TAGDeva
17/12/2018 | 11 a.m.
Chester
On Wednesday 19 December CITiZAN's Lara Band will be giving two papers on the project at the 40th Theoretical Archaeology Group conference.
In the morning she'll be talking in the provocatively titled session Britain has had enough of experts challenging this statement with a look at the final figures and feedback from the 2015-2018 phase of CITiZAN which suggest that rather than having had enough of experts many people welcome, enjoy, desire and profit from contact with them. She'll also be asking just who the experts are: our volunteers have contributed huge amount to the project through their own wealth of knowledge, skills and experience.
In the afternoon she'll be co-presenting in a session on Public Heritage: Negotiating Best Practice with Nadia Bartolini of the AHRC funded project Heritage Futures on the collaboration between the two projects at the National Trust property Orford Ness in Suffolk. Through observing, working with and interviewing CITiZAN participants Heritage Futures gained a deeper understanding of the motivations of archaeologists, both professionals and volunteers. The wider scope of Heritage Futures provided CITiZAN with an opportunity to address broader questions surrounding the value that places hold for people, the ways in which humans and non-humans interact in the present and how and why we save things for the future. Working with the National Trust in an ecologically sensitive area has highlighted the dynamics of managing landscapes that are significant for both natural and human made environments. Volunteers enhanced the project through contributing a wide range of skills and expertise. This paper will explore the benefits and challenges of transdisciplinary work and how this has informed ideas for any future CITiZAN projects and include a showing of the Heritage Futures film Recording Loss made during the collaboration.
