iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 10h

Looks like I will be in excellent company to present and set the scene for my PhD research at the @landscapesurvey.bsky.social conference in Pickering next month. Registration now open 👇

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 10h

"Without nuance or empathy, heritage can be mobilised in dangerous and divisive ways." My interview for the latest issue of @archaeologyuk.bsky.social British Archaeology magazine is with David Farrell-Banks on far-right extremism and the contemporary politics of presenting archaeological sites.

A double page magazine spread of text and images titled 'My Archaeology - David Farrell-Banks'.

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Dr Hélène Maloigne @hmaloigne.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

📣 I'd like to start a project on #Emotions in the #HistoryofArchaeology I think of archaeology as a practice, as a discipline and as a voluntary or involuntary experience. How do we feel as archaeologists, to read about it, watch it on TV or see objects in a museum or be forced to excavate? 🧵

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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Quite so. You wouldn't write the next chapter of a book without having read the previous chapters. Archaeology is the toolbox that helps us read those previous chapters to help make sense of now and the future.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

0 collected, too too many spotted. After the short-lived optimism of last week, countless more plastic nurdles have washed ashore again at North Shields. The vacuums are back out but it's going to be a mammoth effort to clean up - and likely the first of many more winter deposits.

A close up image of seaweed, driftwood and seagull feathers on the seashore, covered in small white plastic nurdles.

A sandy beach in the foreground with sweeps of seaweed and white plastic nurdles deposited. In the hazy background is a vegetated bank with buildings.

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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

History and heritage don’t belong to nations, political ideologies or people who claim to be more “authentically” English than others. They belong to everyone, whether your family has been here for a thousand years or ten minutes. You are part of the story.

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Miles King @milesking.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

What a farce. As farmers fail to access funds to support sustainable farming, this will undoubtedly mean valuable wildlife habitat (recently created or much older) will be destroyed, as farmers feel they have no option but to intensify their farming systems. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

‘Worse than the scramble for Oasis tickets’: England’s sustainable farming funds run out in just six hours

Entire £233m budget for 2026 allocated in less than a day, leaving thousands of farmers disappointed

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Sarah May @sarahmay1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We've decided to start a discussion series. Lunchtimes once a month, to remember why we 'do heritage' all welcome, please share with students and networks.

Poster for a discussion series. Text reads:

ButCH/*

Bureau for the Contemporary & Historic

Bureau Bites!

JOIN US AT THE BUREAU FOR A MONTHLY LUNCHTIME BITE

13.15-14.00

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/353204848682706?p=kTQLxkqUay7odEGmUi

Meeting ID: 353 204 848 682 706

Passcode: 72My9df2

Start your week with us in the Bureau for our new series, Bureau Bites. These informal, 45min online gatherings are open to all, whether you're a postgraduate student, a heritage manager or a senior consultant. Keep an eye on our LinkedIn account where we'll post a link to a short text (30 min read) the week before we meet. We understand how dynamic, energetic and enterprising (ie busy) we all are so please join the conversation even you haven't been able to make time to read and reflect in advance. Readings will be a mix of websites, blogs, reports, excerpts from academic papers.

The aim is to reconnect us with our communities of practice and to create space for the kind of thinking we might not be able to do on the daily grind. We invite participants to start a light-touch reflective journal to help document these conversations, which you may find useful in your work.

These gatherings also mark the start of ButCH's journey towards being a business partnership and launch of our redesigned website https://37looestreet.org/home/butch/

Monday, 12 October: Does heritage really matter?

Monday, 9 November: When loss is more!

Monday, 7 December: Beyond engagement? Art, heritage and placemaking

Monday, 11 January: Strategies, frameworks and plans why have them?

Monday, 8 February: Nothing ages faster than the future

Monday, 8 March: Place, land and more-than-human interve

Monday, 5 April: 'No, I don't want to do workshops with NEETs! Beyond instrumentalising heritage

Monday, 10 May: Not another toolkit! Working with creative approaches to unblock cross-sector heritage research, management and policy

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Internet Archaeology @internetarchaeology.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Who tells your story? Diversifying narratives of the past through storytelling as an archaeological method by Hanna Steyne and Milica Rajić doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.16 In this paper the authors address the urgent need for diversity in archaeology and propose storytelling as one of the […]

fediscience.org

Original post on fediscience.org

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

14. Good news - the official clear up team say they're finding far fewer nurdles. Bad news - they wonder if winter storms will bring more to shore over the coming months.

A palm holding white plastic nurdles blurred in the foreground. A grey cloudy sky over a still grey sea, and a sandy shore in the background.

