» Agencies should work with Tribes and NHOs to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge into federal decision making in Section 106 while also considering additional ways to protect sensitive information of importance to Indigenous Peoples, and to strengthen existing protections regarding confidentiality of Indigenous Knowledge. » Building on successes, agencies should continue to collaborate with Tribes and NHOs on partnerships utilizing co-management and co-stewardship practices. Agencies that have not yet pursued such partnerships should explore opportunities to engage in them.
FINDING 6:
Virtual meeting applications, tours, education programs, and programming have assisted in expanding federal agency outreach for heritage tourism and public engagement with historic places. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agencies pivoted to the use of virtual meeting tools and educational programs. Various agencies developed new virtual tours, apps, videos, and websites that allowed for agency programming and heritage tourism to continue during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Digital classroom courses by the ACHP and others have reached geographically broad audiences and have cut down on cost, time, and carbon output by reducing travel compared to trainings performed exclusively on- site. While facilities have reopened, digital programming continues to benefit the public where barriers to access relating to travel, cost, and disability prevent participation in enjoyment of the nation’s historic and cultural resources.
FINDING 5:
Increases in remote work and telework as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have led federal decision makers to evaluate their office space needs and seek opportunities for adapting underutilized space, including historic buildings and facilities. Agencies are evaluating their current in-person office space needs in light of the current hybrid work environment. The ACHP anticipates that outleasing will only grow in importance due to the balancing of office space needs, which presents opportunities for adaptive reuse of buildings in desirable locations. To this end, agencies have already begun to investigate existing programs to facilitate transfer and lease of historic properties, or portions of them, to private, state, and local entities, with protective mechanisms. On the other hand, the availability and access to federal buildings remains vitally important to federal employees and the public they serve, particularly for those who lack reliable access to the Internet and technological resources. Access to federal facility space and the technological resources contained within it remains an essential need for federal employees and consulting parties and the public, when consultations, workshops, and trainings are most effectively conducted in person. GSA, for example, is evaluating office portfolio needs that support sustainable, flexible workspaces optimized to meet current and future needs through their National Portfolio Planning process and Workplace Innovation Lab.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
» Agencies should evaluate the effectiveness of virtual communication strategies for both interpretation of historic properties and in NHPA consultation, and seek ways to expand their reach to broad and diverse public audiences. » Agencies should seek opportunities for partnerships with State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Tribes, NHOs, and other interested parties and organizations to improve and expand the quality, outreach, and accessibility of their virtual tools and programs.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
» Agencies should examine opportunities for outleasing or strategic disposal with protective covenants of underutilized historic properties, including for the creation of housing through office-to-housing conversions and other adaptive use.
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