BEFS News

BEFS are delighted to introduce our new Communications and Membership Manager, Jess Burrows. Jess joins us fresh from handing in her dissertation in the Architectural Conservation MSc at Edinburgh University and having previously worked for both the Soil Association Scotland and the Churches Conservation Trust in Communications roles. Jess’s role and title reflect not only the importance of BEFS Communications as part of our work, but now rightly reflect the importance of BEFS Members as essential to all our activity. We’ve welcomed her into the team over the past week, and Members can all be assured she’ll be contacting you all to introduce herself.

This week BEFS Director met with the Convenor and Vice Convenor of the Scottish Parliament, Local Government, Planning and Housing Committee. BEFS had been asked to provide a briefing in relation to priorities for the Committee’s work in the coming Parliamentary Session. BEFS had also been asked to reach out to relevant Members in relation to their working practises during the pandemic. BEFS thanks all those who contributed time and information as well as to the Committee for their invitation. BEFS Briefing can be found here.

We’ve already released the news on Twitter, but BEFS are thrilled to be partnering with NTS to support their Portfolio Review. BEFS are now seeking a Research Manager for a 6-month contract to aid delivery of the project. Applications close: 23 August.

Skills have been on our mind as we worked with the Scottish Traditional Building Forum on a film taking a walk down the Royal Mile and providing a new take around sustainability to this more traditional tourist location. Thanks to all those involved! The film will be launched on Monday at the Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival – full details for the festival (running 23 – 27 August) can be found here.  We also know that North East Scotland Preservation Trust are keen to know about skills training in the North East – brief survey here.

BEFS also formally welcome our most recent Associate Member, Stirling City Heritage Trust who provide a Blog of introduction to their work, and the work of the Traditional Building Health Check Scheme.

Glasgow City Heritage Trust have also launched a new podcast If Glasgow’s Walls Could Talk – we look forward to exploring the series.

HES are currently reviewing and updating their grant funding programmes. This consultation is seeking feedback on these proposals to help to ensure that the new grant funding programmes and grants priorities meet the needs of applicants and align with current policy and priorities regarding the historic environment and the wider outcomes it can deliver for society, the economy and the environment. Closing Date: 6 September 2021.

HES also want to know about individual experiences of using HEPS over the last two years. As many responses as possible are needed to give a true reflection of how the Historic Environment Policy for Scotland is used. Consultation here. Closes 30 August.

The A&DS and RIAS Scottish Student Awards for Architecture 2021 are open for entries! The awards are an annual highlight – recognising emerging talent from our student members and the Scottish architecture schools. Full details and submission form can be accessed here. Submission deadline: Monday 23 August 2021.

Applications are now open for the Year of Stories 2022 Community Stories Fund. Community groups and organisations can apply for funding of between £500 and £5,000 to support public facing activities and events taking place in Scotland during 2022, either in person, virtual or hybrid. Full details here – the application deadline for the first funding round is 5pm on 1 October 2021.

The Heritage Alliance have also now started the search for a new Head of Policy and Communications to lead their small advocacy and comms team. BEFS wishes Hannah Shimko all the best for the future, it’s been a pleasure working with you!

Consultations

Historic Environment Policy for Scotland Consultation
Closes 30 August 2021

HES Grants Refresh Consultation
Closes 6 September 2021

Funding for Culture – Call for Views
Closes 8 September 2021

Domestic Energy Performance Certificates Reform Consultation
Closes 8 October 2021

Home Energy Efficiency: Equity Loan Pilot – Call for Evidence
Closes 8 October 2021

Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed changes to Energy Standards and associated topics, including Ventilation, Overheating and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Closes 15 October 2021

Publications

Rome Declaration of the G20 Ministers of Culture (G20 07/2021)

Levelling up through circular economy jobs (Green Alliance 08/2021)

IPCC 6the Assessment Report (IPCC 09/08/2021)

Heritage Volunteering Group Creating Capacity (08/2021)

RTPI Scotland’s response to consultation on Short Term Lets draft Licensing Order and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment(12/08/21)

Learning how to live well together: our strategy for change (Carnegie UK 08/21)

New Briefing: Delivering multi-year budgeting in Scotland (The David Hume Institute 08/2021)

Land for Housing: Towards a Public Interest Led Approach to Development(Scottish Land Commission 18/08/2021)

Scottish Government News Releases

The Scottish Government has moved to appoint Dr Fiona Simpson as Interim Chief Planner until the position is filled on a permanent basis. Fiona has taken on that interim role with immediate effect.

Realising Scotland’s full potential in a digital world – a digital strategy for Scotland: progress report 2017 to 2021(SG 30/07/2021)

Developing Net Zero Technical Solutions for Scotland’s Future Mass Retrofit Housing Programme (SG 03/08/2021)

Scottish Advice Note: Determining the fire risk posed by external wall systems in existing multi-storey residential buildings (SG 04/08/2021)

News Releases

Scotland Loves Local Fund II – Open until 1 October
A total £2 million-worth of grants will be available this financial year from the Scottish Government Scotland Loves Local Fund, a multi-year support scheme that aims to encourage people to support businesses and enterprises in their local community.

Opinion & Comment

How do we make homes fit for net zero (BBC 04/08/2021)

Major retrofit proposed for ‘greener’ Glasgow (SHN 09/08/2021)

Scotland’s Heritage sites under attack by thieves and vandals (Herald 01/08/21)

Holiday Accommodation Representatives withdraw from short-term lets working group (Holyrood 08/2021)

Let Kinloch Castle fall into curated decay – and become the ruin that Scotland needs (The Guardian 17/08/2021)

Parliamentary Questions

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

S6W-01904 Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 27/07/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to support owner-occupiers of off-gas grid homes to achieve EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) Band C by 2025.

S6W-01909 Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 27/07/2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many off-gas grid homes it estimates are not suitable for the installation of heat pumps, and what its position is on what alternative low-carbon heating systems they are able to install.

S6W-02067 Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 04/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to date in introducing a Housing First approach.

S6W-02069 Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 04/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for reducing the number of empty homes.

S6W-02088 Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 05/08/2021 R
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish an update to the report, Housing statistics: Empty properties and second homes.

S6W-02125 Sarah Boyack, Lothian, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 09/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on carrying out inspections of the historic sites cited as being closed as a precautionary measure by Historic Environment Scotland on 7 June 2021.

S6W-02126 Sarah Boyack, Lothian, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 09/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to Historic Environment Scotland to enable historic sites to be made safe for reopening to members of the public, and what the timescales are for the reopening of these sites.

S6W-02159 Ariane Burgess, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party, Date lodged: 11 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with community councils to inform its proposals for the National Planning Framework 4.

S6W-02217: Graham Simpson, Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 11/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the funding in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-2026 has been allocated to projects related to a) utility networks, b) transport and c) digital communications.

S6W-02158: Paul Sweeney, Glasgow, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 11/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its response to the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance, and when it will publish the programme for delivery of the actions identified in its response.

