Sustainability conference

Conference

Sustainability and heritage: how can the past contribute to a sustainable future?

International conference - 29-31st May 2012

Orkney College, University of the Highlands and Islands
Kirkwall, Scotland

Heritage is recognised as being vitally important to sustainability. Heritage reflects our ongoing relationship with the environment and plays a role in defining modern culture and identity. It is not thus simply concerned with the past but is about balancing conservation and change today and in the future. Sustainability is best understood through long-term perspectives on the interactions of people and environment. This reflexive relationship is crucial to inform future practice and research in sustainable development and cultural environment management, and for promoting cultural diversity, sustainability literacy and education. Heritage is embedded in place and forms a strong link between humans and local landscapes. Heritage thus provides an important avenue to place based learning, education for sustainability, and developing a genuine sense of stewardship and management for the long term future. With ever diminishing resources, especially with respect to the impacts of climate change, there is now a real need for innovation in methods of assessing, monitoring, and valuing heritage, for developing new approaches to education and heritage and, moreover, for critically appraising what the past can contribute to the future sustainability of society.

This interdisciplinary conference will bring together academics and practitioners to discuss and critically analyse Heritage and Sustainability through presentations, posters and round table discussion, under the following themes:

• Medium-long term trajectories (millennial-centennial scales) of key sustainability issues such as resource utilisation, and the impacts of climate/environmental change in communities in the past;
• Heritage and resource management, sustainable development and participation;
• The role and potential of heritage in education for sustainability and in underpinning sustainability literacy initiatives (such as Education for Sustainable Development & Education For Sustainability).

Conference organisers

Jane Downes, Ingrid Mainland, Julie Gibson & Martin Price, University of the Highlands & Islands; Tom McGovern & Sophia Perdikaris, City University of New York; Ian Simpson & Richard Oram, University of Stirling; Andy Dugmore, University of Edinburgh; Julie Bond & Steve Dockrill, University of Bradford.

Download poster (pdf)

Info

General information

There are many websites which will give you a useful overview of Orkney’s present and its past and some of these links are included in the Conference’s webpages. If you can’t readily find the information you need in these pages, please contact Anne Billing, UHI Archaeology Department , Orkney College.

The main entrance way for the visitor to Orkney is Visit Orkney, Orkney’s official tourist website. It contains large detail on accommodation, transport, what’s on, places to visit, places to eat and drink and the way of life of Orkney.

Orkney’s days are long by the end of May and the Conference takes place just 3 weeks short of the Midsummer Solstice when darkness never entirely falls. Orkney is a magical place and worthy of exploration and enjoyment. Why not extend your stay beyond the Conference and have more time here to enjoy the islands and the light and Orkney life?

The Orkney Folk Festival begins on 31 May 2012 and is one of Orkney’s highlight events of the year, with amazing musicians from across the world, and Orkney’s own finest, in a crammed 4 days of action.

The archaeology, heritage and history of Orkney are wonderfully covered at Orkneyjar and great photographs too.

Orkney’s newspaper, The Orcadian, is available on-line and well worth exploring, as is its excellent on-line book shop.

There are various on-line Orkney business and visitor attraction directories and Orkney.com is very comprehensive

The Conference will take place at the Pickaquoy Centre. It also houses sports and fitness facilities and a cinema.

Orkney’s Weather

There are myriad glorious Orkney images on the web but bear in mind that Orkney is sometimes afflicted by wet and windy weather. Bring sturdy footwear and heavy-duty waterproofs if you’re going to be out and about at all – and that includes just walking about in Kirkwall.

Travel

Flights to Orkney

The operator into Orkney is Flybe.

The sooner you book flights, the better. They become progressively expensive, the nearer you get to your travel date.

Flybe fly to Orkney from a wide range of UK-wide airports, via Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Kirkwall Airport is about 2 miles from Kirkwall .Travel to your accommodation by public bus or taxi, or hire car. Details for all of these are all available from the airport website and Visit Orkney.

Flights within Orkney

Loganair operate flights between Mainland Orkney and the North Isles.

Ferries to Orkney

Operators are:

• Northlink
• Pentland Ferries
• John O’Groats Ferry

Northlink sail several times a day from Scrabster in the north of Caithness, to and from Stromness in Orkney. They also sail from Aberdeen several evenings a week to Kirkwall en route to Shetland, and back to Aberdeen overnight, en route from Shetland. Northlink carry foot passengers and vehicles.

It is important to note that Northlink require all passengers to have photographic I.D

Pentland Ferries sail several times a day from Gill’s bay in Caithness, to St Margaret’s Hope in Orkney. Foot passengers and vehicles are carried.

John O’Groats Ferry runs from John O’Groats to the southern tip of Orkney, and is a foot passenger ferry only.

Ferries within Orkney

Orkney’s North and South Isles are accessed via Orkney Ferries and day trips for you and your vehicle are possible to most of the Isles from early May to late September.

Travel to Caithness

Northlink and Pentland Ferries tie variously into bus and train connections and full details are on their websites.

