultancy services, desk based assessed and archaeological materials all identify a need to both consider and embed public engagement and public benefit within projects.
There is another side to the ethics of public engagement, frequently raised around volunteer participation in development-funded archaeology. As with all ethical questions, this is a question of approach and intention that must be considered within the context of each individual project. However, with certain logical caveats, ethics should not be used as a barrier to public involvement in archaeological work.
CIfA’s policy statement on the use of volunteers clearly outlines the need to encourage the participation of as many people as possible in archaeology. Proposals for participation should be openly discussed with all project stakeholders (see 1.5 - Roles and responsibilities) and agreed in advance as part of the research strategy and project methodology by inclusion within the WSI or project design.
Development-led archaeology, also known as commercial or contract archaeology, refers to archaeological investigations and excavations that are undertaken as a requirement of the planning and development process. Development-led archaeology typically involves a partnership between the developer, the archaeological contractor or consultancy, and relevant heritage authorities or local planning authorities. The primary goal is to mitigate any adverse impacts on the archaeological heritage resulting from the development.
The four countries of the UK each use a planning system which comprises national and local planning policy set out in formal plans. The resulting framework articulates where development projects need to get planning permission, what is protected and how the balance between development and protection should be managed in the public interest, for example where archaeology is impacted. The framework includes other types of development regimes which can require archaeological work to be delivered, including nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), development consent orders (DCOs) and environment impact assessments (EIAs).
