[Heritage] Special Announcement – 2024 Oregon Heritage Vitality Study to launch in January

[INFO Heritage * OPRD]

Special Announcement – 2024 Oregon Heritage Vitality Study to launch in January
The Oregon Heritage Commission is pleased to announce the launch of the 2024 Oregon Heritage Vitality Study, an update to a previous study done in 2011. This study will help us understand the current state of the heritage sector in Oregon, highlighting key issues that impact the sector, and provide recommendations at the local and state level to address collective needs and challenges.
We are working with the University of Oregon Institute for Policy Research and Engagement<https://ipre.uoregon.edu/about-us/> (IPRE) to carry out this critical study. IPRE has been an exceptional partner with us on past studies and projects such as the award-winning Guidebook for Community Disaster Resilience Planning for Heritage Resources<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Documents/CDRHR_GuidebookWeb.pdf> and more recently the Activating Oregon’s Upper Stories Study<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Documents/Upper_Story_Report_Final.pdf> and toolkit. They also received an Oregon Heritage Excellence Award for the critical work they do in helping move forward heritage preservation efforts in Oregon (see their award video here<https://youtu.be/fDKf3gjMcWU>).
What were the outcomes of the 2011 Study?
Many of you may remember the 2011 Oregon Heritage Vitality Study. In addition to informing Oregon Heritage Plans, Four recommendations from that study led to focused initiatives and technical assistance including (but not limited to):

  *   2011 Recommendation: Request that the 2011 Legislature appoint an interim task force to examine state and county financial support for Oregon heritage organizations, and to develop solutions that provide adequate and stable resources.
     *   A taskforce was established by the Legislature in 2012 to look at heritage funding specifically. See the resulting report here<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Documents/Legislative-Task-Force.pdf>.
  *   2011 Recommendation: Determine the economic and cultural value of heritage to Oregon, including its direct and secondary effects.
     *   Reports<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/tools.aspx#ohreports> on heritage tourism, heritage volunteerism, economic impact were carried out to get data and effects specific to Oregon heritage resources and organizations.
  *   2011 Recommendation: Strategically communicate consistent information about the value and importance of heritage to the economy and daily lives of Oregonians.
     *   The Sharing the Value of Heritage<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/tools.aspx> tool used the data created by the above reports to create messaging for heritage organizations to recognize and communicate the value of their work.
     *   Oregon Heritage expanded their ability to share stories related to the value of heritage by creating the Oregon Heritage Exchange Blog<https://oregonheritage.wordpress.com/> and focusing on targeting resources and opportunities in the weekly Oregon Heritage News<http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/Heritage>.
  *   2011 Recommendation: Increase the ability of heritage organizations and businesses to expand their leadership, development, preservation, community-building, communications, educational offerings, and technology.
     *   Using the results of this study in addition to national studies, Oregon Heritage received a national grant to carry out several statewide workshops and initiatives related to collection best/better practices and disaster preparedness/response/recovery. This grant also established the Oregon Heritage MentorCorps<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/MentorCorps.aspx> program, a statewide network of volunteers to help heritage organization prioritize, plan projects, and provide resources and training.
These are just a few of the outcomes that can be directly attributed to the results of this study! With over ten years since this study, it’s time to check in so that we can continue to be responsive to current issues and needs.
We need your help! UPCOMING SURVEY REQUEST, opens mid-Jan. and closes early Feb.
In order to make informed recommendations and maximize the impact of any outcomes related to recommendations, we need as many responses to our initial survey as possible. This survey will be inclusive of all those engaged with preserving and sharing Oregon’s heritage resources and materials and will include (but is not limited to) museums, historical societies, archaeologists, historic cemeteries, historic preservation entities, archives, identity-based heritageorganizations, and more.
There will be a tight turnaround on the survey with the launch being in mid-January and closing in early February. We thought we would give you an idea of what we will be asking so if you have some time to think about it, you will be ready to go when the survey is launched.
What kinds of things we will be asking:

  *   Current operations, including funding, staffing, and types of programming/services
  *   Support systems, including types of organizations you partner with and what kinds of resources you draw on at the local, state, and national level
  *   Key issues, including current issues, emerging/anticipated issues, and threats to heritage resources and materials
  *   Needs/opportunities, including what resources you would like to see supporting your work and other ideas about what support would be most helpful at the local and state levels
What happens after the survey results are collected?
The IPRE team will analyze the results to narrow down the primary issues and needs and then conduct focus groups around the state to help prioritize recommendations.
We will keep all of you apprised of the opportunities to further help with the study. We aim to provide thorough supporting data and gather perspectives on targeted and useful recommendations so that the Oregon Heritage Commission, other statewide partners, and your organizations can move forward to have meaningful outcomes like those resulting from the 2011 study.
Questions about the 2024 Oregon Heritage Vitality Study?
There are several ways to keep apprised of the progress of this study and we hope you will be engaged throughout the whole process:

  *   IPRE will be updating the Oregon Heritage Commission on the 2024 Oregon Heritage Vitality Study during the next Commission meeting on Jan. 22. This is a public meeting and there is a virtual attendance option. Learn more about that meeting here<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/Commissions.aspx> and/or register for virtual attendance.
  *   We will be putting updates on the website for this study here<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/tools.aspx>.
  *   Contact Katie Henry, Oregon Heritage Commission Coordinator, with any questions, katie.henry at oprd.oregon.gov<mailto:katie.henry at oprd.oregon.gov> or 503-877-8834.
Thank you in advance and watch for the survey coming in mid-January!

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Oregon Heritage News is a service of Oregon Heritage, a division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department that includes the State Historic Preservation Office. Learn more about our programs at www.oregonheritage.org<http://www.oregonheritage.org/>. The news editor can be contacted at heritage.info at oprd.oregon.gov<mailto:heritage.info at oprd.oregon.gov>.
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