Bus travel within Orkney

Stagecoach runs Orkney’s public bus service and buses operate both within Kirkwall and out and around Mainland Orkney.

Accommodation

Orkney is busy in May and June.
Please don’t delay booking your accommodation. It won’t get any cheaper or easier to find, the nearer to the Conference we get.

Hotels

Visit Orkney gives details of the various hotels In Kirkwall, most of which are in easy walking distance of the Conference at the Pickaquoy Centre, which is at site 25 on Visit Orkney’s Kirkwall street map

Visit Orkney also gives details of hotels elsewhere on Mainland Orkney. Check out the bus links.

Bed and Breakfast/Guest Houses

Visit Orkney also lists bed and breakfasts/guest houses in its accommodation section but note that not all guest houses are registered with Vist Orkney so also make a separate web search e.g. ‘bed and breakfast orkney’.

Tripadvisor will be useful for reviews of hotels and guest houses.

Self-catering accommodation

Visit Orkney also has details of high quality self-catering flats and houses in and around Kirkwall but again, make your own searches as not all properties are registered with Visit Orkney.

Out and about

Eating out, pubs, entertainment and other things to do

Kirkwall and Stromness have a good range of places to eat and to enjoy a drink, and there are other good venues outside of the two towns.

Visit Orkney is a useful guide to places to eat and drink as is Trip Advisor.

Orkney makes fine beers at the Orkney Brewery and distills one of the world’s favourite whiskies, Highland Park. Their products are widely available in Orkney’s pubs and hotels and restaurants, and the Brewery and Distillery have excellent visitor centres.

Orkney traditional music is performed throughout the islands by professional musicians such as The Wrigley Sisters who also encourage folk to make music for their own pleasure --The Reel is a great place to hear that music.

Buy a copy of the weekly newspaper, The Orcadian, and check out what’s on throughout Orkney and visit Orkney Communities, with its daily listings of events. Organisations such as OCEAN also have listings of things to do, out and about.

Go also to Radio Orkney for its daily diary of what’s on.

The Pier Arts Centre, in Stromness, is a fine visit as are Orkney’s various, fascinating museums.

There are excellent crafts people and artists and silversmiths to visit on Orkney’s Craft Trail, and others who work independently and who you’ll find as you travel about.

Conference dinner

Conference dinner

This is planned for 19.30 hours on Wednesday 30 May at The Lynnfield Hotel.

The Lynnfield takes pride in its use of Orkney ingredients and produces excellent food. The menu for the Conference dinner has been put together to show-case Orkney’s best produce and we hope it tempts many of you to attend what will be a convivial and high quality event amongst friends old and new.

The cost of the dinner is £30 per head, excluding drinks.

We need to know in advance of the Conference if you will attend the dinner. Please see the Registration Form for details.

Registration

You can register for the Sustainability and Heritage Conference 29 & 30 May 2012 by completing our online form.

If you prefer you can download and fill in the registration form [NB fieldtrip is now £6.50 per head].

We have special day rates if you wish to come only to the speakers' presentations - fee £16 per day per delegate inclusive of lunch, £10 per day excluding lunch.  Download day rate booking form.

You can return electronic copies of the form to anne.billing@orkney.uhi.ac.uk

Please return the completed booking form with your payment in full to:

Sustainability and Heritage Conference 2012
c/o Anne Billing
Archaeology Dept
University of the Highlands and Islands
Orkney College
Kirkwall
Orkney
KW15 1LX

Programme

Monday 28th May 2012

Tuesday 29th May 2012

Wednesday 30th May 2012

Thursday 31st May 2012

Field trip to the West Mainland of Orkney (optional)

£6.50 per head - download details about the field trip (pdf)

Download conference poster (pdf)

Keynotes

Themes and speakers

Theme 1 - sustainability and medium-long term trajectories

Keynote speaker - Prof Ian Simpson, University of Stirling

Can perspectives on the past make effective contributions to secure a sustainable future

other theme 1 speakers are listed in the programme

Theme 2 - sustainable heritage management

Keynote speaker - Noel Fojut, Historic Scotland

Fine words and grand ambitions: the concept of sustainability in international heritage charters

other theme 2 speakers are listed in the programme

Theme 3 - sustainability community sustainability and participation

Keynote speaker - Dr Sven Haakonsson, Director Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska

Our history, our responsibility, our future: what the past shares and inspires within our community

other theme 3 speakers are listed in the programme

Theme 4 - education for sustainability

Keynote speaker - Prof Sophia Perdikaris, City University of New York

Education for sustainability

other theme 4 speakers are listed in the programme

Buchan lecture

The Buchan Lecture

sponsored by the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Regional Fund

“Islands in a Common Sea:  Archaeology of the Scillonian, Western and Northern Isles”

A talk by Jacqui Mulville,  University of Cardiff

8pm on Monday 28^th May 2012

At Orkney Arts Theatre, Kirkwall

Free entry

All welcome

Download poster as pdf