Wellbeing and the Historic Environment

Wellbeing is politically and conceptually linked with addressing health inequality and social cohesion as a long-term government priority. This focus on wellbeing reflects a shift away from an exclusively economic valuation model based on Gross Domestic Product to one that shows that physical and mental wellbeing have a significant impact on life quality. There are routes to wellbeing using the historic environment, many of which already exist within Historic England's core work, and we now have an opportunity to better evaluate and demonstrate this.

This document provides:

• A framework for considering wellbeing and heritage evidence, designed to help Historic England develop a contribution to the agenda
• Strategic objectives for wellbeing and the historic environment formulated through the New Economics Forum Five Ways to Wellbeing: Give, Be Active, Keep Learning, Take Notice, & Connect
• A logic model summarising a proposed wellbeing strategy

The benefits of working with the wellbeing agenda include: focusing on diversity and inclusion by breaking down barriers to access; working with local authorities to raise aspiration in areas of high indices of multiple deprivation; promoting wellbeing and engagement with the historic environment through social prescribing; achieving local sustainability in new ways; building the relationship between people and place, while demonstrating the public value of the historic environment.