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Morning [firstname,fallback=Subscriber] / Issue 252 - Friday12April2013

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/ HEADLINES /
NUT dubs Education Secretary 'Gradgrind Gove'
Teachers have hit out at what they term 'pub-quiz knowledge' curriculum proposals from Michael Gove during the National Union of Teachers annual conference in Liverpool.
The conference also passed a motion of no confidence in the Education Secretary following weeks of hostile meetings about exams, performance-related pay and the Curriculum. This motion comes only a week after the Association of Teachers and Lecturers passed their own vote of no confidence in both Mr Gove and head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw.
But the Education Secretary is not without his supporters - such as Chris Skidmore MP in the Telegraph, who argues that the current system is "anti-knowledge" and contributes to Britain's slide down international rankings.
Consultation on the proposed changes to the National Curriculum closes on 16 April. The Alliance will be responding on behalf of its members but all are encouraged to make their feelings known.

Sir Terry Farrell to lead design policy review
World-renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell CBE will make recommendations on promoting high standards of design in a new review of architecture and the built environment.
The review will seek to understand and define the Government's role in promoting design quality in the built environment, as well as exploring the economic benefits of architecture and the relationship between cultural heritage and the built environment.
Sir Terry will be advised by a panel of experts, from writer and thinker Alain de Botton to designer Thomas Heatherwick and Princes Regeneration Trust Chief Executive Hank Dittmar. The panel will issue its call for evidence shortly and a report will be expected by the end of the year.
The three strands under scrutiny are:
·  Understanding the role for Government in promoting design quality in architecture and the built environment;
·  The economic benefits of good architecture and design, and maximising the UK’s growth potential;
·  Promoting education, outreach and skills; and
·  Cultural heritage and the built environment.
Under this last one ‘The review will look at whether the desire to preserve the ‘old’ makes it more difficult to encourage good new architecture, and the value of our historic built environment as a cultural asset and in successful place-making.’
However at the press briefing on 14 March, Sir Terrycommented, "Attitudes have changed fundamentally. There used to be no possible coming together of the old with the new, the one frustrated the other but now this is not the case, just the opposite. That is something really positive and I have always argued for."
For more information, please click here.

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NEWS /
The Alliance would like to thank all Update subscribers – both from member organisations and individuals – for their support.
For those wishing to become individual supporters of the Alliance and help our efforts to protect the nation’s historic environment, please contact Sam Bradley or Kate Pugh.

Time to register for Heritage Open Days!
Heritage Open Days will take place from 12-15 September and all are invited to start registering events. Emails (with new logins) or paper forms are winging their way to existing contacts with all the details, and current organisers can login to the Organiser Area now.
Last year saw HODs' best performance in its eighteen-year history with a fantastic two million visitors to 4,648 properties and events across the country.
For those that haven't taken part before, you can find answers to your questions and download the forms or request a login on the Get Involved pages.
To find out a bit more about the new Organiser Area take a look at HODs' latest blog: Ready, steady...Register!

Civic Voice calls for action on Growth and Infrastructure Bill
Alliance member Civic Voice is calling on all MPs to join the Parliamentary debate on 16 April and support an amendment to the Growth and Infrastructure Bill.
Introduced by Lord True, the amendment will enable local councils to opt out of proposed legislation which would allow house extensions double the size of those currently permitted.
Zac Goldsmith MP, who will be leading support for the amendment in the Commons, said "It is madness to remove people’s right to object to developments that threaten their quality of life. I hope this sensible and modest Lords amendment passes through the Commons so that elected local representatives are able to decide for themselves if this policy suits their communities.”
Civic Voice is asking for anyone concerned to contact their MP, encouraging them to take part in the debate.

Europa Nostra prizes for UK projects
Heritage sites from across the UK have received prestigious awards from the Europe-wide heritage protection organisation,Europa Nostra.
In London, the King's Cross Station redevelopment was singled out for the innovation of its design, while the painstaking conservation of Horace Walpole's 'Gothic fantasy', Strawberry Hill, was praised for the 'courage and commitment' of its volunteers.
Meanwhile the South Pennines Watershed Landscape near Bradford was commended for turning a "once-disregarded area" into a popular destination and engaging with the local community and Martin Drury, former director of the National Trust, received an individual award for dedicated service.
The EU Prize for Cultural Heritage celebrates excellence in conservation - anything from art collections to urban landscape rehabilitation. Nominations are now open for the 2013 Awards - to apply or nominate, please click here.

New report - " tens of millions for heritage" from filming
A new report from young heritage organisation Heritage4Media has highlighted the enormous economic impact that the film and broadcast industries have on historic properties.
Information from over 400 interviews - with conservation experts, location agencies and heritage operatives - showed the extent of restoration and repair work carried out with media funding, as well as value-added benefits such as footfall and public exposure.
Further details of the report will be published in Alliance member the IHBC's 'Context' journal in the near future and look out for more in upcoming issues of Update.

Coastal Communities Fund - round two
Communities around Britain's coastline have a second chance to bid for part of a special fund to support rejuvenating seaside towns.
The £27million Coastal Communities Fund - which is derived from income from the Crown Maritime Estate - will be delivered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of the Government.
Past winners include the Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust in Somerset and the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust.
Deadline for first-round applications is the 13 May. For more information and to apply, please click here.

Save historic churches with text messaging
The National Churches Trust, an Alliance member, is asking the UK's churches, chapel and meeting houses to boost their collecting plates with donations via text or the Internet.
The new campaign, in partnership with online fundraising platform JustGiving, commemorates the Trust's 60th anniversary. All donations can be GiftAided to maximise the benefit of the donation.
For more information and to apply to join the scheme, please click here.

