GEM Conference 2008 - Wednesday
Tuesday 2 September to Friday 5 September 2008
Medway, Kent
Heritage Learning and Social Change
Wednesday 3 September
Heritage Learning at the Heart of Social Change
Heritage learning is an increasingly important means by which individuals and
communities identify with modern society. Modern British society is undergoing
some significant changes that heritage organisations need to be aware of. How
can heritage learning work to facilitate these
changes?
Morning Programme
Pilkington Building
08.30 Registration for day delegates
Refreshments
09.00 Welcome & Opening Address
John Reeve, Chair GEM
09.15 Keynote address
Heritage Learning: addressing contemporary social evils
Julia Unwin CBE
Director, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Drawing on research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we ask what are the
social evils facing the UK today and how can heritage learning engage with these
issues?
09.45 Keynote address
The role of heritage in regeneration
Richard Simmons, CEO, CABE
How can heritage learning contribute to continuity and community identity in
regeneration?
10.15 Q&A with keynote speakers
10.30 Refreshments
11.00 Breakout Sessions
How heritage organisations respond to key aspects of social change and their
degree of success
(a) Communities
An exploration and analysis of heritage organisations engaging with and
supporting communities.
Susan Potter, Vital Communities, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Partnership &
Rose Swindells, London Voices, National Trust
(b) Continuity & Regeneration
How can heritage support and benefit from regeneration and redevelopment? Joanne
Creighton, Chatham Historic Dockyard & TBC
(c) Migrant groups
Promoting inter-cultural understanding between migrant groups and local people.
Richard Searle, Traveller Education, Medway & Hannah Gould, MDO, Lincolnshire
12.00 Lunch
13.00 Coaches depart
Afternoon Programme
See how heritage sites in Kent are adapting their learning provision to respond
to and engage with social and economic change in the region.
(a) Engaging Religious Communities
Investigate how England’s second oldest cathedral engages with its diverse
religious communities.
Rochester Cathedral, Rochester, Kent
(b) Heritage & regeneration at the heart of a local community
How industrial heritage has been preserved at the heart of the regeneration of
Medway.
Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent
(c) Heritage & Identity
Visit this local history museum to see how it reaches out to the
diversifying communities of modern Medway.
Guildhall Museum, Rochester, Kent
(d) Rural Heritage: preserving skills
See how Kent’s rural heritage is being interpreted in an increasingly urban,
industrial and international region
Museum of Kent Life, Maidstone, Kent
(e) The Inside Out Project: engaging young people
Visit a county museum responding to the needs of young
people today
Maidstone Museum, Maidstone, Kent
17.00 Coaches arrive back
Evening Programme
18.30 Coaches depart for Leeds Castle
19.00 Drinks reception and dinner at the Fairfax Restaurant and Terrace Room,
Leeds Castle
22.30 Depart for halls of residence