The first CVARF symposium will be held on the 7th and 8th June 2024 in Glasgow. This two-day event will involve short talks, workshops and walking tours to showcase some of the exciting archaeology of the Clyde Valley region, and offer the chance to have your say in the creation of the highly anticipated Clyde Valley Archaeological Research Framework.
The symposium will be held at the Senate Room at the University of Glasgow and at Govan Old Church.
Please head to our Eventbrite page for more information and to book your place now!

*This is an in-person only event, though the presentations will be recorded and made available on the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland YouTube channel. Online and hybrid events will take place as part of the CVARF project in due course.
Venues
Day 1 — Senate Room, Main Building, University of Glasgow (with reception at the Molema Building)
Day 2 — Govan Old Parish Church, Govan
Event Schedule
Day 1: Friday 7th June — Senate Room, University of Glasgow
9.30 — 10:00 Registration
Morning Session
The morning session will aim to begin to share some of our current knowledge and understanding of archaeological research across the Clyde Valley region.
10:00 — 10.30: Introduction to the Clyde Valley Archaeological Research Framework
Following an introduction to the project, there will be a series of short talks to set the scene which will give an overview of the key interests, knowledge and most recent research carried out by three core stakeholder groups in the region.
10.35 — 11.05: Community/Third Sector
11.10 — 11.40: Commercial/professional
11.45 — 12.15: Academic
12.15 — 12.30: Discussion
12.30 — 13.30: Lunch (provided)
Afternoon Session
The afternoon session will aim to Identify key future collaborative research activities. Following short introductory talks on each topic we will break out into small groups to explore different themes and objectives.
13.30 — 14.30: Establish key shared future research themes and questions, and potential associated outputs & outcomes. We will focus on participatory/outcome focused approaches to research
14.35 — 15.35: Address research priorities in and which complement the existing ScARF framework. We will focus on Research Focus (how do we prioritise and formulate action research)
15.35 — 16.00: Summary, discussions and questions
16.00 — 17.00: Reception with wine and nibbles (to take place in University of Glasgow’s Archaeology Department, Molema Building)
Day 2: Saturday 8th June 2024 — Govan Old Parish Church
Morning session
The second day will focus on how we can build increased capacity to deliver greater public benefit in the Clyde Valley region through archaeological research, as well as investigating what we need to do to support training and skills activities, knowledge exchange events and coproduction of CVARF outputs.
10.00 — 10.15: Introduction to Day 2
10.15 — 11.15: Panel Discussion – Identifying opportunities for alignment and collaboration on archaeological research in partnership between stakeholders
11.20 — 12.20: Panel Discussion – The future of Heritage groups
12.20 — 12.45: Discussion in breakout groups – How do we build increased capacity to deliver greater public benefit?
12.45 — 13.45 Lunch (provided)
Afternoon activities
13.45 — 16.00: Exploring Govan
Tours of Govan’s archaeology, including:
- Clyde Archaeology tour of the archaeology of Govan Old Graveyard
- Walking tour of Govan
- Walking tour of the Garden Festival Site
16.00: End of event
Venue information
Senate Room, University of Glasgow:
To get to the Senate Room, enter the Main Building via the middle, front door (Hunterian Museum) and either take the lift to level 4 and follow signs, or go through double doors on the right hand side and go up via stairs to the next level and follow signs. Volunteers will be on hand to guide guests to the room on Friday morning.
The room is fully accessible and has an inbuilt induction audio loop. You can view more details about the venue here.
Govan Old Church:
Govan Old Church is 150 metres from the Govan subway station. Limited on-street carparking is available in the vicinity of the church.
The Old Church is currently being renovated to improve accessibility. At present, the church entrance has 5 steps, with a mobile ramp on site to assist when required. More information is available here.
Some activities, including site visits and walking tours, may not be suitable for those with mobility issues due to uneven ground. Please get in touch if you need more information about the accessibility of the venues and walking tours.