Past Events

This archive page serves as a highlight reel of past programming facilitated by The Heritage Alliance, including both exclusive member gatherings and open events for participants across the heritage sector (and beyond). We hope that our back catalogue of seminars, talks, and more provides a sense of the discussions and insights that we aim to foster for the heritage sector.

Launch Events for Sector Insight Reports

Report Launch: Heritage, Health and Wellbeing

Our report on ‘Heritage, Health and Wellbeing‘ explores the positive impact heritage can have on individual and community wellbeing. While the case for arts and culture supporting wellbeing is well developed, there is comparatively less understanding of the power of heritage to help people to “feel good”.

As COVID-19 turned traditional business models on their head, and individuals are more focused on their wellbeing than ever before, this report came at a timely moment. We suggested that by expanding their offer into supporting wellbeing, heritage organisations can weather the storm and be sustainable into the future.

At this event, we discussed the recommendations in our report, and heard from a number of speakers from across the heritage sector about their experiences in integrating wellbeing into their work.
You can watch a recording of the event here on Youtube and the slides from the event are available to view here as a PDF (29.8mb).

Report Launch: Heritage and the Creative Industries

The Heritage Alliance ran a project on the important role of heritage places and organisations in underpinning and supporting the creative industries. We launched our most recent report: ‘Inspiring Creativity: Heritage & The Creative Industries’ (6.0mb) written by Hannah Shimko, at The Ragged School Museum (Alliance Member) in London on 17 September 2019.

This important report showcases successful collaborations between heritage sites and organisations within the creative industries, sharing best practice and recommendations for both sectors to build better partnerships into the future. The report also sets out recommendations for funding bodies, Government and policy workers.

Report Launch: The Heritage Alliance International Report

In September 2018, we held an event at the Chelsea Physic Garden to launch the Heritage Alliance International Report(6.1mb), sponsored by the Confucius Institute at Heriot-Watt University. The event centred around a discussion on the report and its findings, and highlighted the 8 recommendations that were made to encourage international collaboration, as well as to shape The Heritage Alliance's response to the Government's soft power strategy.

Subsequently, in Summer 2019, we held a special event to celebrate international heritage more broadly. It featured short talks given by some of the new case studies that were included last year, as well as a variety of speakers who discussed the nascent role of heritage in international relations. We also launched a new International Funding Directory for heritage projects based in the UK and abroad, developed by Kate Pugh (the former Chief Executive of the Heritage Alliance).

Webinar Series: Heritage Dialogues

Sponsored by the Oxford University Humanities Division, the ‘Heritage Dialogue’ series of webinars were held to provide a forum for debate, discussion and sharing on important issues to the sector. All events were chaired By Dr Oliver Cox, Heritage Engagement Fellow at Oxford University and Co-Lead of the Oxford University Humanities Division.

Heritage in Quarantine: The wellbeing benefits of heritage during Covid-19

This Dialogue explored how the Heritage Sector continued to support public wellbeing during Coronavirus.

Speaking at the event were Jo Sofaer, Professor at the University of Southampton, who discussed her project ‘Places of Joy’, which looks at the contribution of historic places to wellbeing during Covid-19; Katie Buckley from Waterloo Uncovered, who talked about how the charity adapted their wellbeing programme when the pandemic hit; and Claire Walker, Chief Executive at the National Churches Trust, who talked about their recent publication ‘The House of Good’, which explores the local support churches provide.

Expanding Horizons: How can international connections help us now?

In this Dialogue, we explored the benefits of international cooperation and asked how international links can help us to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speakers included Chris Blandford, President of World Heritage UK, who spoke on the international reputation of our Heritage; Trish Pemberton, Chair of the Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway, who discussed how her small charity made big international connections; and John Darlington, Executive Director at World Monument Fund Britain, who spoke about working and funding internationally.

Heritage Interpretation: Widening Engagement or Excluding Perspectives

Our first Heritage Dialogue explored how heritage interpretation can most effectively engage new and diverse voices in heritage.

Speakers were Marenka Thompson-Odlum who discussed her project ‘Labelling Matters’, which explores and replaces problematic labels at the Pitt Rivers Museum; Christelle Pellecuer, from Razana Afrika, who told us about using African history and culture to change and inspire Bristol communities; and Phil Songhurst of Imagemakers, who explained how they are brought the traditional Georgian site of Buxton Crescent to new audiences.