S6W-02179: Paul Sweeney, Glasgow, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 11/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it plans to introduce Compulsory Sale Order (CSO) powers for local authorities.

S6W-02188: Sharon Dowey, South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 11/08/2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the planned review of the home report, due in 2021, whether the review will include a consultation and, if so, by what date that consultation will open.

Parliamentary Questions and Answers

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament. Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

S6W-00967 Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 22 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that increasing the Scottish Land Fund significantly in the early years of the current parliamentary session will be the most effective way of ensuring that communities can compete for the ownership of land, given that there is an increasing number of wealthy private owners expressing interest in buying land.
Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 July 2021

Other Parliamentary Activity

The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 26^th June 2021 – 29^th August 2021
The UK Parliament is in recess 22^nd July 2021 – 6^th September 2021

Events

Pathways to Traditional Skills; A European Perspective
Date: Tuesday 24 August 2021 – one day conference
Online
Historic Environment Scotland has led a research outcome of the Erasmusplus Traditional Building Skills project working with Scottish and EU partners comparing educational routes into building craft skills and developing new courses in schools and colleges. This conference will report the findings from this work, assess how we can learn from other models and consider the future of building craft skills and how they can be passed on to the next generation.

SURF Annual Conference – Partners in Place
Dates: 24, 25, 26 August 2021
Booking now open for a series of three 90min virtual sessions focusing on: Post-Covid Recovery; Place-based Regeneration and Climate Change.

HTN & HCS At the Heart of the Community – A Future for Your Church
Session Three: Finding New Uses (you do not need to have attended the previous sessions)
Date: Wednesday 1 September 2021, 10-11.30am
Online
In this event we will hear from Harriet English from the Plunkett Foundation, who will introduce the new Community Businesses in Places of Worship project and the support available. We will then go on to have an informal discussion with attendees on the topic of finding new uses, challenges and successes.

Biocultural Heritage in the UK – INHERIT Report Launch
Date: 2 September 4pm
Online
The research was undertaken by Zoe Russell, who will present the findings at the event. We’ll also hear from a panel with diverse perspectives on the topic: Peter Rawcliffe from NatureScot; Hannah Fluck from Historic England; Chris Higgins from Ecodyfi in Wales, and; Krystyna Swiderska from the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED).

DTA Scotland Conference – Community Climate Action
Date: 5 – 7 September
Online
DTA are offering an engaging, thought-provoking and relevant programme. Immediately after every Conference session, we will also be hosting an informal networking space where people can come together and carry on the conversation – or strike up new ones with new contacts.

SPAB: Inverness Castle Pre-Works Visit
Date: 8 September 2pm
Location: Inverness Castle
This is a unique chance to take part in a tour of this fascinating group of buildings before major conservation and development works start. The buildings have been stripped out of previous modern fittings, and this will be an interesting moment to see the original shapes of the buildings.

PAS – Scotland’s Digital Planning Transformation
Date: 14 September
Online
This event is an ideal opportunity for planners, placemaking professionals, architects, local and national government officers, elected representatives at local and national level, communities, infrastructure providers, engineers and all other relevant stakeholders to engage with other thought leaders and potential partners.

Training

HES are now recruiting for an MSc in technical building conservation. Full details here.

Architectural Conservation CPD: Timber Decay and Repair in Traditional Buildings
Date & time: Wed. 25 August, 12:30-13:30 (from 12:15).
Online via Microsoft Teams, streamed live from Lower City Mills, Perth.
The more technical second half of the 2020 CPD programme opens with this session on timber decay and repair. Delivered by Historic Environment Scotland’s Technical Research Manager Roger Curtis, this CPD will look at the use of timber in traditional construction, decay processes, remedial measures and repair techniques to structural and finishing timber. Sessions are hosted online with Q&A and networking opportunities and delivered using live and recorded content by industry accredited professionals and are recognised CPD by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and Scottish Traditional Building Forum (STBF).

Arts & Business Scotland: Legacy giving. Now is the time – if you do it right. Learn how to!
Date & time: 16 September, 11:00 – 15:00
Online via Zoom
This course is focused on how to integrate legacies into your current fundraising at little or no cost at a time when more people are making Wills than we have witnessed in decades. The course will cover how to talk and write about legacies in an upbeat but sensitive way, using tone of voice and listening skills. The session will also look at the best messages to ensure no invasion of privacy during difficult sensitive times as well as where to put those messages to trigger interest and action.

SPAB: Duart Castle Visit & Lime Day
Date & time: Sat 18 & Sun 19 September, all day
Location: Duart Castle, Isle of Mull, accessd by ferry from Oban.
Duart Castle is an iconic Scottish Castle in a dramatic and sublime landscape. The Castle was brought back into use in the early C20th (around 1912) after being a ruin for 150 years.  Stonemason Andy Bradley and architect Martin Hadlington will run this weekend event.
DAY 1 (Saturday 18th September) – Visits & tours of castle, including lighting of the lime kiln.
Approx times: 11am – 3pm, including lunch.
DAY 2 (Sunday 19th September) – Practical day, opening up of the kiln and working with tutors to mix mortar and use it on the castle.
Approx times: 10am – 4pm, including lunch.

Scottish Lime Centre Trust: The Structural Repair of Historic buildings
Date & time: 24 September, 9:30 – 16:30
Location: Charlestown Workshop
This masterclass led by Ian Hume, aims to provide professionals with a sound understanding of the philosophy of conservation.  Suitable for: This masterclass is suitable for anyone involved in the structural repair of historic buildings. Conservation officers, architects, engineers, site managers and others would find this seminar helpful.

IHBC CPD – Conservation Engineering
Date & time: 28-29 September, 10.00-13.00 both days
Online
The sessions are intended to help conservation professionals understand some of the structural engineering problems and solutions which historic buildings might have.  The sessions will attempt to put conservation professionals in a position to hold informed discussions with project structural engineers, some of whom may not be particularly familiar with the constraints which conservation might put on their structural solutions.

COTAC Conference 2021 – Protecting our World, Protecting our Heritage
Date & time: 23-24 November, 10.00-13.00 both days
Online
Day 1 will explore the expected impact of climate change on the built heritage, and the potential impact of climate change mitigation on the built heritage. Day 2 will explore ways to support development of the training, skills, and expertise needed to protect the built heritage and reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

Vacancies

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland: Publications Officer
SoAS are looking for a Publications Officer to join a small team producing diverse publications about Scotland’s past. The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is a charity and an independent publisher of high-quality books and journals. This varied role will offer excellent experience in all aspects of academic publishing. Closing Date: 22 August 2021

Built Environment Forum Scotland – Research Manager
BEFS are delighted to be partnering with NTS to support their Portfolio Review. BEFS are now seeking a Research Manager for a 6-month contract to aid delivery of the project.The successful Research Manager will be working with both the BEFS team who are Project Co-ordinators and the NTS team who are leading the national scale review of their asset portfolio. This is an exciting opportunity to be involved with a strategic national project. Closing Date: 23 August 2021

Heritage Trust Network: Board of Directors
Heritage Trust Network is recruiting new members to its Board of Directors. This is a unique opportunity to join the leadership of one of the fastest growing organisations in community-led heritage regeneration. You could help steer their ambitious strategy to strengthen the organisation and help their members succeed. Closing Date: 23 August 2021

Director of Scotland’s Churches Trust
Due to the retirement of the present post holder at the end of 2021, it is looking to recruit a Director who will be responsible for the day to day running of the Trust and related activities, and who will report to the Board of Trustees. Closing Date: 1 September 2021

Volunteer with North Lanarkshire Doors Open Days – Coordinator 
This is a great opportunity to help people in your local area freely access heritage sites and events; network with professionals across Scotland’s heritage sectors; and develop skills in project management, communication and website management. You will be supported by a friendly national network of Doors
Closing date: applications accepted on a rolling basis.

