Heritage sites, value and wellbeing: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in England

This article examines the response of the English heritage sector, in particular Historic England, to the impact caused by the initial lockdown and restrictions introduced to protect lives during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. This response, headed by the Heritage Sector Response Group, relied on effective cross-sector working in order to both make the case for targeted support for the heritage sector to the UK Government and to provide advice and support for organisations during the lockdown and the limited reopening of the economy which followed. This included gathering intelligence in order to understand the impact of restrictions on the sector, which was used to swiftly develop emergency grant schemes funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England. The paper also considers the Historic England Heritage Online Debate around the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the sector, which gathered case studies from across the sector to capture and share qualitative information. The paper then looks at other long term challenges facing the sector, such as climate change, and considers how a collaborative approach and lessons learned from the sector’s response to the COVID-19 restrictions may provide models for building resilience for the future and developing solutions to other issues.

Heritage Sites, Wellbeing, COVID-19

10.1080/17567505.2020.1864113

1352-7258

4-18

Sofaer, Joanna

038f9eb2-5863-46ef-8eaf-fb2513b75ee2

Davenport, Ben

84886e00-42d2-419f-83d4-8cc88c438cf7

Stig Sørensen, Marie Louise

32ff6685-647c-4961-92e8-7c015355a924

Gallou, Eirini

38d27e8f-61a9-4a06-a1bf-e1b857c5f802

Uzzell, David

102755f1-f396-4e72-b3bc-efe792c07a2b

28 July 2021

Sofaer, Joanna

038f9eb2-5863-46ef-8eaf-fb2513b75ee2

Davenport, Ben

84886e00-42d2-419f-83d4-8cc88c438cf7

Stig Sørensen, Marie Louise

32ff6685-647c-4961-92e8-7c015355a924

Gallou, Eirini

38d27e8f-61a9-4a06-a1bf-e1b857c5f802

Uzzell, David

102755f1-f396-4e72-b3bc-efe792c07a2b

Sofaer, Joanna, Davenport, Ben, Stig Sørensen, Marie Louise, Gallou, Eirini and Uzzell, David (2021) Heritage sites, value and wellbeing: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic in England. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 12 (1), 4-18. (doi:10.1080/17567505.2020.1864113).

Record type: Review

Abstract

Text

Heritage in a Pandemic - Accepted Manuscript

Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.

Download (384kB)

Text

RJHS-2021-0222.R2_Proof_hi - Proof

Restricted to Repository staff only

Request a copy

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 23 December 2020

Published date: 28 July 2021

Additional Information: Joanna Sofaer Joanna Sofaer is Professor of Archaeology at University of Southampton, Co-Director of the Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities, and Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fellow. She has directed and partnered on several high-profile international research projects, bridging academic and non-academic worlds. She is particularly interested in the relationship between wellbeing and historic environments. Ben Davenport Ben Davenport is Centre Coordinator at the Cambridge Heritage Research Centre, University of Cambridge. With a background in Archaeology, he has worked as a researcher, research facilitator and manager on international heritage and archaeological research projects for over ten years. Marie Louise Stig Sørensen Marie Louise Stig Sørensen is Professor of European Prehistory and Heritage Studies at the University of Cambridge. She has been involved with heritage teaching and research for several decades having focussed in particular on issues of identity and post-conflict reconstruction. Eirini Gallou Eirini Gallou is Senior Social Analyst at Historic England. She trained as an architect and gained her PhD from the Institute of Sustainable Heritage at UCL She is particularly interested in the social impacts of heritage participation. David Uzzell David Uzzell is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey. He has investigated the role of social and community processes such as social cohesion and social identity processes on environmental and heritage attitudes and behaviours, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of exhibitions, museums and interpretive facilities and services.

Keywords: Heritage Sites, Wellbeing, COVID-19

Learn more about Archaeology research