Birmingham's heritage strategy
What is heritage?
For the purposes of this strategy, we define heritage in its widest possible sense. It is not only about physical assets but also intangible heritage and the range of heritage related activities that take place in the city, including:
- museums and art galleries, and their collections
- archives
- libraries
- the historic environment (including historic buildings and structures, archaeological sites, historic townscapes and landscapes, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens etc)
- parks
- public art
- natural habitats
- people and communities
This broad definition of heritage is consistent with that of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the biggest funder of heritage-related activity in the UK. The city’s heritage does not belong to the city council, but to the people of Birmingham. A host of organisations, companies and individuals own heritage assets and deliver heritage activity. This strategy aims to be a robust but flexible framework for co-operation between the city council and all those active in supporting local heritage.
Our objectives
The heritage strategy has four key objectives/aims:
- Preservation - protecting and managing what we value
- Prioritisation - role of the Heritage Strategy Group
- People - participation and engagement
- Promotion - telling the Birmingham story, past, present and future
Protecting the past - informing the present
Birmingham’s heritage is as much about the present and the future as it is the past.