BEFS News

BEFS would like to draw Members’ attention to two new funding streams. The first for nationally important heritage: The National Heritage Memorial Fund’s COVID-19 Response Fund is now open. This £40million fund will address the long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on nationally important heritage assets.

The second, is new funding from NLHF and is for Digital Volunteering. Previous research (DASH) found that the sector is calling out for digital innovation to help it move into a more resilient, creative future, and identified an opportunity to create new forms of volunteering to support this. Read all about the digital volunteering funding stream here.

This week UNESCO withdrew World Heritage Status from Liverpool. Edinburgh World Heritage have reflected on the warning this presents to Edinburgh.

BEFS team have had a busy time – and look forward to welcoming their new Communications and Membership Manager to the team in August. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for announcements of the programme for Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival, as BEFS are working with the Scottish Traditional Building Forum to highlight aspects of sustainability at this year’s festival.

As Covid restrictions are now lifting across Scotland there is a marked increase in events and organisational activity. Many of BEFS Members have got in touch to tell us what their plans are for the Summer – see below, as well as further details in both the Events and Training sections of the Bulletin.

The Scottish Civic Trust My Place Awards which celebrate community-led built environment projects that have transformed their locality, are now open for entries. The 2021 Awards have two categories: the general Award honours recently completed projects (2018-2020); and the Sustainability Award honours projects completed between 2001 and 2011 that demonstrate continued fitness for purpose, as well as having a robust approach to climate readiness.

More details are regularly being released about COP26 – with the high-level Presidency Programme now released. The final timetabled day focuses on Cities, Regions and the Built Environment. With much detail for the Green and Blue zones still to be finalised, and the hybrid nature of all events continually in flux, BEFS looks forward to the sustained focus that can be placed on the climate benefits which our existing environment can provide (environmentally, economically, and socially) – but, how to harness this global focus into meaningful outcomes remain unclear.

If your civic trust or local heritage society is making plans COP26 you can book rooms in the Scottish Civic Trust’s Glasgow City Centre offices free of charge to host exhibitions, events or meetings related to COP26.

NLHF are seeking Committee Members – including one for the Scotland Committee. This is an exciting opportunity to be involved with heritage grant making across Scotland. Full details – here.

After a successful Summer School for 2021 (clips are now available) IHBC would like to remind readers that the Gus Astley Student Awards submissions will close 31st July. Prizes include a place at IHBC’s 2022 Aberdeen School.

Nominations are closing soon for RTPI 2021 elections – including the Scottish Executive Committee vacancies for 2022. See more detailshere.

BEFS would also like to extend their congratulations to John Gerrard, on his recent IHBC Marsh award.

BEFS Bulletin is taking its own mini Summer Recess and will return on the 19th of August.

Consultations

Petition: To create a tax incentive to favour retrofit instead of demolition and new build
Closes 8 August 2021.

Consultation: Short term lets Regulation information
Closes 13th August 2021

Draft 2030 Climate Strategy – Edinburgh
Closes 12 Sep 2021.

Consultation – Building Standards Fire Safety, External Wall Systems
Opened 16th July 2021 – Closes 8th October 2021

Publications

Context – IHBC Journal – Applying Digital Technology (IHBC 07/2021)

Business Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee (UK) report on the steps required to tackle climate change. (UKPARL 08/07/2021)

Annual Report British Tourist Authority trading as VisitBritain and VisitEngland (UK HoC 14/07/2021)

ONS Economic Output and Productivity report (ONS 15/07/2021)

Centre for Policy Studies – Reshaping Spaces, Building back better (CPS 16/07/2021)

Principles of Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment IEMA, IHBC CIfA (IEAM 20/07/2021)

Sustainability Tools in Cultural Heritage STiCH

Scottish Government News Releases

Planning and Environmental Appeals: annual review 2020 to 2021

Planning Performance Statistics 2020/21: Quarterly (October 2020 To March 2021)

Impact of Developer Contributions in Scotland

Planning Circular – promotion and use of mediation, guidance.

News Releases

Scottish Futures Trust Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool 
The Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool provides a look forward as to the anticipated public sector spend within construction. The forecast tool has been developed by the Scottish Futures Trust in partnership with industry and public sector bodies.

Public Health Scotland Covid 19 Research Repository
Public Health Scotland (PHS) has collaborated with universities to create a comprehensive repository of pandemic-related data. The platform, which contains research about Covid-19 in Scotland in a range of formats, is a fully accessible and searchable digital resource. It reduces duplication of effort and makes research easier for policymakers, researchers and the public to find and use.

Art Fund – Museum of the Year 
Art Fund Museum of the Year, the world’s largest museum prize, returns. A celebration of the UK’s museums and galleries, the 2021 prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums throughout the pandemic.

Opinion & Comment

Adaptive Reuse of Fortified Churches in Transylvania – Challenges & Opportunities (07/2021)

CHARTER Brainstorm in Riga – joint venture in building a conceptual matrix for cultural heritage (07/2021)

Scotland’s travel sector looking to new tourism minister to help with recovery. (Holyrood 12/07/2021)

Murray Pittock: Culture is a huge part of the Glasgow economy – let’s not lose that (Herald 18/07/2021)

Funding cuts to go ahead for university arts courses in England (Guardian20/07/2021)

Liverpool loses Unesco World Heritage status over waterfront development (i 21/07/2021)

Parliamentary Questions

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

S6W-01482 Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date Lodged: 15 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what powers it will devolve to local authorities to help them meet climate change targets, in response to calls made at the International Net Zero Local Leadership Summit.
S6W-01470 Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date Lodged: 15 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has received regarding how material shortages and increased contractor prices in the construction sector are impacting householders redeeming Home Energy Scotland Loan offers.

