Join a host of heritage exhibitors and speakers for this year's European Heritage Open Days.

Join PRONI and HERoNI for this year's European Heritage Open Days looking at the theme of 'Heritage at Risk'. DFC Heritage Fair brought to you by HERoNI and PRONI. Join us at 2 Titanic Boulevard to celebrate European Heritage Open Days exploring our heritage and learning about our past, this years theme is “Heritage at Risk – Revive, Resist, Reimagine”

This theme invites organisers to explore the stories behind the places they care about, airing the physical site with the human voices, memory, craft and culture that bring it to life.

Featuring, information stands, including representatives from Ulster Archaeological Society, Libraries NI, National Museums, OSNI, National Churches Trust, PRONI, HED, HERoNI, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Belfast Buildings Trust, Heritage Network, NI Screen, Maps and Memories Project, Great Place North Belfast and Ulster Architectural Heritage Society/HARNI.

Visit a wide range of exhibitors, societies and archives, enjoy free talks throughout the day on the theme of Heritage at Risk – Revive, Resist, Reimagine and don’t miss your chance to ask the experts!

10.30-10.50 National Heritage lottery- Heritage Fund

Speakers: Speaker: Emma Hannah, Engagement Manager

Title: The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Heritage At Risk in NI

This talk will explore the Heritage Fund’s work over the last three decades in supporting communities across Northern Ireland to conserve and value their heritage. It will highlight how funding has helped save and revitalise places and landscapes while also preserving the traditions and stories that are important to people.

Emma Hannah is an Engagement Manager with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, where she supports people and places by helping communities to protect, value and conserve heritage. Emma has a background in academia and holds a PhD in Archaeology from Queen’s University Belfast.

10.50-11.10 HARNI

Speakers: Dr Kevin Miller and Kenneth Boston

Title: Top ten Heritage at risk, top five saves

The presentation introduces the Heritage at Risk Register compiled by Ulster Architectural Heritage working in partnership with the Historic Environment Division. It discusses ten significant buildings at risk, and five significant ‘saved’ buildings drawn from the Register.

Bios: Ken Boston, retired Chartered Building Surveyor, is a former Senior Lecturer and Course Director of the Building Surveying Programme at Ulster University. He has a keen interest in Building Conservation and has completed the RSUA Certificate and Diploma courses in Building Conservation. Currently a volunteer with Ulster Architectural Heritage

Dr Kevin Miller is currently the Heritage at Risk Officer at Ulster Architectural Heritage working in partnership with the Historic Environment Division. Kevin holds a PhD from Ulster University, with research interests that include vernacular places of worship, and community-based heritage methods.

11.30-11.50

HERoNI

Speaker: Naoimh Quinn-Senior Architect, DfC Historic Environment Division

Title: ‘In from the Cold: Delivering a new sustainable use for a cold war bunker as an archive store for HERoNI’

Belfast’s ‘Regional War Rooms’ was constructed in the 1950’s as part of a network of 13 control centres across the UK to co-ordinate civil defence in the event of a nuclear attack. Although never used for its original purpose, the former cold war bunker fulfilled various other civil defence functions and more recently was used as a file store for the Courts Service. In 2018 however, the building became vacant without an identified use. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the project lead by DfC Historic Environment Division, exploring the feasibility, detailed design and construction considerations to realise the conservation of this unique Grade B1 listed building as an archive store for the Historic Environment Record of Northern Ireland (HERoNI).

Bio: Naoimh Quinn is a qualified senior architect within DfC Historic Environment Division, with over 15 years’ experience advising on historic building projects and historic environment planning policy. She also played a key role in developing the 12 point ‘Protocol for the Care of the Government Historic Estate’, which supports keeping heritage assets in active use. Naoimh currently works within the team responsible for the management, augmentation, and promotion of the Historic Environment Record of Northern Ireland (HERoNI), a key resource underpinning evidence-based decision-making for the historic environment.

11.50-12.10

National Churches Trust

Speaker : Kerry Rooney

Title: Treasure Ireland Project

Treasure Ireland (2020-2026) aimed to support an improvement in the maintenance and sustainability of places of worship in Northern Ireland in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Department for Communities and the Pilgrim Trust. At its core was a full-time suppor

Description supplied by the event organiser.