Challenging times for archaeology and the cba
Covid-19 brings difficult challenges and hard decisions for Neil Redfern, the CBA’s new executive director
At the time of writing I have been the executive director for the Council for British Archaeology ( cba) for just over a month. It has not been quite what I was envisaging when I spoke to the editor about my appointment for the last edition of this magazine! I packed up my desk at Historic England on the day lockdown was announced, and have been working from home ever since. I have yet to work from cba head office and have only met my new team via Zoom meetings. Our staff have been adapting to managing the cba’s activities while working from home, and planning ways to shift our focus for the duration of the crisis and the immediate recovery phase. I have been hugely impressed by their commitment and adaptability. I am also hugely grateful for their support over the last month.
The covid-19 crisis is having a substantial impact on our work and our resources:
• The cba office in York is closed c and all staff are working from f home, wrestling with the challenges c of reduced it capability and childcare responsibilities.
• We have decided to postpone our on-the-ground Festival of Archaeology events to October 24–November 1, and have announced an online Festival of digital activity for July 11–19, with a range of events, competitions and archaeology content planned. You can find out more at festival.archaeologyuk.org.
• All our Young Archaeologists’ Club ( yac) branch meetings were suspended ahead of the lockdown. Several groups have moved their meetings online and we have issued advice to support this initiative. We have created new activities that can be undertaken at home and promoted via the #yacathome hashtag.
• Staff were finalising an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, when the crisis began. Responding to the pandemic, nlhf closed to new applications and redirected all
its resources to a Heritage Emergency Fund, leaving us with a critical funding gap this year.
• Important export markets for this magazine have been removed overnight, and with the closure of most newsagents, retail sales have also been hit.
• To ensure we can maintain our activities and membership activity we have had to take the very difficult decision to temporarily reduce the number of pages in British Archaeology. The magazine represents our biggest investment of resources, it is our flagship publication and we want to protect it whatever happens. However, we also need to keep our costs down. Therefore, for this, and possibly the next two editions, the magazine has been reduced in size. I am extremely grateful to our editor for working with us on this. We have removed the Briefing pages, which at the time of printing have been emptied of events and fieldwork for the summer. You can still find plenty of information on our website archaeologyuk.org, and we will revert back to our original format later in the year.
Wider challenges
Looking further afield, archaeology is all about people: it is a very collective experience. Lockdown presents archaeology with difficult challenges when groups can’t meet and planned digs are on hold. For the cba, the challenge has been to keep our public activities live, engaging and manageable from home. This has two main elements: firstly, moving delivery online where possible, and secondly, maintaining our presence as the lead organisation supporting public participation in archaeology. We have created an online archaeology resources hub, at bit.ly/archaeohub. It has links to appeals for help, a huge range of digital learning and entertainment resources for all ages, and the latest practical advice on coronavirus (covid-19) for those engaged in archaeology.
A concern at present is that some archaeological groups may not survive the crisis. What might that mean for future public participation? For instance, not only might some yac groups struggle to find alternative free venues if museums or heritage sites shut permanently, but many groups are run by paid staff associated with heritage organisations. If these organisations fold or reduce staff numbers, it may result in the loss of key volunteers and the potential closure of branches.
One direct response from the cba has been to launch an online teaching platform, Dig School, that guides teachers and students through the basics of archaeological investigation through a series of video workshops. Developed in partnership with cba trustee Carenza Lewis, professor for the public understanding of research at the University of Lincoln, and with Historic England, it will run from April until July and is aimed at secondary learners still going to school and home-schoolers.
In the long-term we have real concerns about the impact on voluntary participation. Many heritage organisations rely on older volunteers to welcome visitors. We don’t know if they will be able or willing to return when visitor attractions reopen. We are also likely to see a much higher degree of youth unemployment. Therefore, the need to help people stay active, return to volunteering and learn new skills will be critical. We need to maintain the cba’s capacity in youth engagement so that we can help young people thrive in the future. It will also help us contribute to the recovery of the wider voluntary sector and reconnect people. Never has the cba mission Archaeology for All been more needed to boost participation and keep people active and engaged.
You can help us
Many people do not realise that the cba is a charity with no regular funding. We are a small organisation, reliant on our membership, on our fantastic volunteers and on donations from the public to continue to survive.
Since the crisis began, we have responded positively by using our platform to promote archaeology organisations and groups who need help. We have also worked very hard to keep people participating in archaeology from home.
You can help us to keep working for archaeology in the ukby continuing to be a member, renewing your subscription and by making a donation to support us. It’s easy to do so. To donate £10, text discover to 70191 or visit our donate page archaeologyuk.org/donate to give a different amount or s support us in another way – e even by simply shopping online or browsing the web.
Any support you can offer will be making a real difference in helping us as an organisation survive and speak up for archaeology.