UK – Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – World Heritage Sites

Other Parliamentary Activity

The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 26^th June 2021 – 29^th August 2021
The UK Parliament is in recess 22^nd July 2021 – 6^th September 2021

Statement by the UK Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government – Building Beautiful Places 20th July 2021  – Related UK publications include: National Model Design Code  and an updated Planning Framework

The UK Government Community Ownership Fund Round 1 has opened. Deadline Mid-August

First evidence session of the Sustainability of the Built Environment inquiry,for the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC)

Parliamentary Motions

Motion: S6M-00615 That the Parliament congratulates The Ridge in Dunbar on its recent award of £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Motion S6M-00603 That the Parliament recognises that Dunbar Battery, which is based at the town’s harbour, was one of five finalists in the Exterior Spaces category of the European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention

Events

AHSS – Principles are Principles, but Variety is the Spice of Life – James Simpson
Date: 29^th July – 5pm
Online
The joy of conservation practice, whether one is a textile conservator, a botanist or an architect lies in the range of tasks one has to face. Each project and each day are different: ‘variety is the spice of life’!
In this talk, work to three buildings will be described, the survival of which has taken massive effort, but each has proved to be far more valuable in the end than seemed likely at the beginning.

Pathways to Traditional Skills; A European Perspective
Date: Tuesday 24 August 2021 – one day conference
Online
Historic Environment Scotland has led a research outcome of the Erasmusplus Traditional Building Skills project working with Scottish and EU partners comparing educational routes into building craft skills and developing new courses in schools and colleges. This conference will report the findings from this work, assess how we can learn from other models and consider the future of building craft skills and how they can be passed on to the next generation.

SURF Annual Conference – Partners in Place
Dates: 24^th, 25^th, 26^th August 2021
Booking now open for a series of three 90min virtual sessions focusing on: Post-Covid Recovery; Place-based Regeneration and Climate Change.

HTN & HCS At the Heart of the Community – A Future for Your Church
Session Three: Finding New Uses (you do not need to have attended the previous sessions)
Date: Wednesday 1^st September 2021, 10-11.30am
Online
In this event we will hear from Harriet English from the Plunkett Foundation, who will introduce the new Community Businesses in Places of Worship project and the support available. We will then go on to have an informal discussion with attendees on the topic of finding new uses, challenges and successes.

SPAB: Inverness Castle Pre-Works Visit
Date: 18th September 2pm
Location: Inverness Castle
This is a unique chance to take part in a tour of this fascinating group of buildings before major conservation and development works start. The buildings have been stripped out of previous modern fittings, and this will be an interesting moment to see the original shapes of the buildings.

Training

HES are now recruiting for an MSc in technical building conservation. Full details here.

Architectural Conservation CPD: Timber Decay and Repair in Traditional Buildings
Date & time: Wed. 25 August, 12:30-13:30 (from 12:15).
Online via Microsoft Teams, streamed live from Lower City Mills, Perth.
The more technical second half of the 2020 CPD programme opens with this session on timber decay and repair. Delivered by Historic Environment Scotland’s Technical Research Manager Roger Curtis, this CPD will look at the use of timber in traditional construction, decay processes, remedial measures and repair techniques to structural and finishing timber. Sessions are hosted online with Q&A and networking opportunities and delivered using live and recorded content by industry accredited professionals and are recognised CPD by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and Scottish Traditional Building Forum (STBF).

Scottish Lime Centre Trust: The Structural Repair of Historic buildings
Date & time: 24^th September, 9:30 -16:30
Location: Charlestown Workshop
This masterclass led by Ian Hume, aims to provide professionals with a sound understanding of the philosophy of conservation.  Suitable for: This masterclass is suitable for anyone involved in the structural repair of historic buildings. Conservation officers, architects, engineers, site managers and others would find this seminar helpful.

IHBC CPD – Conservation Engineering
Date & time: 28-29 September, 10.00-13.00 both days
Online
The sessions are intended to help conservation professionals understand some of the structural engineering problems and solutions which historic buildings might have.  The sessions will attempt to put conservation professionals in a position to hold informed discussions with project structural engineers, some of whom may not be particularly familiar with the constraints which conservation might put on their structural solutions.

COTAC Conference 2021 – Protecting our World, Protecting our Heritage
Date & time: 23-24 November, 10.00-13.00 both days
Online
Day 1 will explore the expected impact of climate change on the built heritage, and the potential impact of climate change mitigation on the built heritage.  Day 2 will explore ways to support development of the training, skills, and expertise needed to protect the built heritage and reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

Vacancies

The Cockburn Association: New Treasurer for governing Council
The Cockburn Association is looking for a new Treasurer to join the governing Council of the Association.  Information and details available – contact Terry Levinthal.

Fife Historic Buildings Trust – Project Development Officer
A new full-time fixed term post, funded by Historic Environment Scotland, to work with the FHBT team to develop new historic environment regeneration projects in Fife, principally the restoration and re-use of historic buildings at risk. Closing Date: noon – Thursday 29th July 2021

Edinburgh World Heritage – Graveyards Engagement Officer
Edinburgh World Heritage is looking to appoint a Graveyards Engagement Officer to play in key role in engaging audiences in one of our five historic burial sites in the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site. Closing Date: Friday 30^th July at 12noon

Edinburgh World Heritage – Operations & Finance Manager
Edinburgh World Heritage is looking to appoint an Operations & Finance Manager who is responsible for managing the operation of the charity, leading on the delivery of finance, governance, HR and office objectives to enable the organisation to run smoothly and efficiently.
Closing Date: Monday 16th August at 5pm

Heritage Trust Network: Board of Directors
Heritage Trust Network is recruiting new members to its Board of Directors. This is a unique opportunity to join the leadership of one of the fastest growing organisations in community-led heritage regeneration. You could help steer their ambitious strategy to strengthen the organisation and help their members succeed.
Closing Date: 23rd August 2021

Director of Scotland’s Churches Trust
Due to the retirement of the present post holder at the end of 2021, it is looking to recruit a Director who will be responsible for the day to day running of the Trust and related activities, and who will report to the Board of Trustees. Closing Date: 1 September 2021

Volunteer with North Lanarkshire Doors Open Days – Coordinator 
This is a great opportunity to help people in your local area freely access heritage sites and events; network with professionals across Scotland’s heritage sectors; and develop skills in project management, communication and website management. You will be supported by a friendly national network of Doors
Closing date: applications accepted on a rolling basis.

BEFS News

At the end of May BEFS took part in a cross-sector Climate Vulnerability (CVI) workshop, assessing the Edinburgh World Heritage Site.  With facilitators from James Cook University Australia, Historic Environment Scotland, and Edinburgh World Heritage, participants were invited (over 5 sessions) to explore vulnerabilities caused by climate change, in relation to the world heritage site’s Outstanding Universal Value and the wider community.
BEFS was particularly interested in the application of the CVI process to an urban site and the wider aims to identify where capacity and opportunities for climate change adaptation and achieving net zero targets might lie. Applying a risk-matrix and rapid-assessment approach and considering the different aspects of the World Heritage property in detail was a valuable exercise. Just as valuable perhaps, was the chance to hear different perspectives and voices from a wide range of participants. BEFS looks forward to seeing how the CVI informs a draft climate action plan for the Old and New Towns!
In our guest blog you can read about the process from the perspective of those directly involved with managing the world heritage site. Read more here.

