CIfA Conference 2025

#TeamCFA had a great time at this year's Chartered Institute for Archaeologist's annual conference, held at Millennium Point in Birmingham on Wednesday 30th April and Thursday 1st May - especially the unseasonably hot spring weather! This year's conference theme was Shaping the Future (of our Profession).

#TeamCFA enjoying the CIfA Conference

Four members of staff attended the conference: two from our Leeds office and two from Scotland. Over 300 delegates came together for two days jam-packed with talks and sessions, a large number of exhibitors with stalls, and plenty of opportunities to network and catch up with colleagues old and new during coffee breaks and lunch.

Sessions included hearing about Challenges and opportunities in post-excavation: lessons learned from archaeological ‘mega-projects’, to which our HS2 excavations (as part of our JV Connect) will contribute in the future – there are so many boxes! We found it particularly interesting to learn how this scale of project can be managed during the post-excavation phase of works.

A thought-provoking session titled Don’t call it a T3D Talk: the future of the profession in big ideas was a stimulating opportunity to hear some radical ideas from both early career and established professionals.

We were particularly enthused by the discussion surrounding a session called Shaping the future of evaluation, during which the effectiveness and possible strategies for evaluation were considered.

Finally, the closing keynote speech heard from Professor John Schofield on ‘wicked problems’ for archaeology ended with an uplifting conclusion that archaeologists are well placed to address some of today’s big issues - including climate change, social injustice, and wellbeing. We're looking forward to seeing how growth and advancement in the archaeological sector continues to contribute to improvement in these areas.

An evening drinks reception and dinner was held on Wednesday, which was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with colleagues while eating delicious Indian-inspired pizza.

We’re thrilled to hear that next year’s conference will be in Edinburgh, local stomping grounds for our Musselburgh team!