Heritage in crisis : examining the tools, skills and management approaches necessary for the future protection of the historic environment in Wales

• Main Author: Griffiths, Cyllene
• Published: University of Wales Trinity Saint David 2018
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.759625

Is the heritage sector equipped to prevent a crisis? Examining the tools, skills and management approaches necessary for the future protection of the historic environment in Wales. This thesis includes a portfolio of published works which demonstrate the variety of tools and skills available to and used by public and third sector managers of heritage over my professional career. The works reveal changes in approaches to management, differences caused by an increasingly devolved UK, how the social, political and economic climate in which the heritage sector must operate has affected management approaches and the development of some of the key issues faced by heritage managers today. This is a particularly difficult time for heritage and especially for third sector organisations. Whilst the heritage sector in Wales faces the potentially catastrophic impact of ‘Brexit’ there are also opportunities for developing new ways of working along with the implementation of the new Welsh legislative framework. This thesis asks if existing skills, tools and management approaches are sufficient to ensure a sustainable future for heritage and particularly for the public and third sector heritage organisations in Wales. Unless current issues and management approaches are addressed through these opportunities by all those with a responsibility for managing our historic environment, we may be unprepared and ill-equipped to face a potential crisis for heritage.