Advocacy

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland has been involved in advocacy since its formation in the 18th century, and has made its views known on a range of issues pertinent to the Society’s aims.

In the very first volume of the Transactions of the Society in 1792 there is a plea by Mr John Williams for the creation of a Royal Forest of Oak in Scotland, a plea to which “the ferocious attention of the Society and of the public” was called by a supportive Baronet Sir Alexander Dick of Prestonfield.  The Society continues to direct its attention to matters of relevance to the historic environment of Scotland, although with varying levels of ferocity as required for each issue!

The Society promotes the research, understanding and conservation of the historic environment of Scotland–for the benefit of all–and advocates good practice. As part of this, we respond to Government and other relevant consultations, produce position statements and chair seminars and meetings to discuss pertinent issues.

We are keen to emphasise transparency and encourage efficiency across the sector.

Please email the director@socantscot.org for more information, or to highlight issues you think the Society might be interested in.  Focused on the national picture, the Society tends not to get involved in site-specific advocacy – unless it can be seen as an example or symptom of a broader strategic issue.

Where the Society receives or sends a letter that it considers would be of significant interest to the rest of Fellowship and non-Fellows, we publish it online in our Resources section under Correspondence.

Some of the comments made in these letters – or in consultations and their responses – may in future be discussed in the Fellows area of the website.

We aim to apply our Open Access policy to material received by the Society, and place it in the public domain, to allow individuals to offer opinion–regardless of standing or position. However, any communications considered offensive, libelous or grossly inaccurate will not be placed online.

Responses to consultations and other advocacy papers can be viewed from the Resources page.

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