Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS) is an umbrella body for organisations working in the built environment in Scotland. Drawing on extensive expertise in a membership-led forum, BEFS informs, debates and advocates on the strategic issues, opportunities and challenges facing Scotland’s historic and contemporary built environment.
Upcoming Events
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland – December Lecture
12 DEC 6:00pm
'The tools of the trade of field-working oral historians and folklorists’. The tape-recorder, microphone, camera, notebook and pencil, and now their digital equivalents, are the tools of the trade of field-working oral historians and folklorists. This paper discusses the contribution that fieldwork in oral history and folklore can make to identifying objects and their uses, documenting and interpreting the past, and recording the experiences of the men and women who used the objects. Illustrated with photos, audio-recordings and film from community projects. This talk will be given by Professor Margaret Bennett, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland – January Lecture
9 JAN 6:00pm
'The archaeology of the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival'. The 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival was a seminal event in the modern re-invention of the city. In this lecture, Kenny will consider how archaeology (especially Roman) was represented at the Festival, including the unique reconstruction of an Antonine Wall gatehouse. He will also discuss the results of his own fieldwork and excavations (2022-2024) across what remains of the Festival site. The case will be made that archaeology is a powerful tool to explore recent events, engage the public, and unlock memories. This talk will be presented by Dr Kenny Brophy BSc FSAScot, University of Glasgow.
How do you help a wide public audience imagine and appreciate architecture when the buildings no longer exist? When they can't be visited, viewed, and experienced? Glaire Anderson discusses her work as external historian/art historian on Ubisoft's popular history-themed video game Assassin's Creed Mirage. Now a ruined shell clinging to the side of the peel above Linlithgow Loch, Linlithgow Palace was once the great pleasure palace of the kings and queens of Scotland. James Cook’s work brings together scientific acoustic research, historical archival work, archaeology, and performance to reconstruct this building within Virtual Reality.