Draft Programme
‘For Them and By Them – Involving Stakeholders and Communities in
Interpretation’
th
13 September 2012, Bedwellty House and Park, Tredegar
9:00am-10:00am
10:00
Registration and Coffee
Keynote:
Tony Crosby
Policy Advisor, Participation and Learning,
Heritage Lottery Fund
10:20
A Lasting Difference for Heritage and
People
Amanda Williams
Manager, Participation Cymru
11:05
The National Principles for Public
Engagement - a benchmark for effective
public engagement in Wales.
Sarah Oswald
Director, PLB Ltd
11:25-11:45
11:45-12:45
12:45-13:30
13:30
Top down or bottom up? Is there a right
way to develop community interpretation?
Morning Panel Q and A
Lunch
Tour of Bedwellty House and its original
exhibitions / Visit to the volunteer-run
Tredegar Museum
Elaine Knight and Kim Colebrook
University of Wales Newport
14:15
Young people: engagement and
empowerment in local, national and global
heritage.
Sarah Douglas
Red Kite Environment
14:35-15:00
15:00
tbc
Coffee Break
Nicole Deufel
Manager, Bedwellty House and Park
15:45
Public benefit through stakeholder
engagement: policy aspiration and practice
challenges
Keynote:
Ralph James
Tredegar Heritage Trust
16:05 – 16:25
Our past, present and future: Heritage in
the Community
Afternoon Panel Q and A
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Draft Programme Details
Tony Crosby, Heritage Lottery Fund
A Lasting Difference for Heritag and People
In July this year the Heritage Lottery Fund launched its strategic framework for the period
2013 -2018. This new strategy outlines the key challenges that are currently being faced by
the heritage sector and HLF, and sets out the changes that HLF is making in order to meet
these challenges. At the heart of the strategy is the aim to make a difference for both the
heritage, for the people who engage with it and for communities. Case examples of how HLF
funded projects have engaged people with heritage through active participation in the curation
and interpretation of displays will be used to show how people can make a difference to how
heritage is presented and how this process can make a difference to people and how they
perceive and value heritage.
Amanda Williams, Participation Cymru
The National Principles for Public Engagement - a benchmark for effective
public engagement in Wales.
The National Principles for Public Engagement in Wales were endorsed by Welsh
Government in March 2012. They were developed under the guidance of Participation Cymru
and serve to provide a benchmark for the effectiveness of public engagement by public
service organisations and policy makers in Wales. They aim to ensure that the people of
Wales are engaged in an effective and consistent way about the policies and services that
directly affect their lives.
The presentation will give a background to the development of the Principles, how they are
used and importance of the Principles for all those working in public services in Wales.
Sarah Oswald, PLB Ltd.
Top down or bottom up? Is there a right way to develop community
interpretation?
This session will explore the challenges and benefits of approaches to community
interpretation through case studies from PLB’s experience. We will use evaluation with a
number of different projects to consider the pros and cons of ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’
community interpretation. Can we identify which approach benefits the participants, and the
heritage, the most? What factors define successful community interpretation?
Case studies will include:
 Windsor & Royal Borough Museum – a local authority lead project but with
community inputs this museum (and the whole Borough) is one of the pilots for the
Big Society – what has that really meant for the interpretation by and for the
community?
 Chain Bridge Forge, Spalding – a community inspired and led project to save, restore
and reopen the last remaining working blacksmith’s in the town – how has this ‘grass
roots’ project involved and benefitted the community?
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Elaine Knight and Kim Colebrook, University of Wales, Newport
Young people: engagement and empowerment in local, national and global
heritage.
Organisations are working with Community and Stakeholder groups to bring their heritage
stories to life with unique, engaging and imaginative interpretation. However, the groups
engaged comprise primarily of the middle-older generations, perpetuating the notion that
“Heritage is not for the young!”
To ensure that we have strong advocates of heritage in the future, we need to capture the
imagination of young people, inspiring them to value the social fabric of their past. Local,
national and global heritage can trigger young people to see how their place in the 21 st
century is shaped and influenced by the past.
Through work with 17 and 18 year olds the dynamic heritage stories that surround them are
introduced. This paper reflects on the development work, research and the learning and
teaching strategies used to demonstrate the attitudinal change to heritage experienced by
these young people: our heritage guardians of tomorrow.
