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The Historic Houses Global Crossroads project launched this week at the National Trust’s Mount Stewart historic house and grounds in Northern Ireland. The day brought together the project team with partners from the National Trust, Clandeboye Estate, ArtsEkta, Canada Ireland Foundation, Northern Ireland Forest Schools Association, Photo Museum Ireland, Prospect Burma, and featured keynotes from a range of speakers including Eamonn McKee, Chief of Protocol, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin.

is an AHRC-funded 3-year project led by Professor Joy Porter, Professor of Indigenous and Environmental History, 125th Anniversary Chair, and Principal Investigator of the Treatied Spaces Research Group. The group is revealing how historic sites can benefit from positioning themselves in a new way, as intersections of diplomatic, material and intercultural exchange. By ensuring that they serve as transformative sites of inclusion, rather than division, the project is helping historic sites to unlock new meanings for multiple communities.

Two historic houses and grounds in Northern Ireland are the focus of the research, the Clandeboye Estate and the National Trust’s Mount Stewart.

Reflecting on the event, Professor Porter said: ‘It was a thrill for us to collaboratively launch this exceptional international interdisciplinary UKRI project. We were honoured that Lady Rose and Peter Lauritzen opened their home to us and that they stayed to hear each of the talks delivered from all over the world. Everyone found something transformative for their own work in what was a jam-packed day and evening full of highlights.’

The Historic Houses Global Connections project has a number of planned outputs including exhibitions, creative residencies, soundscapes, interactive walks, school workshops and a Choice Modelling Analysis which will allow the National Trust, and the wider heritage sector, to forecast demand and identify factors impacting site sustainability.