Planning policy in the UK emphasises sustainable development that benefits economy, society and the environment and requires, among other things, the protection and enhancement of the historic environment.
The 2011 Southport Report made a series of recommendations to enable the historic environment sector to make a ‘deliberate, bold and consistent set of improvements to how it understands, investigates, records, involves communities and communicates the significance of historic environment assets in the context of the planning process, in order to realise the benefits to society’.
Scotland's Archaeology Strategy sets out aspirations for a Scotland where archaeology is for everyone and a delivery plan to ensure that archaeology contributes to wellbeing, knowledge and telling Scotland’s stories.
The Well-being of Future Generations Act requires public bodies in Wales, including heritage bodies, to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.
The draft Archaeology Strategy for Northern Ireland has as its Vision ‘we want archaeology to be accessed and valued by as many people as possible, led by a sector which is healthy, resilient and visible’.
CIfA standards and guidance documents offer guidance to accredited professionals on how to deliver public benefit. This guidance covers all areas; from the perspective of the archaeological advisor, the archaeological consultant and through fieldwork. If archaeological work is not delivering public benefit it is not being undertaken to a professional standard.
The relevant extracts from the guidance are:
Standard and guidance for archaeological advice by historic environment services
- advisors should seek to ensure that archaeological investigation is directed toward providing benefit to the public, whether directly through participation and engagement in the process or indirectly through the increase in knowledge that the results of investigation provide to the local and wider community
- advisors should encourage collaboration between the local planning authority, the applicant and their agents to promote community engagement and participation in investigation where it is appropriate to do so, and at an appropriate stage of the investigation process
- community engagement both fosters public understanding and support for the historic environment and adds value to development-led archaeological work. It may include providing talks and presentations, guiding walks, arranging conferences, exhibitions, open days and living history events, providing school project work and learning resources, offering work experience and volunteering opportunities, and supporting community archaeology projects
- the extent of engagement should be proportionate to the scale, nature and circumstances of the work, and may vary from a brief media release at one extreme to a full-scale community project at the other. Health and safety, public liability or commercial confidentiality considerations may dictate the form of engagement that is possible, but in all cases, it should be demonstrated that the potential engagement of the community has been fully considered
- where appropriate to the nature and significance of the results, advisors may be able to promote the use of innovative forms of dissemination which produce wider public benefit than conventional methods of publication. These might include the use of different forms of media, exhibitions or events
Standard and guidance for commissioning work or providing consultancy advice on archaeology and the historic environment
- where possible, promote community engagement with the historic environment, seeking to ensure that archaeological investigation is directed toward providing benefit to the public, whether directly through participation and engagement in the process, where it is appropriate to do so, or indirectly through the increase in knowledge that the results of investigation provide to the local and wider community
- such engagement should be proportionate to the scale, nature and circumstances of the work
- where appropriate to the nature and significance of the results, promote in addition to formal publication the use of innovative forms of dissemination which produce wider public benefit than conventional methods of publication. These might include the use of different forms of media, exhibitions or events
Standards and guidance for archaeological excavation, for archaeological field evaluation, and for an archaeological watching brief
- a Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) should set out how public benefits may be achieved by means of engagement, participation and/or dissemination of the results both during and after the project, as appropriate to the scale, nature and circumstances of the work. Health and safety issues, public liability and commercial confidentiality, while important considerations, should not be used as a barrier to public engagement without clear justification for doing so
