C O N T E X T 1 7 3 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 19 DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION data it is difficult to prioritise action. Historic England has commissioned Warwick University to bridge the evidence gap for the heritage sector but a future action for the IHBC might be to mirror this research within its membership. What can we as the IHBC do to promote diversity in the heritage sector? Since 2019 the IHBC Equality, Diversity and InclusionWorking Group has been asking members to consider the diversity of the built heritage sector and what we might do to promote opportunities to all communities through the work that the IHBC does. The EDI working group is moving into a new phase, where we will start to deliver many of the actions that we have discussed. The aims of the group are: • To work towards ensuring that the perspective of protected groups (in the Equality Act 2010) is included in IHBC policy, practices and procedures. • To provide support for members to follow best practice in terms of inclusion. • To provide support to people in protected groups in the IHBC. • To champion best inclusion practice within the built environment. • To promote diversity within the heritage sector. The EDI working group will develop an action plan. Some measures are relatively easily achieved, whereas others will require more resources. The first substantive action is to feature diverse role models on the IHBC website. Seeing positive role models from a diversity of communities and backgrounds sends a strong message that the heritage sector is for everyone. As they say, you can’t be what you can’t see. One of the biggest areas for the working group will be around inclusive spaces and the built environment. The group will endeavour to signpost best practice advice and case studies; identify training needs and providers for members; and help support the IHBC in delivering as inclusive a historic environment as possible, building on the best practice in Historic England’s guidance Easy Access to Historic Buildings and Easy Access to Historic Landscapes. Nottingham City Council and Heritage Lincolnshire have worked on moving from institutional recognition of diverse heritage to empowering people from diverse communities to recognise the heritage that they value. Through the delivery of the heritage strategy in Nottingham we endeavoured to recognise the contributions that diverse communities had made to the city’s story. Examples included a plaque to the UK’s first black magistrate, Eric Irons; a plaque to one of the earliest LGBT+ venues in the city; inclusion of the value of diverse history in the criteria and entries to the Nottingham local list; and the facilitation of the story of the headquarters of Raleigh to be included in the 400,000th list entry on the National Heritage List for England. The story of the place of Raleigh in the local civil rights struggles was from Nottingham Black Archive, which has worked for over a decade to research, collect and preserve black history, heritage and culture in Nottingham. We have been taking this idea forward at Heritage Lincolnshire through a Historic England Outreach to Ownership project, where we are developing a digital tool to empower communities to recognise what they value in the past. Through the work of the IHBC we have a key role in the heritage sector to share inclusive practice, case studies and strong policy to enable our members to create an inclusive built environment that reflects the values and needs of all communities. Bibliography Equality and Human Rights Commission (2011) All things being equal? Equality and diversity in careers education, information, advice and guidance, Research report 71 Hays UK Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2021 and Hays UK Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2019 Historic England (2015) Easy Access to Historic Buildings Historic England (2015) Easy Access to Historic Landscapes Historic England (2020) A Strategy for Inclusion, Diversity and Equality, November 2020 to March 2023 Alice Ullathorne (see page 56) is a project manager at Heritage Lincolnshire, coordinator of the IHBC diversity group, and a trustee of the Heritage Trust Network and the Churches Conservation Foundation. If you would like to become involved with the IHBC EDI group, email alice.ullathorne@ heritagelincolnshire. org. Far left: The UK’s first black magistrate sat in Nottingham from the 1960s. A plaque to Benjamin Mayo was added to Nottingham’s local list for its historic value memorialising a man with a learning disability who became a local celebrity.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=