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YAC @yac-cba.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

For over 2000 young people, YAC is a place to discover the heritage on their doorstep, meet friends who share their interests and try something new. It’s where young people build confidence and social skills, discover what they’re capable of and simply feel like they can be themselves. 🧵1/2

A photo of a group of young people of varying ages. Text over the image says: The Young Archaeologist Club provides opportunities for young people to participate in archaeology. Today it has 80 clubs, 500 volunteers, 2000 members."

A young person wearing a high vis vest leaning against a concrete wall. Text over the image says: "YAC has enabled him to access learning about a subject he enjoys without feeling that he is failing or that he is not good at it. Parent/carer."

A young person smiling and holding a paper plate containing a square piece of clay on which is carved a horse, in the style of a medieval tile. Text over the image says: "I feel like I can be me - YAC member. 85% of members feel more confident working with young people since they joined."

Three young people and one adult sat at a table in a classroom. Text over the image says: "It's amazing, I love having a community where I feel like I belong."

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I wonder whether the governance structures and longer term funding of these Landscape Partnership Schemes are encouraging more participatory, culturally grounded and evidence-led approaches than some National Park management strategies?

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery vision demonstrates some of the participatory process undertaken with stakeholders for future visioning. There's a landscape biography to contextualise proposed future changes, and I'd love to know more about how this was used to inform the final outputs.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

As much as it helps to visualise what a positive future could look like for our protected landscapes to inspire change, we actually need resilience to embrace a range of possible futures and a better understanding of the power dynamics making decisions about competing interests.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I think there's distinct disadvantages with combining all of these ambitions in a single static image. It doesn't recognise the uncertainty and complexity of adaptive pathways, and the likely trade-offs.

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UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

🌳 UKCEH has secured funding from The National Archives' Archives Revealed Scoping Grant Fund to explore preserving and digitising 70 years of woodland & land-use records. Read more: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... #WoodlandResearch #EnvironmentalScience

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

43 nurdles collected. One of 5 nurdle collectors.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It truly is the end of an era! 🤗

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Yup - that's exactly it! I'd always place a bet with myself about which ones would return records. I was about to say half the fun of the old HG but actually it was the only fun to be had with such a slow clunky system! 😂

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I feel strangely nostalgic about battling with the old Heritage Gateway but there’s no denying this is a vast improvement!

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I've had a small part to play in applying for and delivering projects in the archaeology sector with the £9.2 billion invested by the National Lottery Heritage Fund over the years. So, I've just completed this consultation on National Lottery Good Causes funding, have you?

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Campaign for National Parks @campaign4parks.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This week, we discussed how we can achieve “good growth in every postcode” with the North York Moors Association: 🌿 Make it easier for landowners to restore and rewet peat. 🏡 Use the Protected Landscapes Duty for communities to influence change. 🚌 Devolution presents a major opportunity.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Hmm, this is good food for thought. My university has a code of practice for research integrity which places emphasis on honesty, respect and rigour: www.york.ac.uk/staff/resear... In the current climate, I think there could be a lot more to guide and support ECRs about positionality.

york.ac.uk

Research integrity and ethics - Staff home, University of York

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

62 today. Photo taken before the final count.

A collection of small white plastic nurdles covered in sand lying on a palm with a beach in the background.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Initially, I naively believed the researcher's position is to be impartial but the more I learn, the more I appreciate that research is not neutral and that I have a responsibility to speak to power and have an opportunity to make change.

A close-up of an appliqued wall hanging showing a figure with a raised hand and a sign saying 'Private Land'.
Text reads: You can't be neutral on a moving train.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I will be undertaking participatory scenario planning to explore visions for future landscape change, but I've found myself applying a lot of the same principles to my personal life as I navigate a crossroads and start to envision alternative futures.

A wooden signpost stands in the middle of a burned peat landscape on an overcast day.
Text reads: Life is what happens to us while we're busy making plans.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I've always slid across the divides of different disciplines and practices, but fully immersing myself into an interdisciplinary project is proving complex, confusing, messy - but ultimately rewarding.

A table covered in paper collage materials.
Text reads: Embrace the messiness!

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I gravely underestimated the emotional toll of researching the effects of biodiversity loss and climate change in a hotly contested landscape burning up, drying out and eroding away.

In the foreground, an exposed burned peat landscape and a conifer plantation and green hills in the background.
Text reads: Moor love in a hot climate.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I've surprised myself by how much I've delved into futures literacy, exploring the parallels between the ambiguity, complexity and pluralism of evidence reconstructing the past and forecasting the future.

An abstract landscape oil painting with dark hills and a bright red-orange flash in the bottom left.
Text reads: Heritage is not the past, it's the future.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

One year on from starting my PhD research looking at how evidence of past landscape change informs and influences visions for the future of the North York Moors, how have my ideas changed? #moorviews

A woman wearing a purple knitted hat and a black anorak in the foreground. A moorland landscape on an overcast day in the background.
Text reads: One year on... How have my ideas about my PhD research changed?

