Alan McKinney, the chief executive of the Scottish Stone Liaison Group, has joined a delegation led by Historic Scotland to explain to Americans how Scotland has tackled issues concerning the built heritage.

Eight people were in the Scottish delegation that went to address leading figures in the American conservation world. What interested the Americans was the way that a wide range of interested parties were working together in the Scottish Stone Liaison Group.

Leading the delegation to Salve Regina University on Newport Road Island, near Boston, at the end of June were Historic Scotland\'s chief executive, Graeme Munroe, and their indomitable director of technical conservation, research & education, Ingval Maxwell.

With them were: Andrew McMillan from the British Geological Survey, who produced the Building Stones of Edinburgh book; Pat Gibbon, director of the Scottish Limes Centre Trust; Douglas Fergus, the Scottish manager of the Construction Industry Training Board; Louisa Frazer, responsible for vernacular skills training at Inverness college; Graham Campbell, training manager at the Elgin Training Unit, run in conjunction with Inverness college; and Alan McKinney.

Each of the Scottish delegates had a half-hour spot to make their presentations about the co-operation of the heritage industry in Scotland and also took part in workshops being run in conjunction with the conference that ran from 8.30am to 7pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 27-29 June.

The invitation to the Scots was extended as a result of Historic Scotland\'s association with the Quinque Foundation in the USA. For several years the two organisations have run an exchange programme so that people from each country can learn about developments in the other.

The Americans at the event were at director level of leading organisations and companies and came from across the USA, although the main focus of attention was the built heritage of the eastern seaboard. As Alan McKinney said: "It\'s not a small beer exercise."

In the US, they have encountered the same problems of non-communication between trades, professionals, funding bodies, training institutions and so on that have sometimes hampered the heritage industry in Europe and the Americans wished to learn from the European experience.

They were keen to examine Scotland\'s attempt to produce a joined up approach to conservation through the Scottish Stone Liaison Group and see if it was a model they could adopt or develop.

Alan McKinney said before leaving for the States: "From the Scottish Stone Liaison Group position we are only too delighted to make up part of this delegation. I see it as a credit to Historic Scotland for what they have been pursuing to date.

"In Scotland there\'s a great desire to work together. Of course, Scotland is a small country and it\'s possible for us to get together in the morning and be back in the office in the afternoon."