The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland awarded grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Grant will unlock rural heritage with digital innovation
The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland are delighted to announce a £245,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support an ambitious 18-month programme of digital development and support for a network of nine Highlands and Islands organisations.
The pioneering 18-month programme aims to transform how rural museums and heritage organisations across Scotland’s Highlands and Islands engage with audiences through digital innovation.
Led by The Space and Museums and Heritage Highland, the Highland and Islands Digital Heritage Network will act as a national pilot, building digital capacity in the rural heritage sector, supporting creativity and experimentation, and connecting museums with wider audiences and with each other.
The nine heritage organisations are: Grantown Museum, Highland Museum of Childhood, Cromarty Courthouse Museum, Scapa Flow Museum, Shetland Museum, Stromness Museum, Nairn Museum, West Highland Museum, and Waterlines Heritage Centre.
Creating unique digital stories of place and time
Highlights from the programme include the digitisation of museums objects to improve access and preserve collections; the recording of oral histories of Orcadian communities impacted by World War 2, and the creation of digital leraning resources re- telling stories of justice from the collection at Cromarty Courthouse as it celebrates its 35th anniversary.
The programme aims to:
- Make heritage democratic, removing barriers to accessing rural collections, such as cost of travel, distance, and disability.
- Improve the digital representation of rural heritage to diversify audiences.
- Preserve and safeguard heritage at risk of loss by working with communities and creative partners to reimagine the relevance of collections today.
- Create models of digital engagement that can be shared across Scotland and the wider UK heritage sector.
Key strands
The project has four key strands:
- Digital Heritage Supported Commissions – four museums will co-create digital works with artists and local communities, from scoping and production through to distribution and legacy support.
- Digital Audits and Engagement Support – five museums will receive digital audits, mentoring, and support to develop pilot projects and new approaches to digital engagement.
- Virtual Tours and Digital Stories – the creation of immersive tours and digital storytelling experiences.
- Learning, Evaluation and Communications – peer learning sessions, independent evaluation, and knowledge-sharing events will ensure long-term impact across the heritage sector.
By using digital technologies, the project aims to support inclusion and remove barriers to participation in rural heritage, attract new audiences and diverse audiences and make rural heritage democratic and available to all.
What it means
“We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund as this project will enable rural museums to use digital tools to connect with audiences who may not otherwise access their collections. By working collaboratively, we’re building sustainable models of engagement that can inspire heritage organisations far beyond the Highlands and Islands.”
Fiona Morris, Creative Director and Chief Executive, The Space
“Our museums are rooted in their communities, and this initiative will help amplify those stories on a national and global stage. We’re excited to see how digital creativity can continue to open new doors for participation and diverse audience growth .”
Nicola Henderson, Museums and Heritage Highland
“New technologies bring new opportunities for museums and heritage organisations. Thanks to National Lottery players this project will support innovation across the Highlands and Islands, enabling heritage organisations and museums to work together to meet the shared opportunities and challenges digital technology can bring.”
“We particularly welcome the project’s strong focus on improving inclusion, access and participation for rural heritage organisations. The support it will offer will see participants better equipped to safeguard their heritage and manage digital assets.”
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland
“We are pleased to be supporting this project through our Small Grants Fund, which is supporting the Highland Museum of Childhood to develop the digital skills of its workforce and enabling them to contribute to the wider programme. By building skills, experimenting with new approaches, and amplifying local stories, this programme will ensure heritage from some of Scotland’s most remote communities can be shared with, and enjoyed by, audiences everywhere.”
Gillian Simison, Head of Museum Development, Museums Galleries Scotland
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. The Highlands and Islands Digital Heritage Network Project is made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to launch this ambitious 18-month programme of digital development for nine heritage organisations across the Scottish Highlands and Islands, to address shared challenges in engaging audiences and developing sustainable engagement models through digital technologies.
