Looking at old ground in a new way

About

Sporting events, particularly large scale ones, are critical to the local and national economy. Caretakers of historic landscapes experience the effects of external pressures to integrate new technologies within disciplines such as equestrian sports in order to increase equine welfare and competitiveness, and to promote public participation but which may also disrupt the character of the landscape. To sustain these events, their physical impact on designed landscapes needs to be understood and better managed.

Aim

The aim of the project was to understand and inform people on the front line of the risks and mitigations to be addressed when integrating permanent equestrian sports surfaces into designed landscapes. It aimed to help create a novel decision-making process that bridged sport and heritage, by presenting cross-disciplinary evidence and integrating the views of all relevant stakeholders.

Identifying and prioritising common issues among different sectors are key drivers for effective and sustained collaboration. unless attempts are made to share a language, communication to start collaboration may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. Cross-disciplinary collaboration has the potential answer these concerns." – Heritage Scientist, 2017

Outputs

To be able to inform those working on the front line of the risks and mitigations to be addressed when integrating permanent sporting infrastructure into designed landscapes, a team of professionals was put together from the fields of:

social science
equine biomechanics
archaeology
landscape design
Eventing technical delegates
historic estate management
directors of one of the UK’s top 10 attended sporting events.

Technology advancements are becoming central to sporting events ability to attract more visitors and enhance the athlete experience. We expect that in the near future, caretakers of historic designed landscapes will need to address concerns on how best to integrate these technologies whilst maintaining the character and integrity of the landscape.