Are you a researcher, or practitioner who uses applied research, who wants to conduct work related to people-centered historic preservation? Have you tried to find funding to support your research? More than likely, you’ve quickly found that historic preservation funders will only support FHBM research: This is research based...
Applied social sciences
Cultural history vs. cultural significance: Confused local attempts at increasing diversity in the preservation ordinance
Recently, changes to the City of Denver’s Landmark Preservation Ordinance became effective to allow the designation of buildings and places that have “cultural significance.” This change is, in the words of the City, to increase “inclusion” in the landmarking process and “highlight Denver’s diversity.” While the aims of the...
Local preservation ordinances: A one size fits all approach to social injustice
In a recent study, Avrami et al. (2018), found 86% of the local historic preservation ordinances sampled across the United States are nearly 100% derivative of the standards for significance and historical integrity found in the federal National Register (NR) of Historic Places guidelines. In my own work, I’ve...
Human-Centered Built Environment Heritage Preservation
It is with great excitement that I share the publication of my new book, co-edited with Barry Stiefel, Human-Centered Built Environment Heritage Preservation: Theory and Evidence-Based Practice, which was officially released by Routledge last week. (Google Books link here.) The official description is as follows: Human-Centered Built Environment Heritage...
A successful example of a grassroots, justice-oriented built heritage conservation project
A recent preservation effort in England is well worth the time to understand because it relates so strongly to the future of the field. But, it’s who led these efforts that’s remarkable: it wasn’t preservationists/conservationists, but rather skateboarders. And we could learn a lot from their lesson. You’ll understand...
CEQ wants to change the NEPA rules for the first time in a generation: My modest proposal
In August of last year, President Trump issued Executive Order 13807 directing the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a division of the Executive Office of the President, to review rules related to the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which are 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. The...
Recognizing research excellence in practice-based environmental design: Applications for EDRA CORE open Dec. 1
The Environmental Design Research Association’s (EDRA’s) Certificate of Research Excellence (CORE) program offers professional certification for exceptional, rigorous, and impactful practice-based environmental design research studies.If you have conducted rigorous environmental design research that has value to the design or conservation industries and/or project stakeholders, submit your study for CORE certification. Applications will be accepted December 1, 2017...
What is Critical Heritage Studies and how does it incorporate the discipline of history?
At the recent meeting of the US chapter of the Association for Critical Heritage Studies, a frequent question, especially from graduate students, was “what is critical heritage studies”? There was a wide range of responses to this question, often from disciplinary perspectives, which should not be surprising given the...
“How Are Old Places Different from New Places? A Psychological Investigation of the Correlation between Patina, Spontaneous Fantasies, and Place Attachment”
The International Journal of Heritage Studies just published my article on “How Are Old Places Different from New Places? A Psychological Investigation of the Correlation between Patina, Spontaneous Fantasies, and Place Attachment.” This is an example of the kind of research that I’m hoping more environmental psychologists will have...
What will historic preservation look like in 50 years?
A few weeks ago, I attended the 7th National Forum on Preservation Practice hosted by Goucher College, which focused on the next 50 years of practice. One thing I’ve always liked about the National Forum is that it has a mix of both practitioners and academics, which helps to...