30 September to 2 October 2011, York St John's University

In 2011 it will be twenty years since the publication of the York Development and Archaeology Study - the 'Ove Arup' report. To mark this important anniversary, City of York Council and the York Archaeological Forum which advises City of York Council on archaeological and historic environment matters, is organising a conference bringing together a broad spectrum of interested parties to launch the process of reviewing the Ove Arup report and developing a new strategy for the city's archaeology and historic environment.

A panel of distinguished speakers has been invited to look back at achievements since 'Ove Arup' was published and to set out a programme for the future. This will be done by examining aspects of York's archaeology and historic environment in respect of:

• key projects and research themes;
• management, practice and presentation.

There will also be facilities in the conference venue for the display of material relating to projects in the city and environs.

The York Archaeological Forum

The Forum was set up by York City Council in 1991 following the publication of the Ove Arup report. Members are drawn from locally based community groups and institutions, including English Heritage, York Archaeological Trust and York Museums Trust, and also include individuals with specialist expertise and knowledge. The Forum's principal role is to give advice and support to City of York Council in respect of archaeological and historic environment matters related to:

• the local authority planning process;
• the engagement and involvement of the local community;
• the development of research strategies.

York Development and Archaeology Study

The Study was sponsored jointly by English Heritage and York City Council. It was produced by Ove Arup and Partners and York University in association with Bernard Thorpe. The Study established a number of guiding principles for the conduct of archaeology in the city and made important recommendations for the management of the archaeological resource including the development of a deposit model and the requirement for site evaluation pre-development. A well-publicised and somewhat controversial recommendation was that up to 5% of the archaeology of a development site could be removed by piling without affecting the legibility of what survived. A Research Framework identified nine projects for future research activity, some concerned with management (eg urban evaluation) others with academic topics (eg the river regime). The principles, recommendations and projects are all now in need of review in light both of the enormous amount of archaeological investigation in the last twenty years, and of the changes to the political and administrative contexts in which investigation takes place, not least the redefinition of York as a unitary authority in 1996 to include villages in its immediate hinterland.

Confirmed contributors: Prof. Martin Carver (York University), Dr Peter Addyman (former Director, York Archaeological Trust), Dr Allan Hall (York University), Blaise Vyner (Consultant), Alison Sinclair (independent specialist), Peter Connelly (York Archaeological Trust), John Oxley (City of York Council), Neil Redfern (English Heritage), Jon Kenny (York Archaeological Trust), Sarah Maltby (York Archaeological Trust), Andrew Morrison (York Museums Trust), Patrick Ottaway (Chairman, York Archaeological Forum)