Nicole Deufel, Bedwellty House and Park
Public benefit through stakeholder engagement: policy aspiration and practice
challenges
National legislation and policies increasingly expect heritage interpretation to deliver
measurable benefits for the public. Stakeholder and community engagement is seen as the
key to doing so. This presentation looks at the aspirations of legislation and policies on one
hand, and discusses the practical challenges and opportunities of stakeholder and community
engagement in interpretation on the other.
Ralph James, Tredegar Heritage Trust
Our past, present and future: Heritage in the Community
This talk describes how Tredegar Heritage Trust came into being as a community-led initiative
that went on to work with other local interest groups, members of the business forum,
councillors, and the Welsh Government. It reflects on the vital role of effective management
and business planning and the need to keep the community at large engaged in the process.
The talk also reviews how the Heritage Trust and other heritage community groups in town
have interlinked with Bedwellty House and Park.
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Presenter Biographies
Kim Colebrook
Kim has over 25 years experience working in the Tourism and Heritage sectors in Wales. She
started her career by researching a local ironworks in Abersychan, before she went on to lead
tours of Blaenavon Ironworks whilst working for Torfaen Museum Trust. She went on to work
in Tourism for Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Gwent, and was Head of Information and New
Media for the Wales Tourist Board for 12 years before setting up on her own in 2006. Since
then she has worked on a wide range of local heritage projects with communities including
Gelligaer Roman Fort, Bute Town, South Pembrokeshire and Pontypool, has worked with
HERIAN and Valleys Regional Park, and has produced strategies for projects as diverse as
Tourism Signposting and Chartism. Kim has been working with University of Wales, Newport
on a range of community heritage courses for the last year.
Tony Crosby
Tony has worked for HLF for over nine and a half years within the centrally based team which
champions the engagement of people from all sectors of society with heritage. His special
interest is in how disabled people can access heritage more fully - both physical and sensory
access - and also how disabled people can use lottery funding to explore their own history
and heritage. Having to explore good practice in sensory access lead him to take a specific
interest in heritage interpretation, not only for the benefit of disabled people, but also good
interpretive practice in general.
Nicole Deufel
Nicole has nearly twenty years’ experience in formal and informal education in her native
Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. She holds an MSc in Interpretation
Management, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Heritage Studies, researching public benefit
delivery through interpretation. Nicole writes a blog on interpretation,
http://nicoledeufel.wordpress.com/.
Ralph James
Born and raised in Tredegar, Ralph is an active member of various community groups
concerned with the history and heritage of the area, such as the Tredegar History and Archive
Society and the Blaenau Gwent Heritage Forum. He is involved in many conservation
initiatives as a local historian and passionate advocate for heritage. Ralph also serves on the
Community Management Board of Bedwellty House and Park. For his ‘day job’ Ralph studied
Mining Engineering and Geology, which led to a distinguished career in management, both
within the Mining and later Steel industries, and subsequently the NHS.
Elaine Knight
Elaine spent 20 years in the financial services industry and subsequently combined a career
break to have children with the achievements of obtaining professional qualifications to
broaden her future career opportunities. Elaine has for the last nine years worked as a
Lecturer and Senior Lecture for the University of Wales in Newport. Since joining the Centre
for Community and Lifelong Learning at UWN Elaine has taught on Campus and in the
community and been engaged in several projects. Since September 2010 Elaine has been
the link between the World Heritage Site in Blaenavon (the Forgotten Landscapes Project)
and UWN in respect of community learning, co-ordinating the Project and developing
curriculum and has more recently become the Programme Leader for the Certificate of Higher
Education in Heritage Studies. Elaine has particular interests in widening participation and
alternative and inclusive progression routes into H.E. for young people.
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Sarah Oswald
Sarah is a Director of PLB and an experienced heritage professional who contributes her
analytical and creative skills to the company’s range of projects. She has a particular interest
in access and audience development and in the promotion of good interpretive practice. Prior
to joining PLB, Sarah had practical experience in delivering a local authority heritage service,
providing outreach and community development. Formerly a committee member and Events
Coordinator of Association for Heritage Interpretation and the Yorkshire & Humberside
Federation of Museums and Galleries, Sarah continues to support and encourage best
practice in the sector. She holds a City & Guilds Certificate in Delivering Adult Learning, to
support her interest in life long learning through heritage. She has most recently been
developing this interest through providing interpretive planning and audience development
mentoring and training for museums and heritage organisations of all sizes.
Amanda Williams
Mandy Williams is the manager of Participation Cymru, an organisation part funded by Welsh
Government to increase the capacity of public service organisations in effective public and
service user engagement. Mandy has extensive experience in community development,
participation and facilitation.
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