This paper presents the methodology and overall outcomes from the Training in Action project (TinA), funded by the British Council's Cultural Protection Fund between 2017 and 2019, which has built capacity among 72 employees of the Department of Antiquities of Libya (DoA) and the Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunisie (INP). It highlights the integrated and comprehensive nature of the training based on an innovative approach designed to increase value and impact. The integrated methodology, combining documentation, conservation and management, serves as a reproducible and sustainable model for other capacity-building projects. TinA was developed and carried out collaboratively by academics at Durham University, King's College London and University College London, and in partnership with the DoA and INP.
A joint Kazakh-British archaeological initiative undertook a survey and excavation of the city of Kuik-Mardan, one of the largest of the seventy or so known settlements in the Otrar oasis on the Syr-Darya river, Kazakhstan. Several complimentary field techniques were employed including unmanned aerial vehicle photomapping and an extensive programme of radiometric dating. The radiocarbon dates obtained are the first for any city in the oasis and allow more confident interpretations of the experience of the city to be ventured. Also undertaken was a geoarchaeological investigation of the surrounding irrigation and water supply canal system. Key results include its wholesale destruction during the 6th to 7th century and the form of the later occupation of the city.
This paper is a response to the Brexit, Heritage and Archaeology workshop, run at UCL in May 2017 and focuses on one of the areas where Brexit will affect heritage research and archaeology in practical terms -immigration. Discussing the potential consequences of implementing a points-based system for EU immigration to the UK, something which as a foreign national, the author has experienced.
Keywords: Brexit; Archaeology; UCL; Immigration; HeritageJorayev: Response to 'Brexit, Archaeology and Heritage:Reflections and Agendas'Art. 26, page 2 of 4 of Sponsorship which is usually issued by the employer in collaboration with the UK Home Office.Gaining it through recognised universities is one of the easiest parts of the process, but it places unnecessary strain on the university admissions and HR departments. The applicants have to demonstrate their English language proficiency and education levels. For professionals, they should have a job offer in place with a certain salary grade. In addition, all applicants must demonstrate availability of funds for maintenance for a certain period of time and it could run into tens of thousands of pounds if an applicant has a family.The application process is extremely costly 1 and includes £200 per head per annum NHS surcharge levied, regardless of the fact that some applicants already pay full taxes and National Insurance contributions. UCL has already taken proactive steps to pay some of these costs (UCL 2017b) 2 for staff, and in anticipation of bigger challenges, also tries to mitigate the financial costs to staff in light of Brexit (UCL 2017a). This is similar to the efforts that certain politicians suggest (Whitaker 2017). The costs are a significant factor, perhaps immoral, and ever-increasing, but focusing on them often trivialises other difficulties.The migrants under a points-based system should keep track of their international travel and employers have a duty to report this to the Home Office. Registration with the Overseas Visitors Records Office within days of arrival and obtaining a Certificate of Registration is part of the many foreign nationals' condition of stay in the UK. It also requires reporting changes in circumstance (address, passport details, and family situation, among others) to the police. The process is not necessarily demeaning, but time consuming and often unnecessary. The furore around the possible registration of European immigrants (BBC 2017) points to unawareness of the wider society of the existing system. Although the narrative of an 'Australian-style points-based system' was about allowing 'selected talent' in, if a similar approach is taken, then it might become more about the talent's willingness to come. Whilst currently the citizens of developing countries seem to be prepared to face the challenges, European nationals might not be prepared to go to the same lengths. In the author's experience, the applications are almost impossible to submit without support of friends and colleagues, which many new arrivals will lack. Although UCL wo...
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