C O N T E X T 9 9 : M A Y 2 0 0 7 31 English Heritage works closely with conservation officers in many fields. They are natural partners in the care and management of the historic environment, with English Heritage bringing a national and regional perspective to the concerns of local government.There are many points of contact between English Heritage and conservation officers and the conservation sector, both at individual levels and organisationally through more strategic liaison with IHBC. All parties are under severe pressure, with mounting workloads, diminishing resources and the demand to show value for money. In these circumstances, constructive collaborative working is essential to ensure that our collective efforts work most effectively in the interests of the historic environment. Research is one of the areas where English Heritage and the conservation sector have worked together productively in recent years. A huge scope is covered by the term. It can refer to detailed information about individual sites or buildings, to scientific inquiry into materials or techniques, or to broad-ranging contextual studies of major aspects of the historic environment. We all benefit from its findings, since they inform decision-making and shape our view of significance. It is sometimes thought that, when resources are stretched, we can dispense with research, but it can be argued that it is not a luxury since it underpins everything which we do in the sustainable management of the historic environment. And nothing is static: the historic environment is subject to constant change, and our views about it evolve, demanding re-examination of familiar material and bringing new aspects within scope. The decline of traditional heavy industries, for example, has raised questions about the significance of their remains and about the values attached to these by a wide range of interested parties. Without new research, it is impossible to formulate policies which reflect current thinking. Knowledge and understanding feed directly into good decision making. English Heritage has set out its key aims and objectives in its Strategic Plan 2005–2010, Making the Past Part of our Future. Research is essential to achieving the plan’s aims.These set out to: • help develop understanding of the historic environment • get the historic environment on other people’s agendas • promote sustainable change to the historic environment • help local communities to care for their historic environment • stimulate and harness enthusiasm. A Research Strategy, Discovering the Past, Shaping the Future, supports the Strategic Plan’s aims, and identifies the main priorities for research.1These include discovery, identifying the values attached to the historic environment, the needs of partners, engaging audiences, assessing risks and improving presentation. The Strategic Plan and the Research Strategy are a statement of how English Heritage will be working over the next years to promote the interest of the historic environment. English Heritage will devote its own resources to these ends and will use the influence which it has within and beyond the historic environment sector to steer the direction of both policy and research. Both documents have been produced in consultation with partners in the historic environment sector, so we hope that they reflect wider views on strategic and research objectives. Central to the success of the research strategy is the identification of the most important needs of the historic environment and of those concerned with it. COLUM GILES English Heritage’s research role The English Heritage door is open to a collective IHBC response on approaches to research on the understanding, enjoyment and care of the urban historic environment. English Heritage responded to the government’s Pathfinder initiative by devising methods of rapid assessment of the historic environment to feed into the planning of change in these areas.
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