C O N T E X T 1 4 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 7 45 A more informal way for volunteers to get involved Director’s cut The historic environment is pretty much everywhere – even universal in terms of our normal experiences – and as a concept might seem so all-encompassing as to be impossible to understand or shape. Taking the historic environment to mean simply ‘heritage’ (or, worse still, ‘things’) would reflect a substantial misunderstanding of the diversity of relevant players and pressures. A more accurate and accessible equivalence is ‘place’. However, managing the historic environment as a universal phenomenon that equates to ‘place’ does not require universal powers. Its management does demand, however, a more universal approach to place – ranging from the understanding and experience of how a place evolves, to insight into and engagement with the people who live and work there. The challenge in managing the historic environment as ‘place’, then, is not the size of the subject, but the insight, perception and core capacity of the managers. Historic and built environment conservation practitioners, as accredited through the IHBC, are perfectly situated to appreciate the scale and diversity that shapes the future of places. This is because the future of places – as viable and sustainable resources valued for their culture and heritage – is exactly what conservation concerns itself with. Both the interdisciplinary skills demanded of the IHBC’s full members, and the deep knowledge of the context of their specialist practices that associates must demonstrate, ensure that as accredited IHBC members they have informed, first-hand experience of what the historic environment means, and how its myriad, constituent places can best meet the future. Given the scale of the historic environment, and the complexities involved in its change, it goes without saying that there are both opportunities and challenges there. This column looks at two ways that might help the IHBC expand its capacity and impact: one inside our local networks and one beyond them, globally. As with the management of the historic environment, the scale of the challenge is not the problem, but the skills and capacity of the players. Now that the IHBC has more than three full-time employees, I think we are ready to take on the world; but only if our members are interested. One idea looks outward, extending our more familiar operations – such as events that offer CPD, networking and learning opportunities – beyond our UK boundaries, precisely so we can build profile and impact across our charitable, UK activities.The second concerns internal matters, and how we might simplify access to the support we offer volunteers. Both are being explored as part of our ‘IHBC+’ programme – that ‘experimental evolution’ of our structures and services devised to make sure that we shape the IHBC to prioritise the needs and capacity of our current and future members. However, these will be developed only if they enhance our charitable work, and that will depend on member interest. Looking outward Our outward-looking initiative explores the IHBC’s positon on the world stage.We proclaim the international practice standards and models of our membership criteria as a matter of course, citing both ICOMOS and theWorld Bank as inspiration and association. But, bar initiatives by individual members, we have done little more to assert our relevance beyond our borders, engage with colleagues, or even offer our services. However, if we can secure an international profile, we can raise the charity’s credibility, highlighting its unique character on the global stage, while also enhancing our recognition, standing and impact within the UK. More recent discussions have led to the conclusion that we need a ‘strategy’ that ensures the UK-focus required for our members and charitable objects, but one that is both operationally beneficial and economically viable. We can easily build synergies with international partners, but the challenge is to fund these, and offset costs (or better) through income generation. Adopting a ‘two-strand’
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