The Boyne to Brodgar initiative is a network of museums, universities, independent experts, societies, trusts and local authorities, with extensive links to community groups. It can undertake a whole range of activities which focus on Neolithic heritage as a means of celebrating and furthering Scotland-Ireland links, creating several significant legacies.

Neolithic monuments (from around 4000 BC to 2500 BC) are a significant feature of Scotland’s and Ireland’s rich shared heritage. There are over 1000 upstanding monuments from the Neolithic period in Scotland and Ireland, many of international significance, including World Heritage Sites, visited by tens of thousands of people every year.

Boyne to Brodgar: Making Monuments, Creating Communities is an innovative project, focusing on the Neolithic monuments across Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland. These range from the iconic World Heritage Sites of Brú na Bóinne and the Heart of Neolithic Orkney to less well-known henges and timber circles. This international, interdisciplinary and cross- sectoral initiative is co-operative, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable, featuring archaeologists, heritage professionals, educators and community groups, in the UK and Ireland and beyond.

Boyne to Brodgar aims to:

» Improve understanding of these monuments, the people who built and used them, and their connections, by fostering and promoting research.

» Assist heritage professionals to create policies and strategies for the investigation, preservation and presentation of these monuments, developing joined-up and sustainable heritage tourism trails of Neolithic monuments across Ireland and Scotland.

» Empower local communities to take pride in and protect their prehistoric heritage through co-developed projects about Neolithic monuments.

Membership is informal and currently includes University College Dublin, University of the Highlands and Islands, National Museums Scotland, National Museum of Ireland, National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, Department for Communities Northern Ireland, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, German Archaeology Institute, Northlight Heritage, and Orkney Islands Council.