Launched in November 2020 as a digital re-imagining of Scotland’s Community Heritage Conference, this event series has grown rapidly in popularity and attracts attendees and speakers from right across Scotland and beyond.
Scotland’s Community Heritage Conversations (SCHC) was developed to provide an engaging and approachable forum for sharing experiences and opportunities, discussing emerging policy and practice, and supporting one another through new and innovative solutions as we moved through the pandemic towards recovery and renewal. Previous Conversations have celebrated resilience within community groups, looked at adapting through digital, discussed exciting new ideas in youth empowerment and examined the connections between heritage and wellbeing.
The conversations are delivered through a partnership of Historic Environment Scotland, Archaeology Scotland, The Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, Scottish Council on Archives, Scottish Civic Trust, Heritage Network, Scottish Community Heritage Alliance and Scoto, who together coordinate a wide range of contributors from public bodies, third sector organisations, and community groups.
Scotland’s Community Heritage Conversations 2025
We are delighted to announce that tickets are now available for our 2025 conference - Routes to Resilience!
Join us on Wednesday 19 November at the Engine Shed in Stirling or online via Microsoft Teams. Scotland’s Community Heritage Conversations 2025: Routes to Resilience will be another day-long, hybrid event with an agenda packed full of speakers, Q&As, workshops, a panel session and the ever popular One Minute Mayhem - a 60-second soapbox open to all, where attendees have the chance to share news and updates from their own organisations and projects. The sessions will showcase community-led approaches to organisational sustainability, designed to inspire, encourage connections, and offer practical reflections and actions. As with previous years, this event is completely free to attend.
For more information, including a full agenda, details on how to submit a digital poster or sign up for One Minute Mayhem, and how to book a ticket, please visit our Eventbrite booking page.
Previous events
As the SCHC events were created as a response to the Covid pandemic, all of the events hosted in 2020, 2021 and 2022 were held online. These were recorded by our partners Archaeology Scotland.
Watch SCHC event recordingsThe Conversations evolved in 2023 and in September of that year we hosted Scotland's Community Heritage Conversations 2023: Exploring Potential, our first-ever full-day hybrid event. The event brought together community groups, volunteers, and heritage professionals to discuss resilience and celebrate grassroots heritage amidst ongoing challenges. This continued in November 2024 with Scotland's Community Heritage Conversations 2024: Connect and Create Capacity.
Please feel free to share these events with your networks as there are many people, groups, and communities we haven’t yet reached who could have a big positive impact on the Conversation.
To find out more about any of our events or how you can get involved with SCHC, you can contact the committee via developmentandcommunity@hes.scot.
