In 2018 is in het kader van het “Europees Jaar van het cultureel erfgoed” maatschappelijke, sectoroverschrijdende samenwerking in heel Europa tot stand gebracht om meer bekendheid te geven aan de cruciale rol van cultuur en erfgoed voor sociale integratie en Europese cohesie. Cultureel erfgoed is zeer breed gedefinieerd en omvat cultureel, natuurlijk, materieel en immaterieel erfgoed. De belangrijkste doelstellingen zijn uiteengezet in het zogenaamde actieplan van het FARO-verdrag:

• 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.