The Preservation Priorities Task Force is a partnership of the National Preservation Partners Network and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Formed in 2020, this two-year project brings together advocates from across the country to help statewide and local organizations address four significant, interrelated issues facing the preservation movement:
This site includes practical tools you can use to address each issue, from Issue Briefs and case studies to webinar recordings, funding opportunities, and links to external resources. The site will expand over time, and we welcome your feedback and/or examples of the great work you’re doing.
News
The Relevancy Guidebook: Building a More Relevant Preservation Movement
Now available from Landmarks Illinois’s website, The Relevancy Guidebook provides more than 200 pages of ideas, models, case studies, and references related to how to make preservation more relevant. Conveniently sectioned by theme, it includes tools and ideas that are easily segmented and shared. Use the link above or click on the image to learn more.
Case Study on Affordable Housing & Density
The L’Enfant Trust launched Washington, D.C.’s first Historic Properties Redevelopment Program to preserve community, history, and affordable homeownership in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Historic Anacostia. Learn how!
Research Report: Understanding and Advancing the Preservation Trades
Maine Preservation, the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, the Preservation League of New York State, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont partnered with researchers at the University of New Hampshire to produce a new research report, published in March 2023. Understanding and Advancing the Preservation Trades explores the status of the preservation and restoration trades workforce in the Northeast, along with insights from research participants on topics such as perceptions of career paths, compensation, training needs and opportunities, and recommendations for future action. Learn more and download report here. Learn more about the Northeast Regional Initiative for the Preservation Trades here.
Maryland Department of Labor Approved Apprenticeship Programs
The Campaign for Historic Trades announced in November 2023 that Maryland’s Department of Labor approved a group of apprenticeship programs for registration, including historic window technician, preservation carpenter, and deconstruction technician. This is an important step forward, as it sets standards for on-the-job learning, instruction, and core competencies. Learn more here.
Congratulations to the 2022 Moe Family Fund Grantees
The Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners, established by former National Trust President Richard Moe and his family, supports members of the National Preservation Partners Network. The 2021 and 2022 funding cycles of this program focused on the key issues of the Preservation Priorities Task Force. Read about the 2022 recipients, who received a total of $50,000 for innovative work on these issues. Read More
Crowdsourced Case Study Explorer Seeks Submissions
In addition to the case studies on this site, you can see others — and add your own! — on the Lead the Change Case Study Explorer. This crowdsourced database features short-form case studies across a wide range of preservation projects, subjects, and themes. They’re shorter than the ones here, but they offer a quick snapshot with links to more info.
Developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Case Study Explorer offers a searchable way to quickly find examples of innovative and fresh approaches to preservation. The case studies demonstrate how projects advance the goals of both the joint Preservation Priorities Task Force and the National Trust’s National Impact Agenda, all to strengthen communities through preservation.
Contribute a Case Study
If you want to increase the visibility of a great project you worked on, help inspire others, and lead the change in the preservation field, share your story! The database is user-generated and free and open to the public. To help ensure accuracy, we encourage submissions from people with direct involvement in the project. But any member of the preservation community is welcome to suggest and submit a project. Simply go to the Case Study Explorer and click on Submit a Case Study to get started.
You can submit the same case study to both the Case Study Explorer and the Preservation Priorities Task Force. Task force members will work with you to produce case studies for this site, which will appear as a two-page PDF.
Affordable Housing and Density
The affordable housing crisis is a national priority that impacts all communities. We are working to identify some of the challenges and opportunities to increase affordable housing and density while changing the misperception that historic preservation is a barrier to affordable housing and greater density.
Photo: Affordable housing in Bellows Falls, VT. Credit: Rebecca Harris
Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Justice
Historic preservation as a field suffers from a lack of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility both in terms of the professional composition of the field and the sites and places systematically preserved. Our work is focused on supporting the preservation movement in its continuing efforts to advance the priorities of communities historically marginalized in protecting what matters to them and foster greater inclusivity at the local, state, and national levels.
Photo: Marchers carrying signs honoring the role of local civil rights leaders who helped peacefully desegregate the Woolworth’s lunch counter in San Antonio, TX. Credit: Vincent Michael
Preservation Trades and Workforce Development
According to a 2019 survey by the Associated General Contractors of America, 80% of construction firms reported having difficulty in filling craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce. This lack of skilled workers is further magnified for the specialized traditional trades often needed for historic preservation projects. The focus of our work is to complement federal-level goals of the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation’s Traditional Trades Training Task Force with local and state case studies, data, and programs while also providing actionable items that organizations can immediately apply to begin to address the skilled trades deficit in their locality.
Photo: HOPE Crew team members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation learn traditional timber framing. Credit: Jamie Orillion
Sustainability and Climate Action
The climate crisis continues to accelerate and deepen. Rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, unprecedented flooding, and more frequent wildfires are putting people, places, and communities at risk, including many cultural sites and historic districts. Over 60% of Americans report that they are experiencing climate impacts in their communities. Through this project, we will identify some of the challenges and opportunities that historic preservation practitioners can use to plan for a changing climate and take action at the local and state levels.
Photo: Flood levels in Annapolis, MD. Credit: Stephen Howell