Nature-led Conservation — Zoe Alston’s talk at Riddle’s Court

Zoe Alston, Director at GRAS and RIAS Advanced Conservation Architect, speaks at the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust on 22 April at Riddle’s Court, Edinburgh. The final event of the SHBT Conservation Contexts lecture series, titled Nature-led Conservation: Can Heritage Survive Without Nature, asks what happens when building conservation and nature conservation meet.

With more than twenty years in the heritage sector, Zoe leads GRAS’s conservation work and its programme of professional development and education. The principles she sets out are both practical and philosophical — “from geology underfoot to a single bat in the roof” — built into the project from the start, not as an afterthought.

Working with WildLand means entering a collaborative process where design becomes a tool for stewardship. Their ambition — rewilding vast landscapes, repairing fragile buildings and developing sustainable forms of tourism — demands architectural, ecological and hospitality expertise working together. Over time, we’ve seen how this integrated approach produces real results. From vernacular detailing to low-impact materials, from the return of native species to the revival of traditional skills, every decision weighs its effect on land, community and climate.

WildLand’s work is driven by responsibility to Scotland’s ecosystems, rural communities and future generations. The land management is what makes the buildings tenable and the buildings — repaired, occupied, heated — are what keeps people on the land. Zoe’s talk addresses that interdependence directly.

Colin Tennant, Head of Technical Conservation at Historic Environment Scotland; Diarmid Hearns, Head of Public Policy, Risk and Environment at the National Trust for Scotland; and Lisa MacKenzie, Senior Lecturer and practising Landscape Architect at ESALA, complete the event speakers list.

22 April, 6–8pm. Riddle’s Court, 322 Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. Tickets available through SHBT.