Taking Part: Heritage more popular than ever
Nearly three quarters of adults visited a heritage site in the past year, according to figures published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's 'Taking Part' survey.
Moreover, 31% of adults visited a heritage site at least three or four times over the course of the year and visits from black, minority or ethnic (BME) adults rose by 9% to 59%.
Visitors, who lived in the “most deprived” index of deprivation group, underwent a significant increase of 17.2 percentage points to 56.9 per cent since 2009/10 when data using this classification were first collected.
For more information, please click here.

Is crowdfunding exploration of the past the future?
Though traditionally seen as a way of funding creative projects through platforms such as Kickstarter, crowdsourcing has come to the heritage sector.
Crowdfunding is a system whereby multiple individuals can network and contribute money or in-kind aid towards the cost of a project - usually through the Internet.
UK-based DigVentures has launched the world's first archaeology crowdsourcing platform in response to the dwindling of traditional sources of funding. Offering advice on how to best use crowdsourcing as a resource, the site also gives funders the opportunity to get involved with the practical work of excavation.
The world’s first-ever successfully crowdfunded dig took place on the Bronze Age site of Flag Fen, near Peterborough, in 2012. This innovative project raised over £27,000 in just three months, involved over 250 people from 11 different countries as both digital and excavation participants.
For more information and advice, please click here.

The British Institute of Organ Studies offers advice
In The Buildings of England series Pevsner largely ignored organs, and list descriptions have until recently rarely mentioned them. A problem for organs is that unless classified as a fixture they are not secure as part of a listed building.
Established in 1976, BIOS (an Alliance member) is the national body for the protection, preservation and, where appropriate, sympathetic restoration of historic pipe organs. The National Pipe Organ Register records an instrument’s specification, dates, builders and (since 1994) photographs. The Historic Organ Certificate scheme fulfils an important non-statutory role parallel to the grading of listed buildings and the British Organ Archive, housed for BIOS by Birmingham University Library, forms a unique resource of organ builder's records.
These resources are increasingly consulted by conservation officers and organ advisers. The recently founded Historic Organ Sound Archive (HOSA) covers East Anglia as the pilot area. The NPOR, HOC and BOA website provides a free-of-charge service currently attracting 50,000 enquiries per month.

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ALSO THIS FORTNIGHT /
Survey on graduate careers in heritage
In light of the ongoing challenges facing the historic environment, Angharad Bullward - of youngfreeandmuseumminded - is looking to map graduate careers within the sector.
To this end, it would be appreciated if readers could take the time to complete this quick survey.

Law Commission consultation on conservation covenants
The Law Commission has published its consultation paper on conservation covenants - the voluntary agreements between a landowner and responsible body (charity, public body or local/central Government) to do or not do something on their land for a conservation purpose.
The Alliance's Spatial Planning Advocacy Group contributed to the Commission's scoping exercise on this issue in July last year and garnered a very positive response.
For more information and to respond, please click here.

Discovering Places survey
Building on the success of the successful 'Discovering Places' programme the Alliance is keen to discover if there is sufficient demand to expand the scheme across the country.
Over a quarter of a million people engaged with their natural, historic and built environment during London's Cultural Olympiad in 2012, but it is crucial that a nationwide scheme is a true reflection of the sector's needs.
To this end, it would be greatly appreciated if readers could complete a short survey. Deadline for responses is 24 April 2013.

HLF - Our Heritage
The Heritage Lottery Fund will now accept applications for grants from private individuals and commercial ‘for profit’ organisations of up to £100,000 for capital projects under its Our Heritage Programme.
Private owners will need to show that their project will achieve a step change in public access and engagement with heritage, that there is public enthusiasm for it and a clear need for Lottery investment.
The Historic Houses Association, an Alliance member, has developed guidance for its members on this important development and is keen to make this available to the wider heritage sector.

Conservation Short Courses survey
The University of York are seeking feedback on their current range of conservation courses in order to better adapt them to the needs of the heritage sector as a whole.
To this end, responses from readers to this short survey would be greatly appreciated. Deadline for responses is 30 April 2013.

Register for Europa Nostra’s European Heritage Congress 2013!
As a very new member of Europa Nostra, the Alliance is pleased to announce Europa Nostra’s European Heritage Congress for 2013 will take place in Athens between 13 and 17 June 2013. This Congress will mark the 50th anniversary of Europa Nostra’s campaigningas a pan-European coalition of heritage organisations - including the Heritage Alliance - which seeks to safeguard Europe's cultural and natural heritage.
The Congress is being organised with the invaluable assistance of member organisation and country representative in Greece, Elliniki Etairia, which itself celebrated last year 40 years of action for the protection of the Greek environment and cultural heritage.
The programme has now been released. Please click here to register.

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HAVE YOUR SAY /
April
Department for Education Consultation on reform of the national curriculum. Deadline 16 April
Better Regulation Delivery Office Non-economic Regulators: Duty to Have Regard to Growth. Deadline 19 April
Department for Transport HS2 Exceptional Hardship Scheme consultation. Deadline 29 April.

June
Law Commission Consultation on conservation covenants. Deadline 21 June.

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EVENTS /
2013
16 April: Educating, Engaging, Inspiring: audience development through historic sites, landscapes and objects, Durham Town Hall
16 April: 'Building Friends', an information day about friends' groups, St George's Bloomsbury, London