People Places Stories

PPS Toolkit Launched!

Linda Siebert — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 17:51:25 +0000

The map features the different stages of HC building

The PPS Toolkit is finally launched! The PPS team did a lot of research, talked to practioners, looked at heritage communities and consulted with experts to put together a toolkit. If you’re looking to build, strengthen or support your heritage community – look no further.

This toolkit can help you, no matter what stage your community is at. Including good practice examples, interviews, documents, relevant competences and suggestions for activities as well as a quiz and some tasks for you to reflect and monitor your progress.

Make sure to check it out under:

https://pps-eu.org/toolkit/

PPS on Salento University Radio

vianne — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 14:01:16 +0000

PPS on Radio

The Salento University Radio took interests in PPS and interviewed few of our colleagues, including Guy Tilkin (FEST) and Sarah Wolferstan (UCL), on the meaning of PPS, how heritage community development is related to the Fargo Convention, the PPS online Toolkit, the social role of heritage and importance to promote heritage facilitators competence.

Listen to the podcast HERE.

PPS Final conference in Château de Goutelas

vianne — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:36:17 +0000

In December 2022, our French partner, ACCR, organised a conference with the topic “Heritage, diverse narratives: what place is given to the Other?” About 50 people active in the fields of culture, cultural heritage, heritage communities and other related fields met in the castle and among them our PPS partnership to present our project results.

It has been a great joy to join in the groups dynamics. We experimented together, we engaged in dialogue with others, we discussed our project desires. This meeting was intended to be an accelerator for cooperation and reflection on the relationships we have with our neighbours, our visitors, our partners and within our teams. We hope you left with new ideas, with increased confidence and with a good appreciation for your actions.

This meeting was built in a European dimension and we hope to have opened new bridges of communication and cooperation between the participants of the six countries represented.

PPS @ REVEAL14

vianne — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:57:48 +0000

PPS was proud to be invited as a contributor to REVEAL14.

REVEAL14 brought together over 110 participants from 11 EU projects and local initiatives in Göttingen in September 2022. During the conference, Sarah Wolferstan, a colleagues form the PPS consortium, shared the role of culture and heritage within sustainability and how the FARO convention is related to sustainable development. Carrying the Song and Eco-pathway were two projects that represented PPS in the REVEAL14 Exhibition. They acted as an example for community of practice (Carrying the Songs) and community of interest (Eco-pathway). Visit the REVEAL14 virtual exhibition site to learn more about these two projects: http://reveal14.eu/

Under the motto “towards a circular sustainability culture”, professionals from the fields of ecology, social work, learning and culture exchanged ideas with each other. The programme promoted this through engaging keynotes, thematic and practical workshops, time for talks and discussions and an innovative exhibition, which was visited in mixed groups. The interconnectedness and the respective contribution to sustainability in the fields thus became apparent. The conference was accompanied by storyteller Clare Murphy who in the evening programme, which was a highlight for many, beautifully brought the experiences and insights together. The performance combined science education with storytelling, showcasing an alternative way to communicate and transmit knowledge that leaves a strong impression to the audiences. Thus, promoting to the entire audience, the power of connecting people, places and stories. A final PPS partner meeting allowed for shared reflection and what elements can be used to develop the PPS toolkit. Stay tuned.

PPS Training Course in Lecce

Linda Siebert — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 06:00:34 +0000

From May 22^nd to May 27^th a PPS joint staff training course was held in Lecce.

Hosted by the University of Salento around 30 participants came together in the monastery of Olivetani. The historic venue, now used by the University of Salento set the right tone for a course about heritage community building.

A full and very diverse programme awaited the participants. Experts gave input on relevant topics like value, adult learning and the Faro convention. Methods for HC-building were introduced. Participants gained insights and experienced storytelling, thanks to Shona Cowie, a Scottish storyteller and Placetelling, a method introduced through the University of Salento.

To deepen the understanding of these inputs and put them into application the participants worked in groups on real life cases. Some people brought examples from communities they’re involved in. Applying the inputs to real life cases equipped all participants with valuable competences for heritage community building. The ones who brought the examples left Lecce with lots of ideas and input on how build and grow their community. It was fascinating to see the guidelines and methods applied on very different cases. Ranging from food to buildings as heritage. Some communities have existed for so long that an approach of how to bring fresh air into it is needed, others are at the very beginning and the question of how to implement and grow a community with its organisational structures was the main takeaway.

In the afternoons the University of Salento put together an extensive programme of excursions to see heritage communities in Salento. Participants go to see and talk to community members of e.g., a community run mill, a permanent active citizenship laboratory, the Salento Natural history museum and a theatrical performance in a castle. The experience was rounded off by enjoying one of the area’s most important cultural heritages: food.

Launching of People Places Stories

vianne — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:48:39 +0000

People Places and Stories is now in action!

Engaging with our cultural heritage can unite and bring people together across countries and societies. This works best when the focus is not on the divisive aspects, but on the similarities or even commonalities.

Therefore, in 2018, the “European Year of Cultural Heritage” established societal, cross-sectoral cooperation across Europe to increase awareness of the crucial role of culture and heritage for social inclusion and European cohesion. Cultural heritage is very broadly defined and includes cultural, natural, tangible and intangible heritage. The main objectives are set out in the so-called Action Plan of the FARO Convention:
– the strengthening of the sense of belonging to a common European social and cultural space
– the integration of cultural heritage into social, ecological and economic processes
– the development of cultural heritage as a rich and meaningful interdisciplinary learning environment.

These goals can best be implemented and achieved by local groups and initiatives directly in their environment; the heritage communities. Heritage communities are self-organised, self-managed groups of individuals interested in progressive social transformation of relationships between people, places and histories. They are the ideal context for developing key competencies such as cultural awareness, citizenship skills and the ability to learn.

This is also where the new Erasmus+ funded project “People, Places, Stories” comes in. It develops tools and methods to support capacity building in heritage communities as socio-cultural spaces for creativity, learning, participation and inclusion. The project relies on competence-based training, blended learning and validation of non-formal learning.

People, Places, Stories is targeted at heritage professionals, community mediators, participatory planning facilitators, adult educators, policy makers, citizens and groups. They will be provided with methods to build and expand communities on the ground that are committed to a unifying interpretation and treatment of cultural heritage – in line with the FARO Action Plan.

Published also on EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe). LINK HERE