New funding for the sector – #COP26Conversations Fund
This fund has been designed to help cultural and heritage organisations begin to raise their profile as spaces for communities to engage with the climate challenge and explore positive actions. The fund is being delivered in partnership between Museums Galleries Scotland, the Scottish Library and Information Council and Historic Environment Scotland, it will offer small grants (up to £1,000) to museums, libraries and historic environment organisations to host small scale, community focused events and activities in the build up to and during COP26.

The most recent edition of the Scottish Planner, RTPI’s Journal contains articles by BEFS past and present Directors, as well as a review of regeneration from SURF’s past Chief Executive. Full access here.

BEFS was part of the audience for the well-attended Scotland’s Towns Partnership launch of the Town Toolkit. It’s clear that there are some fantastic examples and case studies – especially around turning empty spaces into business spaces and how to use vacant property. The toolkit is intended to be a resource of practical advice, and it links to a funding finder within the tool kit. Honest feedback is being sought – and the team welcome any useful information and case studies from users – feed back here.

The Managing Imperial Legacies group ran an informative webinar on Decolonising Heritage at the start of July. BEFS was there to understand the depth of organisational change that is necessary to provide more equitable narratives, narratives that address our links and legacies to the transatlantic slave trade, whilst embracing the discomfort of those changes. There was appreciation for all those furthering this progress, and adapting to discomfort, as part of our collective and individual stories. A conference is planned for 2022.

Equity and the climate crisis in on the mind of Scottish Civic Trust who are looking for speakers for their lecture series on Heritage, Equity and the Climate Crisis – full details here.

BEFS recently responded to the recent Local Place Plan Regulations consultation. BEFS response supports the Regulations as they stand, but notes that many of the concerns around LPPs remain unaddressed by the consultation. Guidance and further clarity is needed around a number of issues. Read BEFS and Member responses here.

Historic Environment Scotland are now seeking a new Chair – details can be found here Closes 16th August

BEFS corresponding organisation south of the border, The Heritage Alliance are also currently advertising for a new Chair, see details here Closes 31st July

Last, but very much not least – BEFS are delighted to welcome newest Associate Member Stirling City Heritage Trust. We’ll hear more from them directly in due course, but until there’s a full introduction, please see their website – and also note the opportunity to work with them in the vacancies section below.

Consultations

Petition: To create a tax incentive to favour retrofit instead of demolition and new build
Closes 8 August 2021.

Draft 2030 Climate Strategy – Edinburgh
Closes 12 Sep 2021.

Consultation Responses

Scotland’s Fourth National Planning Framework Position Statement – Analysis of responses to the consultation (SG 25/06/21)

Planning Performance and Fees Consultation – Analysis of Responses

Publications

Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk (CCC 16/06/2021)

Parks for People: why should we invest in parks? (NLHF 07/2021)

Green Heat in Greenspaces (GHiGs) project data (IS 07/2021)

ALVA Tourism Recovery Tracker (via STA 07/2021)

Briefing on Climate Change (SPICe 07/2021)

Building a Green Recovery (IfG 07/2021)

Healthy Homes Scotland (PHS via CaCHE 05/07/2021)

Scottish Government News Releases

Infrastructure Investment: Andrew Watson, director for budget & public spending at the Scottish Government, has written to the Public Audit Committee with the latest report on the progress of Major Capital Projects for the six months ending March 2021.

Building Standards Futures Board minutes: June 2021

Scottish Government Advice & Guidance on returning to offices (Covid 19) 

Environmental Standards: The instrument establishing Environmental Standards Scotland has been formally lodged by the UK Government.

News Releases

Europa Nostra – Call for Nominations – 7 Most Endangered Programme
Launched in 2013 and starting its 7th edition, the 7 Most Endangered Programme is a civil society campaign to save Europe’s endangered heritage. It raises awareness, makes independent expert assessments, proposes recommendations for action and seeks to rally support to save the selected endangered sites. Being on the 7 Most Endangered List often serves as a catalyst for positive change and as an incentive for mobilisation of the necessary public or private support.

CivTech Alliance Challenge 7 – School Building Use
We currently do not fully understand how the physical spaces in schools and educational buildings are utilised beyond timetabling and term-time considerations, and without full understanding, effective planning and management is not possible. This has the potential to detrimentally impact many aspects of the building’s performance – for example in terms of air quality, which if not optimal has the potential to spread diseases such as Covid 19.
However if we could understand how our educational buildings are being used, we could make informed decisions on how we plan, invest in, and utilise them to best effect. So we want to gain an understanding about how people travel through buildings, and how they occupy rooms, spaces and external facilities, and in doing so realise a number of benefits including increased pupil wellbeing, identifying new capacities within buildings for growth and expansion, and improving the learning environment through data driven building management decisions.

Opinion & Comment

How we measure energy efficiency in our homes isn’t working (01/07/2021)

Architecture & Design Scotland – Whole Place Approach 29/06/2021 

National Trust for Scotland – Shaking Off the Past (National 04/07/2021)

Carbon cost of demolishing Derby Assembly Rooms (AJ 06/2021)

Construction groups unite with proposed new carbon reporting rules (RICS 05/06/2021) 

Parliamentary Questions

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

Question ref. S6W-00749 Craig Hoy, South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 15 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in each local authority area in the South Scotland parliamentary region have been returned to use with support from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, in each year since 2011.
Answered by Shona Robison (29/06/2021)

Other Parliamentary Activity

The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 26^th June 2021 – 29^th August 2021
The UK Parliament will be in recess 22^nd July 2021 – 6^th September 2021

UK Renewable Energy: The Scottish Affairs Committee has published its notes from its visit to Orkney from Sunday 27 – Monday 28 June as part of its renewable energy in Scotland inquiry.

UK Withdrawal Agreement: The first UK-EU annual report on the functioning of the Withdrawal Agreement has been published.

UK Building Safety: The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has published the Building Safety Bill. The legislation aims to ensure there are people responsible for safety during the design, build and occupation of high-rise buildings.

Events

For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: In Conversation with David Walker
Date & time: Wednesday 14th July 2021 | 7.30pm BST
Online.
In GCHT evening lecture series ‘Transforming Glasgow’, we are looking to the past for inspiration and possible solutions. The series focuses on how Glasgow has changed and reinvented itself in a variety of ways from the latter half of the 20th century onwards to today. How have these changes come about and what has the impact been? What lessons can be learned?
Join us for a screening of our interview with Professor David Walker, a leading figure from the early days of conservation in Glasgow & Scotland, as we explore the huge amount of work that was done in the 1960s and since to protect Glasgow’s heritage and impress upon the people in power how significant it is to the city.

CIfA Ethics workshop
Date & time: July 21st, 2021 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Online
Using case studies developed from real-life experiences in archaeological practice, participants will use ethical guidance and experience to formulate and discuss their reactions and solutions to these ethical quandaries. This represents a valuable opportunity for participants to undertake Continuing Professional Development/Education and it can help professional archaeologists to gain facility in setting about and responding everyday ethical situations.

