IHBC Yearboox 2018

R E V I E W A N D A N A L Y S I S 21 perspectives of different stakeholders and users of the historic environment, including social issues of regeneration (McClelland), traffic issues and environment in historic urban centres (Taylor), and the legacy of industry in the regeneration of the Titanic Quarter, Belfast (Sweeney). The European dimension is most clearly evident in Darren Barker’s outline of the Devetaki Project in rural Bulgaria. Heritage here is distinct to the Devetaki Plateau, and one could argue that it has little to do with the cultural heritage of the international community of conservation specialists drawn in to help, including many from the UK. However, the Devetaki Project includes a remarkable series of art interventions which examine human memory and the power of our relationship with the past, one which OUR SHARED HERITAGE ANDREW SHEPHERD R EFLECTING 2018’s status as European Year of Cultural Heritage, the theme adopted for this year’s annual school is ‘Our Shared Heritage’. As historic environment professionals, the concept of heritage is instantly associated with historic buildings, their contents and their surroundings. The concept of a ‘shared’ heritage, however, shifts the focus from the physical to the metaphysical – the intangible bonds that connect us as Brits, Europeans or, indeed, as humans, to others, past and present. As conservationists, however, our eye is on the future too. Our aim is to hand down to future generations all that’s best of what we have inherited. The articles that follow are loosely themed around these concepts. Shared heritage is explored from the clearly transcends geographical and temporal barriers. Barker’s account also highlights the practical measures being taken to develop the skills-base for conservation in the region, including recording, assessment and analysis to understand this rich architectural heritage. As in the UK, the development of modern building practices in 20th-century Bulgaria resulted in the loss of many of the building traditions required for sympathetic repair and conservation, and much of the project’s focus has been on rediscovering these traditions. Skills retention and development are also explored in articles on Historic Environment Scotland’s new Engine Shed (Tennant and Urquhart) and in the strategic study of decline of local authority conservation capacity in England (Newton). Titanic Hotel Belfast: members of the public view an exhibition in Drawing Office 1, the hotel’s main heritage and event space (Photo: Titanic Foundation)