From investment to partnerships: what the 2020 Heritage Project unlocked
How the 2020 project created new relationships around heritage, skills and regeneration.
Building relationships as well as reports
One of the less visible outcomes of the 2020 Portview Heritage Project was the network of relationships built around it. The evaluation records new or strengthened links with National Museums NI, the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre, Belfast City Council, Urban Villages and Tourism NI. These relationships mattered because Portview did not have all of the expertise required to regenerate a major listed industrial site in-house. Heritage interpretation, skills, tourism, conservation, planning and investment all required partners able to bring specialist knowledge and connect the project to wider programmes.
Formalising heritage and skills partnerships
Two relationships progressed into formal Memoranda of Understanding. National Museums NI agreed to share expertise around the management, conservation, research and interpretation of the Mill and its heritage. A separate relationship with the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre in Dundalk created a route for Portview to explore entry-level skills opportunities in areas such as robotics, automated production and electrical engineering. Those agreements connected two apparently different parts of the Portview story: preserving the industrial heritage of the site while using that history of making and manufacturing to create contemporary opportunities.
Creating momentum for the next step
The evaluation also recorded additional investment and non-financial support being mobilised during the project period. The wider significance was momentum: the feasibility programme was beginning to connect Portview with funders, public bodies, technical specialists and delivery partners who could help turn concepts into practical activity. Later projects should therefore be understood as part of a progression rather than isolated announcements. The 2020 work created evidence, relationships and a platform for further experimentation — from visitor uses and heritage interpretation to learning partnerships and new business activity across the site.
