CONTEXT 175 : MARCH 2023 51 landscape which could not be improved by buildings, it would have to be Yosemite. Your favourite book? Studying for my MA, I particularly enjoyed the accessibility and visual beauty of Matthew Rice’s collection of architectural books (Rice’s Architectural Primer, Rice’s Language of Buildings). My favourite books are all dystopian fiction, though: The Power by Naomi Alderman; 1984 by George Orwell; and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. What do you do in your spare time? I love travelling and visiting new places, hiking and water sports. I also enjoy trips to the theatre, eating cheese and drinking wine. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? I was pleased to read Context 173 (September 2022) focusing on issues around the limited diversity in the sector. There is a great deal more to be done and I hope that the IHBC continues to challenge this, particularly gender inequity in construction and attracting women into the practical workforce as specialist tradespeople in building conservation. I would like to see greater campaigning around embodied carbon and thinking more broadly about how the historic environment can tackle this: for example, removal of permitted development demolition of undesignated heritage assets; VAT exemptions on repairs and renovations to historic buildings; legislating an onus on listed building owners to maintain their properties; and introducing penalties for owners of long-term vacant properties. These measures would help incentivise the reuse of more of the country’s existing building stock, which would have environmental benefits as well as protecting the historic environment. Rebecca Styles is heritage action zone project manager with East Suffolk Council. Yosemite National Park, California Context goes out to members four times a year and the IHBC Yearbook is sent to members plus 3,000 other key conservation industry contacts annually. Contact Cathedral Communications to get your message out to the right people this year. 01747 871717 ihbc@cathcomm.co.uk buildingconservation.com The home of the conservation professional INSTITUTE OF HISTORIC BUILDING CONSERVATION YEARBOOK The River Severn The Severn navigation Powis Castle: a great survivor Repairing the Iron Bridge No 170 December 2021 Institute of Historic Building Conservation From chrysalis to butterfly: the IHBC at 25 A short history of good ideas Taking care of drawings Conservation in the Southern Ocean No 174 December 2022 Institute of Historic Building Conservation Diversity and inclusion Multiple perspectives on heritage Women who shaped modernism Troublesome statues LGBTQ+ histories No 173 September 2022 Institute of Historic Building Conservation
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