#value

Heritage makes a significant contribution to our daily lives and reflects the diversity of both past and present communities. We need to be able to understand this better by researching how it contributes to a sense of identity; the value it has on our national and local economy; how it promotes wellbeing and how it strengthens, connects and empowers our communities. We need a better understanding of how heritage is meaningful to people in their everyday surroundings and why they engage with or feel excluded from their heritage.

Photograph of people in the Rag market, Birmingham
Heritage contributes to the rich sense of local identity. Research deepens that link. Rag market, Birmingham (Copyright Historic England)

Social value 

Heritage makes a significant contribution to our daily lives and reflects the diversity of both past and present communities. We need to be able to understand this better by researching how it contributes to a sense of identity; the value it has on our national and local economy; how it promotes wellbeing and how it strengthens, connects and empowers our communities. We need a better understanding of how heritage is meaningful to people in their everyday surroundings and why they engage with or feel excluded from their heritage.

Research into the complex relationships between heritage and society will have impact if it provides clear evidence for the real benefits the historic environment can offer society in terms of boosting pride in local areas, improving individual well-being and building better places to live and work. Innovative research data helping us to understand the range of values attributed to heritage by individuals and communities will  help us shape our advice and policy, and will,  in turn, ensure that more people can benefit  from their heritage.

Research questions

HERA1: What is the contribution of heritage to individual and societal well-being and how does it work?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
Wellbeing, #value

HERA2: How can we measure and capture the social contribution of heritage?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

HERA3: What is the role of the historic environment in place-making and place-shaping?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

Economic value

An important reason for looking after and investing in our heritage is that it makes a significant contribution to the national, regional and local economy in a variety of economic sectors and functions. These include the tourism industry; the construction sector; conservation services; economic activity within historic buildings; investment in the investigation, research and display of archaeological sites and structures; and education. This variety makes it difficult to capture the value of heritage using orthodox economic methods, such as price or cost arising from the use, purchase or ownership of goods and services. In contrast heritage typically has what economists refer to as ‘nonuse value’ – the value that people assign to things even if they never have and never will use them. Our current economic research programme includes: economic impact studies; contingent valuation research; heritage accounting studies; surveys of heritage owners, the wider public and organisations managing heritage; and spatial impact assessments.  

Research will have impact if it develops and deploys innovative economic methods and data sources to help us gain robust and up-todate insights into this complex landscape. Work to gather evidence of the economic value of heritage to individuals, businesses, communities and the wider economy will help make the case for new fiscal policy, and champion the cause of sustained investment, broadening the resources for the sector.

Research questions

HERA4: What is the scale and value of the economic contribution of heritage to the national, regional and local economy?

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More information:
Status:
Active
Authority to change status:
Historic England
Date accepted:
27/07/2017
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
Economy, #value

HERA5: What methods best capture the total economic value of heritage?

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More information:
Status:
Active
Authority to change status:
Historic England
Date accepted:
27/07/2017
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

HERA6: What central or local government fiscal measures could help prevent historic buildings from becoming redundant and vacant?

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More information:
Status:
Active
Authority to change status:
Historic England
Date accepted:
27/07/2017
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

Contested values

Although we identify and celebrate our  physical historic environment through historic buildings, archaeological sites and distinctive landscapes, our definition of heritage is itself influenced by current understanding, interpretations and attitudes. Different groups in society have different views on what heritage is, what it means and why it is important. Sometimes views on heritage (such as imperial, colonial or military heritage) and its preservation are passionately contested.    Research will have impact if it recognises and explores this complexity, and the disputed values that can sometimes result. It will help us gain a better informed approach to the appreciation and management of heritage. This will help us work more effectively with others, engage more widely, enrich the range of heritage assets deserving of protection and ensure that our National Heritage List for England, and all aspects of our work better reflect society as a whole.

Research questions

HERA10: How can the potentially contested nature of heritage be best addressed, and reflected in the National Heritage List for England?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

HERA11: How can new approaches to interpretation, including digital technologies, be used to provide multiple narratives, and to help arbitrate when heritage is contested?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

HERA12: How do we best acknowledge difficult or uncomfortable histories?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

HERA8: How can we better understand the diversity of attitudes to heritage?

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Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

HERA9: How are hidden histories within society reflected in the historic environment?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date of next review:
01/07/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
Historic England Research Agenda
Categories:
#value

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