Research highlights

• Enabled marginalised groups including low-income and LGBT+ communities to document and preserve their histories.
• Developed resources that have influenced urban planning, regeneration and development. 
• Inspired other local authorities to set up projects and attract heritage funding to the South West. 

University of Bristol historians have played a pivotal role in transforming engagement with local history in the city and beyond.   

Their work has focused on applying digital crowd-sourcing technologies – and, crucially, driving collaboration with various communities to diversify engagement with local heritage, 

The flagship outcome is the Know Your Bristol project, a digital map-based collaboration with Bristol City Council that enables residents to contribute images, oral histories and documents. 

Power to local communities 

The research team’s innovative methodologies have been particularly successful in reaching neglected neighbourhoods and communities who would not otherwise have engaged with the project.  

Communities in suburbs such as Hillfields and Lockleaze, for example, have added significantly to the Know Your Bristol map, which Bristol City Council says has “connected the work that we do to communities that sometimes feel peripheral and marginalised.”  

Among many other streams of the project, the team also worked closely with local LGBT+ history group OutStories Bristol to create a mobile app and a multi-layered digital map.

On the map, people can listen to people's stories, read about places and events and view historic photographs, documents and posters of significance to LGBT+ life in the city. 

Influence on urban regeneration 

At the outset of the collaboration with the council, the research team enabled the upload of hundreds of other points of local information and oral histories - including 3,000 early 20th-century postcards from the Bristol Record Office and over 600 photos taken in the 1970s and 1980s by the council’s Urban Design team. 

The breadth of this work now makes a major contribution to the city’s urban development strategy.  All the material uploaded to Know Your Bristol is part of the Historic Environment Record and has material weight in planning-related matters and local planning policies  

Examples of this influence include a major residential redevelopment in Bedminster, which drew on Know Your Bristol-generated insights to develop a ‘Heritage Based Design Approach’.  

Expanding influence 

Know Your Bristol has also inspired the creation of Know Your Place West of England, an expanded project that includes eight local authorities and has secured over £400,000 in Heritage Lottery funding. 

Covering a vast area of 7,279 square miles, the project sees an average of 180 community uploads per month. As one volunteer put it, “the great thing about it is that it breaks down the wall of archives... it brings the archives into your own home.” 

By blending digital tools, historical research and community collaboration, the Know Your Place concept has transformed how local history is explored and preserved. This empowers communities to take ownership of their histories, enriching the local cultural landscape and leaving a lasting impact on public and voluntary sector organisations across the region.  

Bristol’s innovative approach is now a model for other regions seeking to combine heritage preservation with community engagement.