Resources
Biocultural Heritage in the UK
Through this research, we explored how the biocultural heritage framework – originally developed by the International Institute for Environment & Development with Indigenous Peoples – might inform more inclusive, just and sustainable conservation policies and practices in the UK. The research was carried out by Zoe Russell, a PhD researcher who joined Inherit during 2021 as a research intern.
The report was launched at an online event on 2nd September 2021, at which Zoe presented the findings and a panel discussed the potential of the biocultural heritage framework for the UK. The panel included Hannah Fluck (Head of Environmental Strategy, Historic England), Chris Higgins (Project Manager, EcoDyfi), Pete Rawcliffe (Head of People and Places Activity, NatureScot) and Krystyna Swiderska (Principal Researcher, International Institute for Environment & Development).
Community Land Owners & the Climate Emergency
“Community landowners are punching above their weight in the fight to save the planet from climate change.”
In this research, we looked at how community landowners are helping to address the climate emergency and creating other community and public benefits. Community landowners are community organisations which own land, buildings and other assets. The research was commissioned by Community Land Scotland, in partnership with Community Energy Scotland, the Community Woodlands Association and the Woodland Crofts Partnership.
Press coverage:
Cultural Corridors of Peace
Since 2018, we have been working with Bedouin people in Lebanon and the wider Levant, supporting their efforts to safeguard their cultural heritage, keep it alive and use it for the benefit of their families and communities. You can find out more about this ongoing programme on the project website and through these resources:
Archaeology & Heritage, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
The Kurdistan Region has been through sustained conflict and economic crisis. Cultural heritage has an important role to play in people's efforts to build a new future for themselves.
Between 2018 and 2020, we collaborated with the Antiquities Directorates in Suleymaniyah and Kalar (Kurdistan Region), Glasgow University, Dartmouth College and specialists in Iraq and Europe. Our role, in particular, was to support local heritage organisations to use archaeology and heritage as a means of building cultural tolerance. This included creating new museum resources for children and adults, to support learning about their diverse pasts and about the importance of their archaeology and heritage.
Rural Planning Policy to 2050
In 2019, we collaborated with the rural planning team at Savills to undertake research on future rural planning policy. The research was commissioned by the Scottish Government to inform preparation of the next National Planning Framework (NPF4), which is Scotland's national spatial plan. The research explored the current challenges and the future opportunities for land use diversification in rural Scotland. It considered how planning policy can support strong and vibrant rural communities and economies in the coming years.
Community Empowerment & Landscape
This research – launched in September 2018 – was published jointly by Inherit and Community Land Scotland. It is about landscape, historic environment and nature conservation policies in Scotland, how they are implemented, and how this affects communities' ability to develop, influence decisions about the land and achieve rural renewal and repopulation.
In 2019, we presented the findings at the Scottish Parliament, as part of an event on 'A sustainable future for rural Scotland' that we organised with Scotland's Futures Forum and the Young Academy of Scotland.
Press coverage:
Policy brief: historic environment policy for Scotland
This policy brief was published on 15th June 2018, in response to a consultation by Historic Environment Scotland on the approach being taken to the policy and on the issues and topics the policy should cover.
Landscape Justice
In 2017, Inherit director Chris Dalglish was asked by Community Land Scotland to produce a short essay on 'landscape justice' for their web page on rural renewal and repopulation. In the essay, Chris discusses 'landscape justice' as an idea that brings social and environmental justice concerns together, with a particular focus on land. He identifies the need for change in landscape policies and the ways they are implemented, and for change in the way landscapes are defined and understood. He argues that community organisations must play a greater role if the sustainable development of rural landscapes and the communities who inhabit them is to be achieved.