Pathways to Traditional Skills; A European Perspective
Date: Tuesday 24 August 2021 – one day conference
Online
Historic Environment Scotland has led a research outcome of the Erasmusplus Traditional Building Skills project working with Scottish and EU partners comparing educational routes into building craft skills and developing new courses in schools and colleges. This conference will report the findings from this work, assess how we can learn from other models and consider the future of building craft skills and how they can be passed on to the next generation.

SURF Annual Conference – Partners in Place
Dates: 24^th, 25^th, 26^th August 2021
Booking now open for a series of three 90min virtual sessions focusing on: Post-Covid Recovery; Place-based Regeneration and Climate Change.

Training

CPD: Heritage Impact Assessments with Georgina Allison
Date & time: Tues.13th July, 12:30-1:30pm
Online: GCHT Zoom Meeting
Join GCHT for this CPD lecture delivered by conservation accredited architect Georgina Allison, covering the process, expertise and importance involved in a Heritage impact assessment, along with some case studies, to gain knowledge pertinent to all architects and conservation professionals undertaking work on historic buildings.
This CPD is being delivered as part of GCHT’s “THE GREENEST BUILDING HAS ALREADY BEEN BUILT” programme, in line with COP26 2021.

Architectural Conservation CPD: Timber Decay and Repair in Traditional Buildings
Date & time: Wed. 25 August, 12:30-13:30 (from 12:15).
Online via Microsoft Teams, streamed live from Lower City Mills, Perth.
The more technical second half of the 2020 CPD programme opens with this session on timber decay and repair. Delivered by Historic Environment Scotland’s Technical Research Manager Roger Curtis, this CPD will look at the use of timber in traditional construction, decay processes, remedial measures and repair techniques to structural and finishing timber. Sessions are hosted online with Q&A and networking opportunities and delivered using live and recorded content by industry accredited professionals and are recognised CPD by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and Scottish Traditional Building Forum (STBF).

Vacancies

Tender Opportunity – Stirling City Heritage Trust
Stirling City Heritage Trust is seeking a suitably qualified consultancy to help develop a 5 year Strategic Plan. Closing Date: Wednesday 13 July 2021, 12 noon

Fife Historic Buildings Trust – Project Development Officer
A new full-time fixed term post, funded by Historic Environment Scotland, to work with the FHBT team to develop new historic environment regeneration projects in Fife, principally the restoration and re-use of historic buildings at risk. Closing Date: noon – Thursday 29th 2021

Edinburgh World Heritage – Graveyards Engagement Officer
Edinburgh World Heritage is looking to appoint a Graveyards Engagement Officer to play in key role in engaging audiences in one of our five historic burial sites in the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site. Closing Date: Friday 30^th July at 12noon

Director of Scotland’s Churches Trust
Due to the retirement of the present post holder at the end of 2021, it is looking to recruit a Director who will be responsible for the day to day running of the Trust and related activities, and who will report to the Board of Trustees.
Closing Date: 1 September 2021

Volunteer with ?Glasgow Doors Open Days
Become a part of one of Glasgow’s largest annual cultural events, by volunteering with Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival! Meet new people, boost your CV, get involved in our city’s heritage and help others enjoy their time at the festival.

BEFS News

Last week the Conservation Officer’s Group (COG) met for the first time with the purpose of creating a forum and network for knowledge sharing and good practice. BEFS is the secretariat and ‘host’ to this neutral space for discussion, with the aim of enhancing policy capacity and advocating for the sector. It is intended there will be 3-4 (virtual) meetings per year and all those working with a built heritage and conservation remit within a local and planning authority context are encouraged to take part. Find out more and get involved.

This week, the Places of Worship Forum (POWF) met for the first time. POWF is a non-denominational, strategic forum, for organisations that are considering the transition pathways, and collectively seeking sustainable future uses (within, and beyond worship) for places of worship within Scotland. Membership is open to any overarching organisation that owns, manages or runs places of worship; any national organisation that does/could fund places of worship; any national organisation that has an interest in the sustainability of communities who may become owners of places of worship, and national bodies giving advice relevant to places of worship. Find out more.

BEFS will be responding to the Local Place Plan consultation closing this Friday, details will be on the BEFS Consultations page shortly after. Thanks to all Members sharing their views to inform BEFS response.

The Scottish parliamentary committees have been named and membership proposed. The Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s (previously the Culture, Tourism, Europe & External Affairs Committee) remit covers: the Scottish Government’s EU and external affairs policy; policy in relation to the UK’s exit from the EU; the international activities of the Scottish Administration, including international development; and any other matter falling within the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and any matter relating to inter-governmental relations within the responsibility of the Deputy First Minister. This suggests the remit for tourism will move back alongside enterprise, mirroring the ministerial set-up. This committee change is proposed as temporary until 31 Dec 2021 or until a motion making the change permanent is brought forward from the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments, when formed.

Consultations

RTPI Digital Skills Online Survey

Local Place Plan Regulations consultation
Closes 25 June 2021.

Petition: To create a tax incentive to favour retrofit instead of demolition and new build
Closes 8 August 2021.

Draft 2030 Climate Strategy – Edinburgh
Opened 14 Jun 2021 and closes 12 Sep 2021.

Consultation Responses

Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland: consultation analysis

Publications

Housing: subject profile (SPICe 14/06/21)

Tourism Recovery Plan (DCMS 11/06/21)

Annual Operating Plan 2021-22 (HES 11/06/21)

Beyond COP26: The UK’s Green USPs (PE 09/06/21)

Healthy housing for Scotland A briefing paper setting out the fundamental link between housing and public health (PHS 08/06/21)

Edinburgh publishes draft climate strategy (ECC 07/06/21)

Open for Business: Gaining business support for transforming city centres (Transform Scotland 06/21)

The future of the planning system in England – First Report of Session 2021–22 (HoC 27/05/21)

Scottish Government News Releases

New fund opens for island communities (SG 17/06/21)

Businesses and community groups located across Scotland’s inhabited islands are now able to apply for grants of up to £150,000 through the new Island Communities Fund (ICF) for projects focussed on supporting sustainable island economies and the journey towards net zero.

Sustainable economic recovery (SG 16/06/21)
An initial 25 projects designed to help meet skills needs in a range of sectors will receive a share of up to £20 million as part of the second phase of the National Transition Training Fund (NTTF).

More than 100,000 affordable homes delivered (SG 15/06/21)
Scotland has delivered more than 100,000 affordable homes since 2007, marking a major milestone on the path to a fairer, more equal nation.

New plan sets out how historic environment will support Scotland’s recovery (HES 11/06/21)
We have published our new Annual Operating Plan for 2021/22, which sets out how the organisation will champion the role of the historic environment to bring positive social, environmental and economic impacts for communities across Scotland

Accelerating green growth (SG 09/06/21)
A new investment programme to help deliver Scotland’s just transition to a net-zero emissions economy has been launched.

Strengthening links with Europe (SG 08/06/21)
Researchers based in Scotland and Europe can apply to a new £3 million scheme aimed at repairing research links with the EU following the damaging impact of Brexit.

