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Direct cultural, historical, religious, creative and musical impact has been achieved through active participation of five distinct groups in a major practice-led research project (2009-2013): (i) 18 craftspeople and artists creating historically-informed artefacts; and (ii) clergy, (iii) singers, (iv) organists and (v) congregations participating in the enactment of medieval rituals (footfall over 2500). Impact over a longer period (2001-13) has been achieved through use of three reconstructed medieval organs in residencies (c.3-12 months) at cathedrals, churches and college chapels, with direct musical impact on early performance practice by choirs and organists. Wider indirect impact is ongoing through the main project websites.
Professor Dauvit Broun has shaped the History curriculum for Scotland's schools through his advisory role in the development of the `Curriculum for Excellence', a new national framework that has reinvented Scottish education for ages 3-18. He has set the pace nationally for teacher-academic collaboration through his activities with the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE); Scottish History Society; Scottish Association of Teachers of History; the schools Inspectorate; and the History and Social Studies officers in Scotland's curricular and assessment bodies, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Education Scotland. Through his leadership, a University of Glasgow (UoG) team has established large-scale, systematic knowledge transfer to secondary school teachers and learners across Scotland through tailored events and web resources. The Subject Specialist for History in HM Inspector of Education states: `Professor Broun has been at the forefront of academics extending the reach of universities into school education.'
In 2006 Professor David Walker and his team at the University of St Andrews launched a fully searchable, free, online database that has transformed the ways in which anyone interested in Scottish architecture from 1840 onwards engages with the subject. The Dictionary is widely used by archivists, family historians, house owners, estate agencies, independent conservation campaigners, architects, planners and heritage bodies, schoolchildren and teachers, students and scholars. Its worldwide impact is attested by the organisers of related Canadian and South African websites, as well as by feedback from international users and a current hit rate of more than 3.8 million per year.
Robert Lorimer and his work: the gatehouse at Earlshall, Fife, 1900
Stephen Driscoll's archaeological research has driven conservation and regeneration campaigns in the Glasgow area of Govan, raising public awareness of Govan's important cultural heritage resources and its status as one of the earliest sites of Christian worship in Northern Britain. His work has been instrumental in achieving Scheduled Ancient Monument status for Govan Old Churchyard, has influenced urban regeneration efforts — in particular the formal establishment of the Govan Conservation Area by Glasgow City Council — and has helped to establish a sustainable future for Govan Old Church as a museum housing significant early medieval sculpture.
Sites of medieval carved stones attract thousands of visitors per year to Scotland. Katherine Forsyth's research at Glasgow has led the redevelopment of some of the most important collections of stones open to the public, unlocking carvings never displayed before and transforming the visitor experience of these ancient cultural icons. Her research transformed Historic Scotland's current policy on the management of carved stones, which applies to around 1,800 monuments and has redesigned the visitor experience at Iona Abbey, which attracts 50,000 visitors per year.
Professor Bartlett has written and presented two television series on medieval subjects for the BBC: Inside the Medieval Mind (four one-hour episodes, BBC4, 2008) and The Normans (three one-hour episodes, BBC2, 2010). Already one of the world's leading medieval historians, he has taken his work to a much wider audience through these series. Impact in this case is primarily on cultural life, through the exposure of millions of viewers to a historical documentary about the Middle Ages. The BBC's estimate of their value is re-emphasized by the recent completion of a third series, The Plantagenets, to be screened in autumn 2013.
One of Scotland's cultural treasures, the Reformation-era Wode Partbooks (also known as the Wode Psalter), their music and their Reformation world have been brought together from locations in museums across Scotland and Europe for the first time and introduced and made better known to audiences within Scotland, the UK and internationally. Through public engagement this project has enriched awareness of the Scottish and British heritage and the value of the Wode Partbooks as a cultural object and record of the cultural impact of the Reformation. The project has also provided an impact on cultural life and education as particular interest groups, such as choirs, church groups, embroiderers and history enthusiasts have been actively engaged through choral and stitching workshops, public psalm-singing events and collaboration over publishing.
The focus of the research in question has been to establish how far the architectural and urban culture of Scotland before the Union in 1707 was `European' and the consequences for Scotland's architecture after 1707 within the UK, including the issue of its assimilation with that of the rest of Britain. Initially the work, beginning in the later 1990s, concentrated on particular Scottish cities, notably Dundee and Edinburgh, more recently widening to include a large sample of Scotland's other smaller towns. The impact of what is a major body of diverse but inter-related research (at the heart of which are buildings and the built environment) is demonstrated at several levels, through local dissemination and community engagement, through to changing public discourse at national level about much of Scotland's architectural heritage and its implications for today. This has been achieved through the role of the lead researcher (Charles McKean) in major advisory bodies, as chairman of Edinburgh World Heritage Trust (2006-2012) to the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland, and on the Scottish Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund (Section 5: 1,2,3,4,5 and 8).
Lancaster's History department has built on its tradition of service and consultancy to transform public resources for, and engagement with, the history of northern England (Lancashire, Cumbria, Northumberland, and the Borders). This has been achieved through: i) creating open-access databases of historical sources with tailored support for non-academic users; ii) training non-academics in historical research and engaging them in projects, thereby empowering people in the region and beyond to `do history', particularly through the Victoria County History, Cumbria: a community-based project fostering life-long learning, led by the department and funded through partnership with a charitable trust; iii) contributing to the development of a new archive centre in Carlisle, thus enhancing the region's archival infrastructure.
John Blair's research on the history and archaeology of early medieval England has had a major impact on central and local planning policy. It has made several significant contributions to current practice as regards historic landscapes and building preservation (especially churches), and it is at the heart of the on-going debate about future policy reform. His publications are read and used by planning officers, policy makers, and by the general public — who have also come to know of his work through Channel Four's Time Team. Blair's research demonstrates the influence that academic history and archaeology of the highest scholarly standards can have on planners, policy makers, commercial archaeologists, and conservationists. Its public benefits include improved understanding, cultural enrichment, and conservation policies which are more sensitive to the heritage embedded in landscapes.