That the Parliament congratulates the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Archaeology Institute on having secured £1.6 million in funding to establish a centre for environmental archaeology in Orkney; recognises that this will provide invaluable access to a central research centre for UHI students, visiting researchers, community groups, and partners; commends the efforts taken to secure this funding, which, it believes, will make Orkney a pioneer in this growing sector of global research; notes the significance of environmental archaeology to researching vital areas of interest concerning biodiversity, rewilding and sustainability, which, it understands, are integral to efforts to tackle the climate crisis; understands that the centre will be accompanied by a mobile laboratory, which will be used to help facilitate projects across Scotland, supporting community events and research fieldwork, and pays tribute to the success of the UHI Archaeology Institute in its hard work to bring this opportunity to Orkney and Scotland more widely.
Supported by:
Karen Adam, Jeremy Balfour, Colin Beattie, Miles Briggs, Ariane Burgess, Finlay Carson, Alex Cole-Hamilton, Sharon Dowey, Jackie Dunbar, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Tim Eagle, Annabelle Ewing, Kenneth Gibson, Dr. Sandesh Gulhane, Craig Hoy, Stephen Kerr, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, Stuart McMillan, Edward Mountain, Audrey Nicoll, Douglas Ross, Paul Sweeney, David Torrance, Annie Wells, Tess White, Martin Whitfield