Heritage, Community and Sustainability: Researching the Later Historical Archaeology of Colonsay

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Communities that are good at learning are more resilient, responsive to change and sustainable. We propose a project to bring together a network of community, university and heritage sector researchers to investigate the late medieval and early modern archaeological heritage of Colonsay in Argyll, and to research the social learning processes this entails. Co-producing heritage knowledge in this way will enhance the learning capacity and sustainability of the island community and contribute to understanding of the heritage and sustainability link. Colonsay was once the centre of a maritime kingdom associated with the Lord of the Isles and has a unique cultural heritage that is little explored. Today it is one of Scotland's most remote and fragile communities. While there is considerable local interest in developing the heritage of the island, financial and human resource capacity is limited and there is a clear need for initiatives to enhance community capacity to ensure the island is self-sustaining and resilient to future challenges. Working closely with community partners we will run a programme of community-based learning and knowledge exchange in archaeological and landscape survey field methodologies. This will include a detailed desk-based assessment of documentary, cartographic and illustrative resources; a detailed programme of landscape survey, and an archaeological investigation of a number of targeted sites. Key outcomes will include a cultural landscape archive to generate an online resource and a physical community mounted exhibition, and enhanced community capacity to access future community heritage funding. A parallel qualitative research study of social learning will develop evaluative and theoretical frameworks to link heritage social learning to enhance adaptive capacity and resilience. This rich co-production process will add significantly to understanding of the late medieval early modern archaeology of the region; create a valuable community heritage resource to contribute to future community-led heritage tourism projects; and, enhance community learning capacity and understanding of heritage and sustainability.