Funding to restore Scotland’s iconic peatlands (SG 05/06/21)
Projects to restore Scotland’s peatlands will get a share of £22 million this year to significantly reduce carbon emissions and support biodiversity as part of the government’s climate change plan.

Climate campaign launches (SG 02/06/21)
The Let’s do Net Zero campaign highlights the benefits a net zero society will bring for our economy, health and environment.

News Releases

Scotland’s Summer Dig Season is Back (DigIt! 21/06/21)
From 21 June to 22 September, #ScotlandDigs2021 will shine a spotlight on our world-class archaeology by bringing together events and live updates from Dumfries & Galloway to Shetland.

HEF COP26 Task Group: Call for climate change and sustainability case studies (EHF 21/06/21)
Inspired by the COP26 summit’s aim to ‘unite the world to tackle climate change’ the Historic Environment Forum created a task group to focus on heritage and climate change, using COP26 as a catalyst. The task group will create a sector and public-facing shared statement on climate change and collate best practice case studies to support and strengthen this work.

A&DS and RIAS Scottish Student Awards for Architecture 2021 (A&DS & RIAS 18/06/21)
The student awards are a mark of the continuing high standards of Scottish architectural education and ensure that both construction professionals and the public can enjoy the creativity and vision of Scotland’s future architects.

Greener Towns Focus for New Strategic Partnership (STP 14/06/21)
A new strategic partnership has been announced between Scotland’s Towns Partnership and the Green Action Trust which is set to boost environmental outcomes in towns the length and breadth of Scotland.

New plan to drive rapid recovery of Scottish tourism sector (DCMS 11/06/21)
Measures including a rail pass for UK “staycationers” and a voucher scheme for tourist attractions are part of the plan to boost tourism across the country.

New heritage toolkit to improve community input in conservation (STIR & HES 09/06/21)
A new toolkit for heritage professionals is helping them understand and assess how people and communities value and relate to Scotland’s historic environment.

2021 SURF Awards Formally Open for Applications (SURF 03/06/21)
The prestigious national 2021 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration were launched today (03/06/21) by the Scottish Government at an online event, in partnership with the Glasgow Canal Co-op and the ‘Year of Coasts and Waters’.

Search for the next UK City of Culture launched (DCMS 29/06/21)
UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has today launched the competition to find the UK’s next City of Culture. The competition is now live and applications are encouraged from towns and cities across the UK. Winner will have baton passed to them from Coventry – UK City of Culture 2021.

Introducing a new content hub – http://MyLand.Scot (SLC 06/21)
Connecting Scots to the land around them & inspiring them to talk about all things land related. Shining a light on various local orgs that are making a positive impact to their community .

Opinion & Comment

A brand new podcast The Lay of The Land by the Scottish Land Commission exploring the different ways land is used by the people of Scotland (SLC 06/21)

Reflecting on the DCMS Tourism Recovery Plan (Heritage Futures 14/06/21)

How has the pandemic changed the way we look at our places? (A&DS 06/21)

Parliamentary Questions

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

Question S6W-00574: Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 10/06/2021 R
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any workforce shortages in the housebuilding sector that is impacting on the construction of affordable homes, and what support it can provide to that sector to identify and train new staff.

Question S6W-00694: Mark Griffin, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 14/06/2021 R
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has established the necessary governance process and a monitoring framework to assess progress towards the vision of its Housing 2040 (H2040) strategy.

Question S6W-00749: Craig Hoy, South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 15/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in each local authority area in the South Scotland parliamentary region have been returned to use with support from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, in each year since 2011.

Question S6W-00967: Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 22/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that increasing the Scottish Land Fund significantly in the early years of the current parliamentary session will be the most effective way of ensuring that communities can compete for the ownership of land, given that there is an increasing number of wealthy private owners expressing interest in buying land.

Question S6W-00968: Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 22/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers current land ownership patterns to be socially and economically just.

Question S6W-00969: Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 22/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that increased community ownership of land and other assets will increase community wealth, and if so, how it considers that this will be achieved.

Question S6W-00971: Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 22/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it will carry out a consultation on its proposed Land Reform Bill.

Parliamentary Questions & Answers

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.

Question S6W-00440: Pam Gosal, West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 03/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether planning regulations need reforming, and what its response is to reports of decisions by East Dunbartonshire Council being overturned by Ministers, leading to pressure on local infrastructure and loss of greenbelt land.
Answered by Tom Arthur (16/06/2021)

Question S6W-00917: Kaukab Stewart, Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 18/06/2021
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with introducing the Single Building Assessment, which was announced in a ministerial statement on 19 March 2021.
Answered by Shona Robison (18/06/2021)

Events

For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.

Belief, Burial, Tombs & Tourists: the past & future of Greyfriars Kirkyard
Date & time: Sat, 26 June 2021 from 10:00 – 16:00.
Online.
Greyfriars Kirkyard is famous worldwide for the lasting impressions it makes on researchers and visitors alike. This conference celebrates the role of Greyfriars in shaping Scottish history, religion and architecture and shines a light on the site’s value to visitors today, captivated by links to Harry Potter, Greyfriars Bobby, and dark tourism. Through a wide-ranging programme, the kirkyard’s past, present and future will be explored by leading academics, community researchers and heritage professionals. At the heart of the discussion will be the question: how can the enduring appeal and value of Greyfriars be harnessed to create a sustainable future for this unique and treasured historic greenspace?

Study Day: The Hill House and Hermitage Park, Helensburgh
Date & time: 31st July 2021, 10.30am – 3pm.
Cost: £18.00 – SGLH Members / £25.00 – Non-members.
An opportunity to visit The Hill House in the morning and walk the Hill House Box gantries, with lunch provided at The Hill House on the roof-top cafe comprising soup, sandwich, tea, coffee and a sweet treat.  After lunch there is a guided tour of the town’s recently restored Hermitage Park led by project landscape architect Jon Simmons, CMLI between 1.30-2.30pm.  Mackintosh’s Hill House is a half mile walk up hill from the main line Helensburgh train station.  A taxi rank is located at the railway station.  Hermitage Park is a half mile walk down the hill.  Meet at the park Pavilion from 1pm onwards.  The guided walk, or walks depending on numbers, will begin at 1.30pm.

Training

CPD: An Introduction to Architectural Conservation with Dr. Cristina Gonzalez-Longo
Date & time: Monday 28th June 2021 | 12.30-1.30pm.
Online: GCHT Zoom Meeting.
Conservation is a growing area of work within architecture. As well as creativity and design skills, it requires specialist education and training in conservation to be able to develop in practice the competences required. Architecture is by nature an interdisciplinary field and a specialisation in conservation requires further multidisciplinary knowledge and skills, as well as a collaborative and critical approach. The most difficult aspects in a conservation project are not the resolution of technical problems, but the capacity to make good judgements about the buildings and their settings and to develop a specific intervention criteria that allows to take good project decisions, based on an appropriate understanding of the philosophy of conservation and a scientific analysis of the evidence. Join us for this CPD with Dr Cristina Gonzalez-Longo to explore the challenges of conserving built heritage, the philosophy of conservation and a look at some case studies of Dr Gonzalez-Longo’s work, highlighting the importance of history, design ideas, innovation, scientific approach and care.

