Over the past year, RICHeS IHQ has been catalysing the development of an informed, collaborative and innovative UK heritage science community. Our work reflects the distributed infrastructure of RICHeS investments, engaging locally and regionally across the UK, including from our own new award-winning office in northwest England.
Connecting through Regional Workshops
Since the RICHeS launch event in October 2024, our regional workshops have been at the heart of our community-building activities. These gatherings create opportunities for the wider heritage science community to connect with our RICHeS investments to collaborate and share insights.
Our first regional workshop took place in Liverpool in March, focusing on Digital and Heritage Science. Participants explored the transformative potential of digital technologies in preserving and interpreting cultural heritage. In July, we held a workshop at the National Archives in London focused on Enhancing Narratives, demonstrating how innovative heritage science approaches can unlock new understandings of the past and shape the stories we tell.
Our more recent workshop took place last month, at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, centred on Enriching Collections. Through engaging lightning talks, The RICHeS investments showcased the breadth of the RICHeS distributed infrastructure and the role of heritage science in enhancing care, interpretation and engagement with collections across the UK. The event also provided a preview of the HSDS Catalogues and the RICHeS Access Fund ahead of their launches this month.
Looking ahead: Cardiff Regional Workshop
Our next workshop will take place at Cardiff University on Tuesday 4 November, exploring Sustainable Conservation Practices. Registration is now open and we invite colleagues across the heritage science community to join facilitated discussions on innovative approaches to conservation and opportunities through the RICHeS Access Fund.
Strengthening the Heritage Science Community
Beyond our own programme, RICHeS IHQ has been delighted to contribute to sector-wide events including the Harwell Heritage Network II Spectroscopy for Heritage Meeting in May and the NHSF Conference: Trends in Heritage Science in July.
October has also seen us reach 2,000 LinkedIn followers! We would like to thank all members of the community who have engaged throughout the first year of RICHeS, and we look forward to seeing the UK heritage science community continue to grow.
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