Our Aim
At Historic Environment Scotland we aim to undertake and enable high-quality historic environment research, which gives us the evidence we need to make effective decisions, and which helps us to deliver tangible social, cultural, environmental, and economic benefits for the people of Scotland.
Why we research
Research lies at the heart of understanding, caring for, and celebrating the historic environment. Research helps us to understand and manage the historic environment effectively, and ensures that a well-informed evidence base underpins the decisions that are made about its care and promotion. Research also allows us to promote innovation, drive change and improvements in the historic environment sector, and to forge links with industry and local communities.
Our Priorities
Our research activity at HES is guided by our Research Strategy. This document lays out our vision for research, and the principles and priorities that will guide our work. To support the strategic emphasis laid out in this document, each year we set a series of priority research topics we want to address. We use these to guide our decision making and resourcing of research, including our decisions about which projects or researchers to partner with. Our priorities for the current financial year can be found along with the Research Strategy through the link above.