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Heritage in Planning: Essentials

We provide training and guidance to help local authorities, heritage professionals, and voluntary organisations look after England's heritage. We also train those whose work directly or indirectly impacts historic sites and buildings.

Programme Aims

Essentials is a training programme designed for local authority planners, elected members and early entrants into historic environment services roles.

The programme covers the building blocks of historic environment management and explores key concepts, methodologies, legislation and policies that govern how we understand, protect and manage heritage through the planning system.

Subjects covered also underpin training delivered in the Historic Environment Management and Technical Skills programmes where they are implicit but not covered in detail.

The e-learning courses have been developed in partnership with Locus Consulting.

The programme aims to:

  • provide advice and practical tools to further understanding of heritage issues
  • enable people to make decisions which enhance and protect our heritage for future generations
  • link together the strands of heritage management that support our wider historic environment

Current Available Courses

Assessing Heritage Significance

Understanding the value and potential of heritage assets in planning.

The concept of ‘significance’ is the foundation for heritage-led regeneration and the sustainable development of the historic environment. This course introduces a key method for assessing the value of heritage assets and highlights the issues and opportunities that historic significance presents to planners and historic environment professionals. The course sets out how significance is applied in legislation and policy, and highlights suitable practice through case studies.

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Evaluating Heritage Information

Taking an evidence-led approach to planning in the historic environment.

Effective decision-making is based on the use of an available and appropriate evidence base. This course introduces some of the resources including links and guides. A series of exercises allow the learner to explore some of the heritage evidence sources and consider how these might be applied in a planning scenario. Completing the course will develop skills in applying heritage evidence in development management.

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Heritage in Planning

Principles and practices for the effective management of change in the historic environment

Understanding the value and significance of the historic environment is essential to its effective management. Securing an active role for heritage assets in how places develop is key to successful place-shaping. The course introduces the key opportunities, requirements, and issues of managing heritage in the planning process, from the earliest stages through to final outcomes.

The sustainable management of designated and non-designated heritage assets is demonstrated through the use of relevant case studies. Completing this course demonstrates how planning decisions big and small can contribute to a strong sense of place when heritage is taken into consideration.

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Constructive Conservation

Heritage-led regeneration is now firmly recognised as a force for successful place-shaping. Repair, adaptation, and re-use of heritage assets can deliver long-term benefits in social, environmental, and economic terms. This short course will use statistical evidence and successful examples to show the mutual benefits that exist between agendas of growth and conservation.

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Setting in Practice

The setting of heritage assets has risen up planning agendas within recent years, emphasising the need for clear and guided approaches to its proportionate consideration in development management and strategic planning. Based on Historic England’s Good Practice Advice Note, this course will cover the key principles to evaluating the setting of heritage assets.

Explore Setting in Practice

Training