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NEYEDC @teamneyedc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Over the last few months we've had Elizabeth, Language and Linguistic Science PhD student at the University of York, join us to investigate how place-names can strengthen the evidence base for Ancient Woodland designation, using her expertise on place-names in the medieval period. 1/2 🌳

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

6 - this morning's nurdle quota from a scan of the beach at North Shields. It's sad to see so many still washing up, but the local voluntary clean up effort continues.

A small round plastic nurdle in the centre of a palm in the foreground. Sunlight reflects off the sea in the background.

A palm holds 6 plastic nurdles in front of a bin drop off point for depositing the nurdles.

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Ecological Continuity Trust (ECT) @ect-uk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Submit your abstract by 30 September! If you are working on a project for people & nature, then we want to hear from you. Join the Resilient Landscapes & Seas Symposium to share your research & experience on designing #LandscapeScale projects for impact. bit.ly/488EYcd #RLASSymposium 🌏

Designing Landscape Projects for Impact: Developing, monitoring and defining outcomes at scale. King’s House, Manchester. 3-4 February 2027. Call for Submissions. Deadline: 30 September. Photo showing a pond with vegetation in it and surrounding it.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It's great to hear that there's so much to learn by excavating the deteriorated post-alignment. Your communication of the Must Farm excavations did a lot to demonstrate the importance of archaeological context to the public and I hope that can continue with this exciting new phase at Flag Fen.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This is very exciting news for a site close to my heart and where I grew up, but the narrative needs to explain why the site is at risk and what exactly will be achieved with this investment.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The funding is secured, the visitor attraction will be revitalised and the archaeology will be beter understood and appreciated, yes. But not 'saved' as the organic remains are drying out with dropping water levels and excavation is a destructive process. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Bronze Age site near Peterborough could be saved thanks to funds

The government is investing nearly £700,000 into Flag Fen near Peterborough.

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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Exactly. Archaeology can be useful in helping think about the pattern of land use that can help. It's how we can understand interactions between people and natural processes over time, and learn from that for our future.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This is the academic writing style I aspire to!

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Pete M 🌳 @pete-m.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

You often hear that the Welsh uplands are naturally treeless — too high, too wet, too exposed — and that the evidence for it is upland tree cover declining from the late Mesolithic, before farming even arrived. In Eryri, the pollen record shows the opposite. 1/🧵

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Jonathan Last @johnnythin.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Knepp itself (see thread) shows this nicely. The Weald is often seen as largely impenetrable forest till medieval times but there were significant variations in tree cover throughout (pre)history & much continuity in routes & boundaries. Archaeology offers a range of scenarios to inform the future.

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

We not only need more woodland, we need more heath, flower-rich grassland & other diverse habitats Another problem with the wild wood obsession is that other habitats are seen as less important

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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

We do need more trees, and fast, as part of a package of effort to get us through the next century to stand a fighting chance of minimising the climate crisis. For me the argument for needing those trees is not that we used to have trees everywhere but to set out why we need them now.

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Dr Wendy Morrison @hillfortian.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Well said. The old 'a squirrel could have travelled from Lands End to John O'Groats without touching the ground' fantasy still exists. It's not helpful.

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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This thread explains some helpful facts re historic tree cover. We don't need to perpetuate inaccuracy to justify increasing tree cover now. Current & future environments & needs are different. Better to explain why than keep pretending we can return to some halcyon days to fix the mess we've made.

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Anand @calmerfuture.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I just went to see the one in Reading, where women signed the sections they embroidered (and put some pants on some very naughty boys)

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

TIL there are more trees depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry than women - 6 (3 in the main friezes, 3 in the borders) versus 23 (and 416 other plants)!

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Tapestry of trees or tapestry of unease on display at the British Museum? The arrival of the Normans temporarily regenerated English woodland but at enormous human cost www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/... 1/

britishmuseum.org

Tapestry of trees

This installation by garden designer Andy Sturgeon uses trees and textiles to evoke the natural landscape depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.

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Clemency Cooper @clemencycooper.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Much medieval woodland was managed as wood pasture combining open grazing with trees pruned to produce fuel, building materials and animal fodder. The pollarded beech tree seen in the Bayeux Tapestry are pretty wild - but their woods weren't! battleofhastingsnewsite.wordpress.com/beech-trees-...

battleofhastingsnewsite.wordpress.com

Beech Trees in the Bayeux Tapestry: an Ecological Perspective

Rebecca Welshman Beeches had a variety of uses in medieval times. The wood was a source of fuel and the woodlands were used to turn out pigs. Beech nuts were a food, collected for winter use from b…

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