| 1. Governments across the United Kingdoms should launch a major initiative to fulfil the full potential of learning in the historic environment, on the lines of the initiatives supporting museum and gallery education.
2. In England, the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) should build on their current collaboration in developing heritage education, if possible in collaboration with other government departments where access to learning plays a major role in the delivery of programmes.
3. Government departments should extend to the site-based heritage learning sector the investment currently awarded to museums and galleries.
4. National Governments should recognise that just as the Museums Libraries and Archives Council and the Scottish Museums Council develop guidance and standards for museums, equally the interpretation of historic properties, collections, libraries and archives across the voluntary and private sectors need Government support.
5. In each country, an existing body should be empowered by Government to act as a single advocate and co-ordinator for heritage learning, with responsibility for the following services:
· structuring and integrating funding to develop continuous rather than short-term programmes.
· helping relevant organisations, custodians of individual historic sites and communities, to share resources and knowledge.
· encouraging and facilitating collaboration between larger sites and organisations, and the many smaller ones which cannot afford independent education programmes.
· extending the work currently carried out, for example, by English Heritage in advising places of worship and the Historic Houses Association on developing education services.
· providing training, both initial and midcareer, for staff working in heritage education.
· addressing issues which currently hamper development in the field, notably the need for culture change in many organisations, the development of skills to reach new audiences, the cost of transport, and health and safety issues.
· realising the full potential of Information and Communications Technology, and setting up web-based resources for schools, colleges and community groups through a web site index to historic sites.
· collaborating closely with the museums, libraries and archives sector.
· re-examining the evaluation of learning within historic sites to take into account the quality of experience and not just numbers of participants.
· creating an equivalent to the bodies which bring together galleries and museums such as the Group for Education in Museums, across the United Kingdom.
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