Glossary of Terms

The physical environment, the type and age of the site and the legal status (i.e. a formal heritage designation).

Approaches that allow for meaningful input from communities in defining the research problem, deciding on methods, and co-producing the outcomes.

Approaches that bring professionals and community members together in a process of mutual exploration and understanding, often through co-creative techniques.

A self-identifying group of people that share a connection based on location, interest or identity. Individuals may simultaneously be members of multiple communities. Communities are diverse, with members potentially expressing or enacting contradictory or conflicting social values.

The social environment (including levels of community engagement and diversity of social, economic and cultural backgrounds, etc.), management and conservation arrangements (including use, ownership etc.), and whether there are ‘live’ issues/conflicts/changes (recent, proposed or on-going).

Used in recognition that some groups are: a) hard to reach due to their physical or social location; b) marginalised, disenfranchised or vulnerable; or c) hidden (no records of their experience exists). It should not be read as implying any deficit on the part of these potential participants, merely that particular consideration is required in order to achieve their inclusion within the research process.

Following the definition in Scotland’s strategy for the historic environment, Our Place in Time, this is defined as “the physical evidence for human activity that connects people with place, linked with the associations we can see, feel and understand”. It is not limited to formally designated sites. These historic environments are understood to be dynamic and productive of communities, identities, and values in the present.

The involvement of community members in the assessment process (also participatory approaches). This may or may not involve a collaborative or co-designed process, where community members have a degree of influence over the direction of the research.

The significance of the historic environment to contemporary communities, including people’s sense of identity, belonging, attachment and place. The social nature of these related elements means that values are contextual and evolving. There are likely to be multiple social values associated with an historic place, and these may be divergent or contradictory.