Culture, History and Heritage: The value of the assets around us

20 April | Edinburgh STP's first Culture, History and Heritage Event took place on 20th April 2016 and aimed to showcase some of the supports available to town centre practitioners to use the assets around them to improve their place.

• STP Chief Officer, Phil Prentice welcomed delegates and highlighted STP as the go-to body for Scotland's towns and encouraged delegates to use the resources available to them on the Towns Portal.
• Chiara Ronchini, Historic Environment Scotland gave a general overview of the value of our towns' history and heritage along with some case study examples and film.
• Alison Turnbull, Museums Galleries Scotland provided ideas around how the museums sector can play a pivotal role in our town centres.
• HLF Funding is well recognised, Zoe Gamble explored opportunities for our delegates to apply for funding to support their heritage projects, specifically in town centres.
• A lively presentation from Cultural Enterprise Office's Sandy Thomson who showed the span of creative industries and highlighted that creatives already are and will continue to play a key part of the improvement of a place. Particularly, their use of vacant space within town centres.
• We were delighted to have Stephen Palmer, Interim Head of Place, Partnerships & Communities along to give some information on the Open Project Fund managed by Creative Scotland.
• Frances O'Neill, Global Treasure Apps intrigued delegates with their digital app which can bring the culture, history and heritage of a place together in one online space. 
• Queensferry Ambition BID's Vice Chair, Rev David Cameron inspired us all with his case study example of Queensferry's efforts to engage the local and wider community using the heritage and culture of the area, specifically through events and a strong marketing and communications strategy.

Upcoming Events: 

World Towns Leadership Summit | 15 + 16 June | Edinburgh

Join international town and urban leaders for a world first, taking place in Scotland in June 2016. Organised by ATCM, BIDs Scotland, IDA and Scotland’s Towns Partnership, the World Towns Leadership Summit will discuss the evolving nature of civic governance and the changing economic drivers for successful place-making.

Across the world, the State is shrinking. Urgent action is essential if we are to make our places better. What are the new alliances and approaches we need to develop to achieve a strong competitive economy combined with a fairer, more equal society? Book here.

Measuring Performance: Evidence to inform strategy | 20 October| Edinburgh

Learn more about Understanding Scottish Places Toolkit and the Place Standard Tool in this practical half day workshop. Experts will guide you to use and develop these tools for your own place and to build an evidence base to inform your towns strategy. Book here.