In the fourth week of Instant Pulse, we asked the sector the following question:
How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
“As a heritage organisation, we don’t have the energy or capacity to look beyond the here and now.”
How did you respond?
What else did you tell us?
“You have to plan ahead or fossilise.”
“We have the energy but not the capacity! Current staffing levels are limiting our ability to be creative.”
“I feel like we are still looking and planning for the future, but the fatigue is real, some spinning plates are beginning to drop and I am not sure how sustainable it is to continue at the same pace..”
“There is certainly an element of truth in this – we are tired, reaching burnout, and have only just the capacity to deal with day to day operations. But we are still ambitious for the future and looking ahead..”
“Of course that’s not stopping us! The nature and climate crises wait for no man so we’re pressing on, but the sheer amount of transformational change happening around us, and needed by us, govt, economy, is daunting, exhausting, complex and on top of the day job!”
“Most such organisations are limited in their forward thinking by how they are set-up and so tend to be very responsive and not pro-active. Heritage is regarded to much as preserving the past as the past and not how it will be seen or managed in the future.”
“The intensity of here and now is all consuming – we need to be sustainable now, and find it very hard to make time for the future picture..”
“We have been so busy since the start of the pandemic and it is hard to find enough space to think strategically.”
Get involved next week
If you’re part of the UK Heritage Pulse panel, you will receive next week’s question in your inbox on Wednesday. If not, why don’t you register to be part of UK Heritage Pulse today: