DigVentures

If you've worked in archaeology, the pressures probably aren't news to you. Low pay, short contracts, limited progression and the assumption that you’ll find a way to make it work financially - all of which have been documented in BAJR Poverty Impact Reports. Rise Associates' Class Ceiling inquiry looked at the arts, but its findings will likely feel familiar to anyone working in archaeology, where funding constraints translate directly into who can and can't afford to stay. DigVentures' next #DVTrends event, "The Class Ceiling: What Working-Class Exclusion from the Arts Means for Archaeology," will explore what those findings mean for the archaeology sector - and what a more accessible, sustainable profession could look like. Register to join us live on Friday 8 May (or receive a recording) and hear more from: 📢 Lisa Westcott Wilkins, founder and co-CEO of DigVentures  📢 Nazir Afzal OBE 📢 Matt Baker, founder of RISE We're really looking forward to hosting this panel, and especially to the Q&A - bring your questions and your sector experiences with you: https://lnkd.in/eXYNX-gi --x-- #archaeology #heritagesector #digventures #dvtrends #culturalsector #artssector #classceiling #creativeaccess #culturalinclusion #bajr

Not on our mailing list yet? 📩 Sign up for more archaeology in your inbox - including updates on DigVentures' latest projects, and behind-the-scenes insights from our work: https://lnkd.in/gMpYEtsU --x-- #digventures #archaeology #participatoryarchaeology #teamdv #discoverwithdv #archaeologyinyourhands #communityarchaeology #publicarchaeology #handsonhistory #archaeologyforeveryone #newsletter #updates

Beneath every field, hillside and coastline across the UK lies a record of thousands of years of change, but these landscapes are changing faster than they can be mapped. Through the Deep Time project platform, citizen scientists like Deborah are trained to identify key landscape features from home, and the information they gather feeds into real decisions about how we care for and manage nature and landscapes. If you’re responsible for managing land, funding nature recovery or shaping policy, we’d love to collaborate on a landscape-mapping mission. 📩 Get in touch at deeptime@digventures.com --x-- #hadrianswall #citizenscience #conservation #deeptime #worldheritagesite #archaeology #pastronaut #digventures #ancienthistory #roman #romanempire #romanhistory #earthday #earthday2026

In 12 days, we'll begin to train the first citizen scientists taking part in the Deep Time project's latest mission to map the archaeology of Hadrian's Wall. This mission starts from the simple premise that, if we want to protect important landscapes, we need better ways to understand how they're changing - and the evidence to act early. The loss of the Sycamore Gap tree was a stark reminder that valued landscapes aren't frozen in time, and that their protection matters to everyone.  Across the Hadrian’s Wall corridor, climate change, erosion, land use change and development are all affecting the condition of this landscape and the historic environment within it. Responding well means having better evidence, earlier. This is what DigVentures' Deep Time platform is designed to help build. Through citizen science and structured landscape recording, the project is creating a growing evidence base for UK landscapes, bringing together ecological and historic environment data. For partners working in ecology, conservation, land management and planning, that kind of landscape intelligence can support baseline understanding, risk assessment, project design, stewardship and longer-term decision-making. If you're interested in how Deep Time’s datasets could support your work, we'd love to hear from you. 📩 Get in touch at deeptime@digventures.com #hadrianswall #citizenscience #conservation #deeptime #worldheritagesite #archaeology #pastronaut #digventures #lnrs #bng #tnfd #landscaperecovery #civiccapability #naturerecovery #sycamoregap #sycamoregaptree

Rise Associates' Class Ceiling inquiry is about the arts - but archaeology should be paying close attention... “Class Ceiling” examines working-class exclusion in the arts, and its findings also raise important questions for archaeology, about access, pay, progression, belonging and who gets to build a sustainable career in the sector. Join us for next month's live event, where DigVentures' Lisa Westcott Wilkins explores what the findings of Class Ceiling could mean for the archaeology sector and what meaningful change might look like in practice, with Nazir Afzal OBE and Matt Baker, founder of RISE. This discussion is for anyone interested in how archaeology can become more accessible, equitable and sustainable as a profession. 🔴 The Class Ceiling: What Working-Class Exclusion from the Arts Means for Archaeology  🗓 8 May, 1-2pm BST  📌 digventures.com/calendar  Register to join us live, or receive a recording. --x-- Top image: RISE Associates #archaeology #heritagesector #digventures #dvtrends #culturalsector #artssector #classceiling #creativeaccess #culturalinclusion

