The 2024 Online Symposium marked a final celebration for Heritage Compass, offering an opportunity to reflect and look to the future of heritage in England. The conference asked delegates the key question: ‘What’s Next for Heritage?’
We were thrilled to welcome a range of sector experts, including Cath Hume (CEO at Arts Marketing Association); Edmund Lee (Sector Resilience Manager at Historic England), and Jacob Elliot (Head of Policy at the National Lottery Heritage Fund), amongst many more, who shared their insights and knowledge with programme participants.
The programme was tailored directly to the needs of participants, with topics covering:
- Building Resilience
- Championing Digital for Audience Engagement
- Contributing to Local Economies
- Envisioning the Future of Heritage
- What do We Need Next?
The Symposium welcomed 94 guests and has contributed to the ongoing development of the Heritage Sector, with participants coming away with new ideas, tips, resources and so much more, with 98% of attendees saying they had built new, cross-sector relationships as a result.
Programme Summary and Keynote from National Lottery Heritage Fund
Michelle Wright (CEO & Founder Cause4) welcomed participants to the Symposium and reflected on the impact and success of the Heritage Compass programme since it first started, addressing key questions on why we started Heritage Compass and what we’ve learned so far.
Jacob Eliot (Head of Policy, The National Lottery Heritage Fund) also joined participants to highlight why National Lottery Heritage Fund supported the Heritage Compass Programme, and to provide an overview of the Fund’s new vision and 10-Year Strategy ‘For heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.’
Programme Reflections on Building Resilience
This session, led by DHA Communications, explored key learnings taken from the Programme’s evaluation, including identifying key assets for long-term resilience and examining common concepts, factors and resources.
The session focused on three areas of resilience: financial resilience, mission resilience and people resilience.
Championing Digital for Audience Engagement
With an increase in the use of digital tools, it is important to ensure the heritage sector remains focused on inclusion and access.
This panel discussion, led by the Arts Marketing Association, recognised the importance of digital engagement and asked: How can we champion digital to ensure accessibility and reduce barriers to participation?
Contributing to Local Economies
Organisational resilience and sustainability is crucial to the long-term success of England’s heritage sector.
This panel discussion, led by Creative United, addressed the question: How can we ensure that our work contributes to local economies through business partnerships; apprenticeships; employment schemes; volunteering and tourism?
Envisioning the Future of Heritage
Envisioning the Future of Heritage brought together experts to look at the future of heritage in England.
By focusing on what the next 10 years will look like, our expert panel offered valuable insights, aimed at inspiring participants to think more widely about the future of their organisation and how they can ensure long-term resilience.
What do we need next?
As part of the Heritage Compass Symposium, we facilitated a round-table discussion allowing participants to work together to identify ways forward for England’s heritage sector.
We asked questions about the challenges the sector is currently facing, followed by a solution-focused discussion considering what we need for the future.
Symposium Report
This report reflects on the 2024 Heritage Compass Symposium and looks to address the key question, ‘What’s Next For Heritage?’.
Download the Symposium Report as a PDF