This month’s WH All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) session focused on Education, Interpretation, and Awareness around World Heritage Sites.
Guest speakers delivered insights into the importance of WHS as an educational setting and how increased community engagement can have mutually beneficial effects for both WHS and local residents.
Attending MPs heard from representatives from heritage sites from across England, Scotland, and Wales; Ashleigh Taylor (The Hwb, Blaenavon World Heritage Site), Kate Lapping (New Lanark World Heritage Site), and Lindsey Braidley (Bath World Heritage Sites).
The heritage site representatives relayed their experiences in delivering educational experiences, events celebrating heritage, and methods they have used to improve engagement with local residents to increase awareness of the heritage sites.
Parliamentarians asked questions around how regular events may help to drive tourism, which community groups WHS have had success in collaborating with on outreach programmes, and how the curriculum review might be able to shape educational experiences at WHS in future.
Some of the key points raised included:
- Inclusion and reducing barriers to accessibility are vital for promoting the benefits of WHSs to those who may not otherwise utilise the WHS experience
- WHSs are uniquely placed to provide an enriching educational experience that promotes local history and heritage, whilst also providing access to green space and the benefits that can bring
- WHSs support local communities to protect local values and limit marginalisation – as they are a global designation, they inherently support the human rights agenda, sustainability, gender equality and more
- WHSs can be neutral sites and empower local communities and foster cohesion – they are about more than just preserving heritage, it is for the people who live there (70% of sites report a full achievement of social inclusion and equity in their site based on targets)
- World Heritage UK will be launching a report with site level information on visitors with the aim of having a hub for WHSs to share their best practices
- With the curriculum review underway, WHSs would like to see more engagement with the Department for Education on shaping the curriculum, especially around local history and community cohesion around heritage – 90% of WHSs report a positive impact on education
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 24th March and will focus on World Heritage Sites from the perspective of Peace and Soft Power.
Image L-R: Jonathan Davies MP and Chair of the WH APPG, Kate Lapping/New Lanark WHS, Lindsey Braidley/City of Bath WHS, Ashleigh Taylor/Blaenavon WHS and John Whitby MP for Derbyshire Dales.