Throughout the UK, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Landscape Recovery schemes and heritage programmes need data that simply doesn't exist yet. Heritage sites are deteriorating faster than they can be recorded, and professional surveys can't cover it all. DigVentures' citizen science platform works with volunteers like Susan, who join our missions from all over the world to help validate satellite and aerial imagery. Together, we're creating landscape-scale habitat and heritage maps that deliver the defensible evidence these organisations can trust. We handle volunteer recruitment, training and quality assurance, creating evidence packages that are ready to use and building genuine community connections that go far beyond consultation 🤝 Next up, our volunteers will be mapping Hadrian’s Wall in just 8 weeks - producing data with the potential to inform future conservation decisions across this unique World Heritage Site. If you're working on LNRS, Landscape Recovery, heritage management or need baseline data for BNG or TNFD reporting alongside meaningful community engagement, we’d love to collaborate on a mission. 📩 Get in touch at deeptime@digventures.com #hadrianswall #citizenscience #conservation #deeptime #worldheritagesite #archaeology #pastronaut #digventures #lnrs #bng #tnfd #landscaperecovery #civiccapability #naturerecovery

Across the heritage and conservation sector, one challenge keeps coming up - we need better landscape data than we currently have the capacity to gather. Climate pressures, development and land-use change are reshaping the UK’s landscape faster than traditional surveys can keep up with 🌍 This is where Deep Time can help. We train and coordinate a community of volunteers to analyse LiDAR, satellite imagery, aerial photography and historic maps, helping to identify archaeological features and landscape change across heritage sites and ecological habitats. Every mission includes structured training, quality assurance and expert validation, producing data that organisations can use with confidence to fill critical gaps in heritage and habitat intelligence. Our approach has already supported the National Trust, Natural England, The Wildlife Trusts and multiple National Landscapes. In previous Deep Time missions, trained citizen scientists have matched or outperformed machine-learning baselines in 88% of cases. Our latest mission will see participants mapping the landscape of Hadrian’s Wall in just 8 weeks - and the evidence gathered will help to inform future conservation decisions around this unique World Heritage Site. If you’re responsible for managing land, funding nature recovery or shaping policy, we’d love to collaborate on a mission. 📩 Get in touch at deeptime@digventures.com #hadrianswall #citizenscience #conservation #deeptime #worldheritagesite #archaeology #pastronaut #digventures

✨ Don’t miss our free live event TOMORROW ✨ Join DigVentures' Lisa Westcott Wilkins and Brendon Wilkins in conversation with lithic specialist and geophysical archaeologist Cian Hogan, as they explore some of the finds from our crowdfunded dig in the Boyne Valley to date, and the insight they offer into everyday life in Neolithic Ireland. 🔴 Small Finds, Big Discoveries: Stone Tools in Ancient Ireland 🗓 19 March, 12-1pm GMT 📌 digventures.com/calendar Register to join us live, or receive a recording straight to your inbox 📥 --x-- #digventures #archaeology #participatoryarchaeology #discoverwithdv #archaeologyinyourhands #communityarchaeology #publicarchaeology #handsonhistory #archaeologyforeveryone #boynevalley #ireland #prehistory #neolithic #prehistoric #lithics #neolithictools #crowdfunding

🚀 LANDSCAPE INTELLIGENCE: help us shape the future of Citizen Science for natural and historic environment data 🚀 DigVentures and Nesta's Centre for Collective Intelligence are hosting online participatory workshops to explore what's next for Deep Time - our citizen-powered data mapping platform - and we’re inviting past partners, future collaborators and industry changemakers to help us chart the course. This isn't another boring webinar - you'll be actively helping us to design transparent, trustworthy models of governance that deliver social good while producing high quality datasets. With your help, we will explore: * Sustainable funding and governance models for large-scale citizen science * Transparent, trustworthy frameworks for data stewardship * The application of AI to both data collection and participant training   If you've worked in citizen science, landscape management, environmental monitoring, heritage, planning, or data governance and you care about who gets to shape how public knowledge is governed - we want your insight! Online, Thursday 26th March 14:00-17:00 or Thursday, 16th April 👇 To apply for a place, drop a comment, DM or email us at deeptime@digventures.com #CitizenScience #CollectiveIntelligence #EnvironmentalData #LandscapeIntelligence #DataGovernance #HeritageScience #OpenData #AIforGood

After an enlightening weekend excavating test pits in 2025, DigVentures are returning to Lytham Hall this summer for our first season of crowdfunded digging, to uncover the stories buried beneath this remarkable Georgian country house and its historic parkland. From early medieval roots and a Benedictine priory to lost gardens, an 18th-century ice house and the boom of Victorian seaside tourism, Lytham Hall has held a front-row seat to centuries of change. But before we dust off our trowels, we're exploring the people and events that shaped the Hall's past. Discover why these stories make its archaeology so promising in our latest blog. 👉 https://lnkd.in/euHDsCdJ --x-- 📷 Ray Collister #digventures #archaeology #participatoryarchaeology #communityarchaeology #publicarchaeology #archaeologyforeveryone #crowdfunding #lancashire #georgian #earlymedieval #medieval #postmedieval #lythamhall