Symposium on ‘Future Places: Using Heritage to Build Resilient Communities’ in County Down, Northern Ireland provided an opportunity to consider how heritage can contribute to the current Programme for Government and the Local Development Plans being drawn up by the local.
The Northern Ireland Department for Communities writes:
Communities Minister Paul Givan said: ‘Our heritage assets represent real opportunities – creating jobs, providing skills, encouraging tourism and supporting our economy. Even our derelict historic buildings should be seen as unique opportunities. Jobs are created in restoration and conservation and craftsmen take a pride in maintaining traditional skills.
‘Historic monuments and buildings are important community assets, contributing to a sense of place, identity and pride as well as being places which can be used and enjoyed. Historic monuments such as Dunluce castle, or listed buildings such as Mount Stewart, where the NI Executive recently contributed significant funding towards restoration works, are a real draw for tourists, supporting our economy.
‘Our historic sites also offer us an opportunity to learn about and better understand our past, and to bring our communities together into the future through that understanding.
‘The symposium is very timely as the draft programme for Government is currently out to public consultation and I believe our heritage has the ability to contribute to a great many of the outcomes in the Programme. Secondly, our 11 councils are currently drafting their Local Development Plans which will be absolutely key in shaping our communities, and it is important that our natural and built heritage together form an integral part of those plans.’
The symposium was hosted by the Historic Buildings Council, the Historic Monuments Council and the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, which are statutory advisory councils to the Department for Communities (DfC) and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
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