Giant’s Causeway or bust – the World Heritage UK summer 2016 Members meeting
May 13, 2016
Giant’s Causeway or bust – the World Heritage UK summer 2016 Members meeting
As many of you may know, World Heritage UK has had an aspiration to reach all nations of the UK in the first year of operation. After a the conference in England last October, the technical meeting in Scotland in January, ‘Conference 2016’ planned for Wales in October (more in a subsequent blog) we are delighted that the National Trust were able to invite us to Northern Ireland and the Causeway at the end of June for the first of the ’Members meetings’.
This will not be new news of course, as the meeting has been open for registration for while now, and bookings are going well, but I thought now would be a good opportunity to say a little more about it.
Being a new organisation, we are responding to members wishes and trying out activities to see what is going to work to help achieve your aims. The perhaps mis-named Members Meeting (mis-named because non-members are very welcome) is a more relaxed opportunity to learn in detail about a Site, an aspect of its Management, and explore wider issues around World Heritage. We won’t have formal or external speakers but instead use case studies from within the membership and other colleagues to help us learn how to better manage our Sites.
It is also an opportunity to hold a meeting of the representatives of the voting members, something that we say we will do in our constitution, and to give them / you a chance to tell us Trustees how they would like the organisation to go forward… so if you represent a Site and are a voting member this is your chance!
This meeting will start on the afternoon of Monday 27th June at 2pm with a tour around the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site and its Visitor Centre. This will give us a chance to find out more about how the centre was established, how it works, and get a warts and all insight into the success of this facility.
We will continue in the evening with a delegates dinner at the Causeway Hotel, where normally most of the serious work is achieved!
Tuesday 28th will start with the short business meeting for voting members, principally to agree the three year forward plan for World Heritage UK and to discuss any other issues. This will be followed until 1pm with a workshop session looking into the thorny issue of planning, with some case studies and plenty of time for discussion.
We will then have lunch and depart, hopefully in the sunshine! If you have any questions, please do ask me or Chris, and if you intend to come (free to members, small fee for non-members) please do book up here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/world-heritage-uk-members-meeting-tickets-23991921483
Many thanks, and I look forward to seeing you there.
Sam