Architectural Conservation CPD: Statutory Protection and Managing Change to Listed Buildings
Date & time: Wed. 30 June, 12:30-13:30 (from 12:15).
Online via Microsoft Teams, streamed live from Lower City Mills, Perth.
The third session in the 6-part CPD programme focuses on listed buildings and the legislative framework that protects them. Delivered by Historic Environment Scotland’s Head of Designations Elizabeth McCrone, this session will cover the role of designation, recent reviews, applying for listed building consent and general approached to managing change to listed buildings with examples. Whether you are starting out in a buildings related career, looking to refresh your conservation knowledge, encounter historic buildings as part of your work portfolio, or have limited knowledge of the best conservation practice to employ on a project involving traditionally constructed buildings, this is the CPD programme for you. Sessions are hosted online with Q&A and networking opportunities and delivered using live and recorded content by industry accredited professionals and are recognised CPD by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and Scottish Traditional Building Forum (STBF).

Architectural Conservation CPD: Timber Decay and Repair in Traditional Buildings
Date & time: Wed. 25 August, 12:30-13:30 (from 12:15).
Online via Microsoft Teams, streamed live from Lower City Mills, Perth.
The more technical second half of the 2020 CPD programme opens with this session on timber decay and repair. Delivered by Historic Environment Scotland’s Technical Research Manager Roger Curtis, this CPD will look at the use of timber in traditional construction, decay processes, remedial measures and repair techniques to structural and finishing timber. Whether you are starting out in a buildings related career, looking to refresh your conservation knowledge, encounter historic buildings as part of your work portfolio, or have limited knowledge of the best conservation practice to employ on a project involving traditionally constructed buildings, this is the CPD programme for you. Sessions are hosted online with Q&A and networking opportunities and delivered using live and recorded content by industry accredited professionals and are recognised CPD by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) and Scottish Traditional Building Forum (STBF).

Vacancies

Director of Scotland’s Churches Trust
Due to the retirement of the present post holder at the end of 2021, it is looking to recruit a Director who will be responsible for the day to day running of the Trust and related activities, and who will report to the Board of Trustees.
Closing Date: 1 September 2021.

Volunteer with ?Glasgow Doors Open Days
Become a part of one of Glasgow’s largest annual cultural events, by volunteering with Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival! Meet new people, boost your CV, get involved in our city’s heritage and help others enjoy their time at the festival.

BEFS News

BEFS is delight to welcome our new Policy & Strategy Manager, Hazel Johnson, into post. Hazel has previously worked for Historic Environment Scotland and has extensive experience in both the arts and heritage. Find out more about her professional background here. 

As a new member joins BEFS team, an old one departs. After 5 years as BEFS Communications Manager, Saskia Smellie is off to pursue her research interests full time. Therefore, we are now seeking a new Communications & Membership Advocate. Find out details and how to apply here.

In the last few weeks BEFS has attended events that speak to the bigger actions (climate) and that consider the bigger picture (indicative Regional Spatial Strategies) for our places. The Climate Vulnerability Index, designed by specialists at James Cook University, now working with Edinburgh World Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, has meant that this innovative process is being run in an urban setting for the first time. These intense workshops look at both the outstanding values of the Old & New Town World Heritage Site and consider what effects climate change may have within that context. We look forward to sharing more thoughts once the series of events is complete. 

BEFS was also delighted to take part in the Place element of a series of Scottish Government run events on indicative Regional Spatial Strategies (iRSS) in relation to NPF4, facilitated by Kevin Murray Associates. These well attended round-tables involved rapid prototyping of specific issues related to pre-determined geographic areas (different spatial iterations being formed for events relating to Place, People, Carbon and Work); which will then inform both each other, and be considered alongside the iRSS previously submitted for consideration.

RTPI Scotland are working with Digital Planning and Ekos to examine the operating environment to embed digital planning in Scotland. They are asking people working in or with the Scottish planning system to fill out a short online survey.

Opening this June, Scotland’s only independent architecture festival the Architecture Fringe invites you to explore, interrogate and (un)learn about the world of architecture, as it could be. Returning in a new biennial hybrid format across in-person and digital platforms, the festival responds to the thematic provocation of (Un)Learning, bringing together a vibrant and diverse range of practitioners and activists from across the world. Find out more here.

Want the latest updates from world-class Scottish archaeological research? Visit the Archaeological Research in Progress (ARP)  to discover brochs, Romans, prehistoric rock art and more. The APR is a conference presenting new research findings and best practice in archaeology covering all periods from across Scotland and beyond. It is organised in alternate years by Archaeology Scotland and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

In 2016 BEFS supported research carried out by Volunteer Scotland on volunteering in Scotland’s historic environment sector. Key findings indicate that 17,100 people gave their time for free during 2015 and that 46% of organisations surveyed would not exist were it not for volunteers. It is estimated that this figure would now be higher. So, this #VolunteersWeekScot we celebrate and thank the fantastic and dedicated volunteers that work tirelessly to protect, maintain and sustain Scotland’s built and #historicenvironment for all of us to enjoy!

Consultations

The Role of LABSS within the Building Standards System

RTPI Digital Skills Online Survey

Local Place Plan Regulations consultation
Closes 25 June 2021.

Petition: To create a tax incentive to favour retrofit instead of demolition and new build
Closes 8 August 2021.

Publications

Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme: Progress Report 2021 (SG 27/05/21)

AHF 2020/21 Impact Report (AHF 26/05/21)

National Outcomes: planning and architecture contribution (SG 26/05/21)

Land measurement for planning and development purposes, global guidance note, 1st edition (RICS 25/05/21)

Building Standards Self-assessment Tool for Verifiers April 2021 (SG 24/05/21)

Building Standards (Fire Safety) Review Panel 2021 (SG 05/18/21)

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Impact on Scottish Household Survey and Scottish House Condition Survey fieldwork in 2020 and 2021 (SG 18/05/21)

Scottish Government News Releases

News Releases

Parliamentary Questions

Events

For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.

Training

Vacancies

Operations Manager
We are looking to recruit an Operations Manager who will be responsible for ensuring integration and co-ordination across PAS and developing the organisation’s delivery of services in collaboration with the Chief Executive, and other members of the management team. Deadline for applications: 23.59 on Monday 14 June.

Communication and Engagement Officer
Under One Roof are looking for someone from a communication or architectural background whose skills will help expand the organisation’s reach and impact, particularly with tenement flat owners.
Applications received after noon on the 14th will not be considered.

Volunteer opportunity – Shetland Doors Open Days coordinator
Doors Open Days is looking for an enthusiastic volunteer or group of volunteers to help coordinate Doors Open Days in Shetland. This is a great opportunity to help people in your local area freely access heritage sites and events, network with professionals across Scotland’s heritage sectors, and develop skills in project management, communication and website management. You will be supported by a friendly national network of Doors Open Days coordinators.
Applications accepted on a rolling basis.