Heritage, Community, and Care: Heritage Engagement for Wellbeing in Stirling and Clackmannanshire

This collaborative PhD will investigate how heritage organisations can contribute to the development and delivery of place-based health and wellbeing services to maximise the wellbeing benefits of local heritage places in Scotland. The project will seek to understand this work as part of a ‘community-heritage ecosystem’ in which the heritage properties, local communities and public health and wellbeing agencies are all constituents.

The research will take advantage of an established partnership between the University of Stirling and the National Trust for Scotland, bringing the Trust’s expertise and assets together with the University’s leading research in heritage and wellbeing. The project will investigate how the Trust can maximise the wellbeing benefits of heritage in the Stirling and Clackmannanshire region through participation in place planning and placemaking, and by collaborating with partners in the provision of health and wellbeing services.

The aim of the PhD project is to advance knowledge and understanding of the role of heritage in a broader ‘ecosystem’ of place-based health and well-being services. The results will also directly inform the Trust’s approach to engagement with place-based networks and processes to maximise the wellbeing benefits of heritage for local communities.

This is a unique opportunity for a doctoral student to do a PhD in partnership with a leading organisation in the Scottish heritage sector. Since 1931, the Trust has pioneered public access to, and shared ownership of, some of the most magnificent buildings, collections and landscapes in Scotland. In 2022, the Trust published its ten-year strategy, Nature, Beauty & Heritage for Everyone, outlining its vision and 11 strategic objectives, including to ‘enable a greater number and diversity of people and communities to access our properties to improve their health and wellbeing’.

The student will benefit from the Trust’s extensive networks, properties and resources in advancing the research project and developing their skills.

We welcome exciting, original proposals addressing this broad area and expect applicants to propose research questions, approaches, methods and impact in their expression of interest.

Key words: Conservation, community, heritage, place, wellbeing

How to apply 

Closing date for applications is 24 March 2025.  

This 3-year FTE PhD position is funded by the University of Stirling and the National Trust for Scotland. The expected start date is 1^st October 2025.  

Applicants should submit an Expression of Interest here (https://forms.office.com/e/hdS67Nh8gd ). Further information on the IAS Studentships 2025 competition, including a guidance document and FAQ are available here: https://www.stir.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/institute-for-advanced-studies-studentships/  

For informal enquiries please contact Siân Jones (sian.jones@stir.ac.uk), or Chris Ansell, (cansell@nts.org.uk).

Funding

The studentship funding covers UK home/international tuition fees, an annual stipend (UKRI rates), and research support.