Quote:The CBA's new strategy, launched in the House of Lords in November, is all about "Making Archaeology Matter". What matters now, more than ever, is that we engage people themselves to safeguard the archaeological interest in their locality. The CBA sees archaeological stewardship and active participation at the heart of what we do with, and through, our members - in education and research, with young people, in community archaeology and in all our advocacy work for archaeology - whether that is safeguarding historic buildings, reforming the Treasure Act, campaigning to protect the rural heritage or deriving maximum public value from development-led archaeology.

The whole archaeological sector needs to work together, with new and innovative collaborations creating stronger future partnerships, to support even greater public involvement and action. We should look ahead to the archaeological discipline of the future and lay the foundations of a strong, appropriately rewarded and highly-skilled profession, working closely with an active community and voluntary sector. The CBA is ready to play a leading role and we look forward to working with a wide range of partners, and our expanding membership, to ensure that the archaeological heritage of the UK is safeguarded and appreciated in the future.

Mike Heyworth
CBA Director

BAJR Wrote:The question is, where are we? Seems to be that everyone has a different idea.

Quote: "The whole archaeological sector needs to work together"?

Quote:Local authority historic environment services are crucial, not just for their vital role in the planning system, for their education and outreach activities and their work as the 'knowledge hub' in each area through the Historic Environment Record. The sooner we can achieve statutory status for these record services the better (an opportunity is coming up with the Localism Bill, though the Govt are not convinced as yet ...).

Quote:The CBA is involved in discussions with both the AHRC and the British Academy about further research and advocacy to support research and teaching in archaeology, and we hope to be able to announce some linked initiatives in the coming weeks.

Quote:The key themes are for local people to act as guardians of their local archaeological heritage, as well as active advocates on behalf of the heritage sector, whilst developing new knowledge and understanding.

Quote:The competition between universities and departments makes it more difficult to develop a coordinated discipline-based response to the situation, recognising the ongoing uncertainties, but it is one of the reasons why the SCFA has chosen to work through the CBA as a neutral advocate for archaeology in higher education (as well as our higher public profile etc).

Quote:The CBA currently has some 10,000 individual members and subscribers, as well as over 600 organisational members. We aspire to dramatically increase this number in the coming years, partly to ameliorate the potential impact of financial pressures from cutbacks to public funding............It will not only enhance our financial stability, but also build a stronger voice for the UK's archaeological heritage in our advocacy and campaigning work.

Quote:The final point I just wanted to make is that all the groups which support the archaeology sector, including the CBA, Rescue and others, are working under considerable pressure and all welcome additional offers of active support - and new members.