18th December 2008, 05:40 AM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by 1man1desk
[quote] Perhaps I'm not very imaginative, but I can't really think of anything that the IfA (or any professional body) can do to significantly alleviate the effect of the economic situation, so perhaps it is not sensible to raise expectations.
Well I think that the IFA can be influential here. The only way to alleviate the effect of the economic situation is to get more money into the archaeological system and if that funding isn't going to come from the current funders of archaeology (i.e developers) it needs to come from central government. I think that the IFA can and should make the case that this funding is necessary, in the short term, to preserve the 'industry'.
How this money is used, where it is used and by whom it is used by is a matter for debate (I therefore welcome the idea of the IFA seminar), but one can think of how this has worked before, MSC schemes, STEP schemes, funding to units with backlogs, research funding such as the MARS project, regional research strategies etc, community based archaeological projects, study bursaries, skills shortage retraining schemes etc etc. The primary aim of this should be to keep expertise within the industry and to adjust the training and skills base in anticipation for the future. Such schemes are not going to suit everyone and it is hardly likely to keep every archaeologist employed, but if it helps some, then that has to be a good thing.
I am now off to the airport.....