During my six months placement I worked with the team from the Department of Strategic Research and Partnerships, Strategic Planning and Management at Historic England. Together with Dr Hannah Fluck (Head of Environmental Research) we designed the project and then I carried out a pilot research project on Coastal environmental change: communities, communication and heritage. Additionally to the project, I was assigned to design a training workshop for the staff team of this Department. The workshop was designed in collaboration with Dr Matthew Sillence (Lecturer in Humanities, Graduate Education and Training, Faculty of Arts and Humanities). Together, we planned and delivered a day-long workshop on the topic “Field Research in The Community”.
The field research for the project Coastal environmental change: communities, communication and heritage were carried out during ten days, in two communities affected by coastal changes in North Norfolk. The objective of the research was to understand the relationship between communities, their heritage, and the environmental changes they face. The methodology used was a combination of questionnaires, ethnographic observation and interviews. The project sought to gather information about the community’s relationship with its heritage and the historical environment. It also envisaged acquiring information on how the changes brought about by climate change are affecting the community’s relationship with the historical environment, and how change affects the way of life. Furthermore, the research tried to find out if there is a role that Historic England can play in helping the conversation and facilitating communication about environmental change and the challenges that communities face.
The Field Research in The Community workshop was designed for professionals who were interested in learning more about qualitative methods and communication in community engagement. The key point of this workshop was to explore how information can be gathered through social research in the field. We focused the discussion on perceptions and interactions between individuals and the environment, and how a researcher can engage and communicate effectively with community members. Moreover, we discussed how the researcher could develop self-awareness and reflexivity in research practice.
This placement has definitely enhanced many aspects of my professional and personal life. I engaged and built relationships in the communities. During my fieldwork research I met and talked with different people from different backgrounds in the communities investigated. They taught me about their way of life and shared their concerns about the communities and the changes they are facing. I wrote a research report, highlighting the communities members’ heritage values and their concerns about the coastal change and its impact on their lives. During the research process I also built up friendships for life.
I had a unique opportunity to work with different professionals during the research preparation and the workshop. This experience enhanced my communication and dissemination skills. To design and manage a project research gave me confidence in how to write a research project proposal in a non-academic context, and this will add to my professional and career prospects in the future. I strengthened my capacity to self-manage, and acquired knowledge about a different discipline (archaeology, environment and geography). During the workshop preparation I had the opportunity to work with Dr Sillence, a great professional, and together we produced a workshop format that can be delivered to other professional audiences in the future. During the workshop I also met different professionals from Historic England and enhanced my network.
Overall, the project was a fantastic opportunity to learn, to engage with different communities and their members, and to network with professionals from different sectors. This increased my confidence to work in different research settings, and opened new windows through which I can consider new professional pathways.