CIfA believes that collaboration between different professionals is critical to increasing knowledge and understanding, in order to maximise value and protection across the historic environment.
The new Principles of Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment is a great example of this type of collaboration. CIfA has worked alongside the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) to develop the Principles.
A publication containing the new Principles is available to download on the IEMA website. If you are not an IEMA member but would like to download this publication, there is a short form to complete. You can find the form by following this link. The form asks for some basic details like your email address.
Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment is concerned with understanding the consequences of proposals, which could result in changes to a cultural heritage asset or assets.
The framework within which impact assessment is undertaken is constantly evolving, as are the tools and techniques for undertaking, reporting and applying the findings of the assessment. Due to this variety of practice, the need for an authoritative set of principles to promote good practice had been recognised for some time. In 2015, CIfA, IEMA and IHBC created an Impact Assessment Network Steering Group with the aim of developing guidance. The working party studied the subject in-depth and agreed this new set of guiding principles to provide a consistent framework across different sectors and geographies. They reinforce the importance of using competent experts for these specialised areas of practice.
Many CIfA members are involved in cultural heritage impact assessment and we hope that these new Principles will be of benefit to them and will be widely adopted.
On behalf of all three institutes, CIfA would like to thank to all those who volunteered their time to develop the Principles. In particular, the core advisory group and contributory authors; Andy Ricketts, James Caird, Stephen Carter, Victoria Cooper, Kirsten Holland, Ian Houlston, Robert Sutton and Edward Holland.
