Leaders from across Scotland’s heritage sector will gather today, Wednesday 10 June, at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall for the Scottish Historic Environment Forum (SHEF). The annual event brings together organisations working across the historic environment to align around shared priorities, celebrate progress, and shape the next phase of national delivery.
Three years since the launch of Our Past, Our Future, Scotland’s national strategy for the historic environment, SHEF 2026 marks a pivotal moment for the sector. Increasingly, the strategy is being delivered not by individual organisations working in isolation, but by a network of organisations collaborating across Scotland and supported by considered investment, such as Historic Environment Scotland (HES) grant funding. Across the country, organisations are demonstrating how working together, shared investment and collective leadership are driving real change in how the sector operates.
With new Scottish Government priorities emerging post-election, SHEF provides an opportunity to reflect on achievements, share learning, discuss opportunities and challenges, and strengthen ambition for the future.
This year’s event also offers the first opportunity for the sector to hear directly from the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, Màiri McAllan as she sets out the Scottish Government’s emerging priorities and vision for the historic environment in the new parliamentary session.
Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, Màiri McAllan MSP, said:
Scotland’s historic environment shapes our identity, strengthens our communities and drives economic opportunity across the country.
“It is central to so much of what our Government seeks to achieve for Scotland, for our people, our economy, and our environment. The historic environment also reminds us, in a fast paced, digital world of soundbites and transience, that thoughtfulness, resilience and endurance matter.
“As we enter a new parliamentary session, I look forward to building on this strong foundation to ensure Scotland’s historic environment thrives for generations to come.”
To coincide with SHEF, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has announced almost £4.5 million in funding to eight organisations through its Partnership Fund. Established in 2021, the HES Partnership Fund supports third-sector organisations whose work delivers impact across the country and supports the national strategy. The grants can help organisations expand their programmes while building the infrastructure needed for long-term, national-scale change.
This year’s recipients demonstrate the depth and breadth of Scotland’s heritage system, from traditional skills and climate action to research, advocacy and community participation, and highlights the benefits and impact of collaborative working.
Katerina Brown, Chief Executive Officer at HES, said:
“SHEF is the moment each year when Scotland’s heritage sector comes together. Not just to reflect, but to align, to collaborate, to challenge ourselves and to set the pace for what comes next.
Today’s funding announcement celebrates the strength of our sector, and the recipients are a fantastic example of what heritage can offer Scotland’s people, places and future.
“Together at SHEF, we can show the power of partnership and the value of a connected heritage sector. This is the sector at its most ambitious, most aligned and most impactful.”
This year’s HES Partnership Fund awards include support for:
- Chartered Institute for Archaeologists with their project Platform for Success, which upskills heritage professionals and provides key training and qualification routes
- Heritage Network with their project Resilient Networks, which supports heritage organisations with professional development and advocacy
- Keep Scotland Beautiful with their project Our Heritage, Our Future, which works in communities to mitigate their heritage from the effects of climate change
- New Lanark Trust with their project Conserving Heritage and Inspiring Learning, which will allow more visitors to engage with and learn about the World Heritage Site
- SCAPE Trust with their project Coastal Paths, Coastal Futures, to identify and record coastal heritage sites at risk from climate change, and work with communities to mitigate those risks
- Scottish Civic Trust with their project The Historic Environment and Communities, which continues the beloved ‘Doors Open Days’ scheme to engage and develop volunteers and communities across Scotland
- Scottish Traditional Building Forum with their project Ensuring the skills, knowledge and materials for the future, which encourages careers and skills development around traditional buildings
- Society of Antiquaries of Scotland with the projects Forth Valley and Fife Archaeological Research Framework, which will complete the update to the national Scottish Archaeological Research Framework, and Frameworks in Action: Insight to Impact, which supports the accessible archaeology programme Dig It!
The HES Grants Funding Report 2025-26, published today, provides further detail on how targeted investment supports efforts to effect long-term change, and contributes to the success of Our Past, Our Future. More information on Our Past, Our Future can be found on the strategy’s website.
About Historic Environment Scotland (HES)
- We are the lead body for Scotland’s historic environment, a charity dedicated to the advancement of heritage, culture, education and environmental protection. It is at the forefront of researching and understanding the historic environment and addressing the impacts of climate change on its future, investigating and recording architectural and archaeological sites and landscapes across Scotland and caring for more than 300 properties of national importance. We are also the lead on delivering Scotland’s strategy for the historic environment, Our Past, Our Future.
- Historic Scotland, trove.scot, The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP), The Engine Shed, Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle and Stòr are sub-brands of HES.
- View our press pack and keep up to date by registering to receive our media releases. Already registered? You can unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link, included in every email.
For further information, please contact:
Historic Environment Scotland Media Office
07721 959 962
communications@hes.scot
