Role
As its website states:
Historic Scotland was created as an agency in 1991 and was attached to the Scottish Executive Education Department, which embraces all aspects of the cultural heritage, in May 1999. As part of the Scottish Government, Historic Scotland is directly accountable to the Scottish Ministers for safeguarding the nation's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment.
Historic Scotland is a successor organisation to the Ancient Monuments Division of the Ministry of Works and the Scottish Development Department.
As an arm of the Scottish Government, Historic Scotland has similar functions to its counterparts in other parts of the United Kingdom:
- English Heritage in England (although EH is a non-departmental public body rather than part of central government, like the others)
- Cadw in Wales,
- Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland.
The agency's Framework Document sets out the responsibilities of the Scottish Ministers and the agency's Chief Executive. Its Corporate Plan sets out its targets and performance against them.
Historic Scotland's role has not been without controversy. In 2002, proposals to restore Castle Tioram in the West Highlands, by putting a roof back on, were blocked by Historic Scotland, which favoured stabilising it as a ruin. This position was supported in an extensive local Public Inquiry at which the arguments for both sides were heard. It has been implied that this dispute has led to a review of the operations of the organisation. Such disputes on the proper way to conserve a building are common, but are normally resolved within an academic context.
After widespread consultation, Historic Scotland published a comprehensive series of Scottish Historic Environment Policy papers, consolidated into a single volume in October 2008.
Historic Scotland and the Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio have formed the Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualization to promote the documentation and 3D representation of heritage objects, architecture and environments with laser scanning and 3D visualization software.
Read more about this topic: Historic Scotland
Famous quotes containing the word role:
“The role of the stepmother is the most difficult of all, because you can’t ever just be. You’re constantly being tested—by the children, the neighbors, your husband, the relatives, old friends who knew the children’s parents in their first marriage, and by yourself.”
—Anonymous Stepparent. Making It as a Stepparent, by Claire Berman, introduction (1980, repr. 1986)
“Where we come from in America no longer signifies—it’s where we go, and what we do when we get there, that tells us who we are.
The irony of the role of women in my business, and in so many other places, too, was that while we began by demanding that we be allowed to mimic the ways of men, we wound up knowing we would have to change those ways. Not only because those ways were not like ours, but because they simply did not work.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this role is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.”
—David Elkind (20th century)