Promoting Collaboration and Creativity- Investing In The Past International Heritage Conference, Glasgow, Nov 2010.
In November 2010, a three-day conference Investing in the Past took place in Glasgow, looking at issues and challenges of creatively sourcing and managing funding for heritage projects and delivering successful results.
Organised as a collaboration between the Association of Preservation Trusts, Glasgow City Heritage Trust and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, the event included speakers who have been involved with managing major built heritage projects both in the UK and internationally.
But rather than merely showcasing how other areas, projects and individuals work, the conference provided delegates with practical and usable information on diverse funding opportunities.
Keynote speaker Loyd Grossman, chair of Heritage Alliance, heritage enthusiast and well-known television personality, argued “we need to find a way in which we can be sure that the bulk of our historic environment is used, because if it’s used, it’s loved and if it’s loved people feel ownership, and then the funding and the sustainability flow from that.”
Along with Grossman’s keynote presentation, Investing In The Past included plenary sessions, workshops, site visits and tours of some award-winning heritage projects in Glasgow.
Bailie Hanzala Malik, Chairman of GCHT is enthusiastic about the success of the conference and hopes to build on it in the future: “We embraced this opportunity to introduce examples of award-winning heritage regeneration projects here in Glasgow to the international audience of the conference,” he comments, “and we welcome future opportunities to build on the success of this event and continue to bring together key international experts to explore solutions from across the world. Sourcing sustainable funding for regeneration projects is a vitally important topic for us all right now.”
