Discover how people and communities are at the heart of Scotland's historic environment.
Our approach to achieve our outcomes is to facilitate and coordinate a wide range of actions, development, and dissemination activities that move us forward. You can find more information on our current work underway to achieve each outcome on these pages.
All progress is reported against the original Baseline Assessment (2024), Baseline Refresh (2026) and supporting Strategic Insight Statements.
Resilient organisations are essential for the long-term sustainability of the historic environment sector and community organisations, volunteers, development trusts and local heritage groups continue to use heritage to support wider community priorities. However, the evidence highlights continuing challenges around capacity, volunteering, workforce sustainability and organisational resilience. The Skills Investment Plan (SIP) for the historic environment (2024) has produced detailed action plans to coordinate future activity.
For success by 2028:
What needs to continue: Volunteer development; leadership development; organisational support; workforce development.
What needs to grow: Organisational learning; knowledge exchange; peer networks; organisational resilience support.
What needs to improve: Workforce capacity; succession planning; long-term sustainability; financial resilience.
Communities have continued to lead projects and take ownership of heritage assets, supported by a range of opportunities for peer learning, collaboration and knowledge exchange. However, there is also a growing expectation from communities that heritage organisations should move beyond consultation towards shared decision-making and co-production, ensuring that the views of communities influence future priorities, investment and outcomes.
For success by 2028:
What needs to continue: Community heritage activity; community ownership and stewardship; Scotland’s Community Heritage Conversations; volunteering and local leadership.
What needs to grow: Community leadership; co-production and shared decision-making; place-based partnerships; community development partnerships.
What needs to improve: Consistency of support; community capacity; access to expertise and advice; long-term sustainability.
While awareness and commitment to ensuring a diverse and inclusive historic environment is consistent, further progress will require system-wide change with a need for inclusive practice to be embedded across governance, participation, workforce development and organisational practice.
For success by 2028:
What needs to continue: Inclusion initiatives; accessibility improvements; outreach activity; community engagement.
What needs to grow: Representation of underrepresented groups; co-production approaches; inclusive volunteering; diverse participation.
What needs to improve: Accountability; inclusion monitoring; evidence of progress; capacity to deliver change.
Scotland’s cities are often defined by their historic architecture, which contributes to their identity, attracts visitors and provides vital spaces for housing, business and community life. The City Heritage Trust model celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, marking two decades through which an expanding network of Trusts have supported their local historic environments through grants, advice, skills development, heritage-led regeneration activity, support for owners and communities to care for historic buildings while contributing to wider social, environmental and economic outcomes.
Credit: Stirling City Heritage Trust
Delivered activities can vary, as each Trust responds to the specific needs of their local community. Examples include Stirling City Heritage Trust’s Traditional Buildings Health Check or Glasgow City Heritage Trust’s Heritage Hub. Aberdeen City Heritage Trust, meanwhile, has provided tailored support for those caring for current or former places of worship, while Inverness City Heritage Trust has provided support for the city’s first Gaelic Cultural Centre.
The City Heritage Trusts also play an important role in supporting the development of traditional building skills. Examples include Dundee Historic Environment Trust’s Build Your Future events, or Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust’s Traditional Building Skills Roadshows and Focus Skills Courses, which give school pupils opportunities to try traditional building crafts firsthand. In addition, the Trusts also supports climate action for traditional building owners, both through on the ground support and advice, and through work like Edinburgh World Heritage’s involvement in the pan-European FutureHist project.
While each City Heritage Trust has a distinct local focus, their work demonstrates how an increasingly coordinated network of independent organisations can deliver tailored local support while contributing to wider national priorities for Scotland’s historic urban environments.