A community engagement exercise is due to get underway this month on future plans for the UNESCO Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.
The Orkney World Heritage Site programme - a partnership between Orkney Islands Council and Historic Environment Scotland - is one of several projects and programmes being developed as part of the Islands Growth Deal with the team in the process of developing a draft Programme Business Case which will help with securing investment.
There are three key elements to the programme which will be the focus of community engagement over the next few weeks to ensure that proposals are informed by local knowledge, evidence and stakeholder priorities.
The three key elements are: travelling to/from and moving around the World Heritage Site and Stenness village; the options for a potential Orientation Centre within the Stenness area; and the interpretation for the World Heritage Site as a whole.
The community engagement includes public drop-in sessions, themed workshops, meetings with residents, school engagement activities and stakeholder discussions.
READ MORE:
Police investigate hate crime after beach toilets near Skara Brae vandalised
£14 million wind farm contract awarded to local Orkney firm
Scottish island council uses part of £2m government funding to buy pre-owned plane
Inga Burton, Service Manager for Sustainable Regeneration and Arctic at Orkney Islands Council, said: "UNESCO recognises that local communities are key partners in the stewardship of World Heritage Sites, with community participation being essential to the long-term conservation and sustainable development of heritage assets.
"The work being taken forward through the Orkney World Heritage Site programme links with other key documents such as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney Management Plan and provides an opportunity for the wider community to engage and participate in shaping how we protect and connect with the World Heritage Site moving forward."
Public drop in sessions will take place at Old Library, Kirkwall, on Monday, September 21, Stenness Community Hall on Tuesday, September 22, Warehouse Buildings, Stromness, on Wednesday, September 23, and Sandwick Hall on Thursday, September 24.
The Heart of Neolithic Orkney was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999. Four sites make up the World Heritage Site - Skara Brae settlement, Maeshowe chambered tomb and the Barnhouse Stone, the Stones of Stenness and the nearby Watch Stone, the Ring of Brodgar and a series of nearby mounds and the Comet Stone.
World Heritage Sites (WHS) are places that have been judged to have Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) – cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity. Once a World Heritage Site is inscribed it must be managed to ensure that the OUV is maintained and protected for the future.
Share