{"id":35400,"date":"2023-01-20T17:57:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T17:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=35400"},"modified":"2023-01-20T17:57:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T17:57:46","slug":"spotlight-on-context-for-ihbc25-hear-from-ihbcs-chair-and-president-on-how-it-started-how-its-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=35400","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on Context for #IHBC25: Hear from IHBC\u2019s Chair and President on \u2018How it started; how it\u2019s going\u2026\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Marking the 25th anniversary of the IHBC \u2013 #IHBC 25 \u2013 our \u2018IHBC at 25\u2019 issue of Context <\/em>looks back at where today\u2019s multidisciplinary institute came from, how it has evolved and where it might go, and this celebratory NewsBlog features IHBC Chair David McDonald and Mike Brown, IHBC President on the IHBC\u2019s past, present\u2026 and future.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 [the IHBC] endeavoured to master the tsunami of change that is modern life, all the while staying true to our professional principles and charitable purpose\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

David McDonald, and Mike Brown write:<\/p>\n

Perhaps unusually for a conservation body, while we celebrate our past, we have always focused on the future and the increasingly important role the historic built environment can play in framing it. To mark this silver anniversary in the IHBC\u2019s own history, this issue of Context <\/em>highlights some examples of what the institute is doing today and takes a few tentative glimpses into its future.<\/p>\n

The institute\u2019s first chair, Mary King, and first president, Malcolm Airs, look back at the emergence of the IHBC in the 1990s and how things have changed. We hear views from the inside, about what draws new members to the IHBC, and from the outside, looking at the institute through the lens of other professional bodies. Perhaps we should be using the popular social media meme: \u2018how it started; how it\u2019s going\u2019. It is clearly going pretty well as we discover the determined fighting spirit of the IHBC annual school organisers when emerging from the pandemic, and snapshots from Sandy Halliday and David Burton of the remarkable content of the Aberdeen annual school.<\/p>\n

The IHBC has grown and come of age as a genuinely multidisciplinary institute. It developed from the Association of Conservation Officers, which is why the original membership in 1997 was almost entirely made up of conservation officers, with some other local-authority- related members. The members came from different professional backgrounds, certainly, but still had a single professional focus. Today\u2019s IHBC continues to welcome local authority members but it now has a significant majority working in the private sector, bringing a much wider spectrum of backgrounds, disciplines and interests. Whatever their professional backgrounds, IHBC members are united by a shared professional interest in historic build- ings and areas and their conservation. They find their home as conservation professionals in an environment that is welcoming to all, but still maintains the highest standards of competence for its accredited members.<\/p>\n

Two important documents from the early days of the institute remain essential to today\u2019s IHBC:<\/p>\n