Whether it will encourage local history and oral history groups as well as local authorities to engage with their counterparts in communiti…

Homecoming Scotland 2009 has served as a great stimulus in encouraging individual local authorities and communities to engage with their counterparts in communities around the world that share the same place name.
A number of local authorities have proactively developed links with their towns in the context of their Homecoming activity this year and, while it is for local authorities to determine what cultural activities they pursue in order to raise their profile at home and overseas, we would of course welcome and encourage any activity undertaken by local authorities, local history and oral history beyond the Homecoming Year which prompts learning and the sharing of learning and which develops and promotes an understanding of Scotland, its communities and their place in the world.
A notable example of communities with the same place name engaging together is the This Is Who Are project being delivered by International Cultural Connections as part of the Homecoming Scotland programme. Through a series of community photography projects that pairs Canadian towns and cities with the places they were named after in Scotland, the connections between Scotland and its diaspora in Canada have been explored. In addition to the photography generated by each community, interviews have been conducted with participants exploring their Scottish heritage and knowledge of contemporary Scotland. The exhibition is touring venues in Scotland and Canada and will continue to do so beyond the close of the Homecoming Year.