Throughout the world, heritage today faces a growing number of threats and pressures – from environmental factors, socio-economic changes, armed conflict, natural disasters, or even sheer neglect from lack of recognition and valorization for the well-being and development of societies. In order to ensure concerted action in preserving and safeguarding heritage, it is important to mobilize a broad spectrum of stakeholders. One important group to engage is children and youth, who will play an instrumental role in sustaining heritage in all its diverse forms in the years to come. The project will articulate materials that address the different needs, aspirations, capacities and contributions of girls and boys. With a view to strengthen the role of youth in the long-term promotion, protection and transmission of all forms of heritage, as reflected in the UNESCO conventions, it is not enough to raise awareness about and increase appreciation for heritage in its diversity, but also to actively facilitate the right to access and enjoy heritage in all aspects of public policy and action applying a gender-responsive approach. The lack of awareness of the value of heritage and the lack of opportunities to engage in preserving and safeguarding heritage in the public sphere not only puts the heritage in risk of being irremediably lost. It also impoverishes the younger generation’s sense of identity and belonging within its respective socio-cultural continuum, and thus limits its ability to engage and contribute meaningfully to society at large. Education plays a critical role in this regard. UNESCO studies show for instance that educational programmes which valorize and integrate heritage and local knowledge yielded multiple benefits in the area of self-development, improved social skills and improved economic prospects. In addition, such programmes also lead to improved learning outcomes by keeping learners more engaged. With a long-term view to strengthening the protection of heritage in all its forms, facilitating access to and enjoyment of heritage among the younger generation as related to development of their self-identities, as well as to contributing to improved learning outcomes, it is proposed to develop a comprehensive programme for heritage education. Why UNESCO? As the leading agency in the heritage field, UNESCO has pioneered and set the standard for a number of education and awareness raising programmes linked to various dimensions of heritage. These notably include different components as World Heritage in Young Hands Kit for secondary school teachers, youth fora, teacher-training workshops, the Volunteers Initiative and the different tools developed within this programme, informational materials aimed at children under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Education Programme, including a children’s website, a children’s iPad application, a series of children cartoons, various children plays, educational materials for children on the protection of movable cultural heritage and the fight against its illicit trafficking, such as cartoons, info-graphic movies and informational kits adapted to different regions of the world. However, there is so far no education programme for young people, which takes into account a comprehensive approach to heritage in all its different dimensions and diversity. Furthermore, there is also still no programme which interrogates the relationship between all forms of heritage and education, with a view to finding ways for education to become a mechanism for for valorizing local identity and values as embodied by heritage, and for enhancing appreciation of others’ heritage and values. The need for such a comprehensive and innovative programme for heritage education is critical, given growing recognition of the interconnections among the various forms of heritage and the role of heritage in our lives, particularly from a broader development and societal perspective. It also increases awareness within the heritage field of the need to articulate integrated responses to heritage safeguarding, particularly in ways which reflect the inter-linkages among the principles of the relevant UNESCO conventions. Overall Goal/Objective The long-term goal of this heritage education programme is to facilitate the engagement of children and youth in the promotion, protection and transmission of all forms of heritage, in a manner which makes heritage relevant and meaningful to their own development trajectories. As part of this integrated approach, it shall facilitate and show the links among the various forms of heritage as well as illustrate the value of all forms of heritage. The targeted age group are secondary school students. In terms of overall development impact, the programme aims to strengthen protection and continued transmission of tangible and intangible heritage.
UNESCO heritage is what has united 4 schools living in areas characterized by its protection and whose values they share: guided by the motto UNITED IN DIVERSITY, participants from four European countries wanted to encourage high school students and local communities to become voices of their cultural heritage, since it has no voice: to act more actively and responsible, to raise their environmental awareness, overcoming the gap in the formal education, as we found out that the knowledge and pride of cultural heritage is lacking among young people, because it is not present as such in school programs and curricula.. The project has dealt with different aspects of integrated heritage, which include protected natural areas with their uniqueness, such as Ohrid Lake in North Macedonia, the oldest in Europe and rich in biodiversity, the Tokai wine region of Hungary with its long material and immaterial traditions linked to wine making, and Rome, Italy, with its invaluable cultural heritage and enormous problems of conservation and defense. Also, the Czech Republic with the Plzen region which, in addition to the famous beer, is also famous for the biosphere reserve called the "green roof of Europe". The theme of the application covers many school subjects: with such an interdisciplinary approach, it was easy to develop core skills for life in our students, such as group work, digital research, interviewing, public speaking, social engagement. High school students engaged in this project will play an important practical role in sustaining heritage in all its diverse forms in the years to come. Students have become more aware of a growing number of threats and pressures – from environmental factors to socio-economic changes, from armed conflict, to over-tourism, natural disasters, or even sheer neglect from lack of recognition and valorization heritage today faces throughout the world. With a view to strengthen the role of youth in the long-term promotion, protection and transmission of all forms of heritage, as reflected in the UNESCO conventions, in this 2, almost 3 years’ period, our students (200 direct participants roughly) have been active contributors to a variety of local and international activities, workshops, visits of various UNESCO sites, etc. They have personally been organisers of different events within this project as Intercultural Festivals, Lake Protection Campaign, Harvest Festival, original creators of handbooks, guides, ppt presentations, posters, leaflets, brochures, which were produced in the different phases of the project. In order to ensure concerted action in preserving and safeguarding heritage, it was important to mobilize a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Scientific institutions and their experts related to our topic were also involved in the project, as well as the parents, in the role of the hosts of the foreign students and participating to public activities, Festivals, Campaigns, Dissemination events. Education plays a critical role in this regard. UNESCO studies show that educational programs which valorize and integrate heritage and local knowledge trigger multiple benefits in the area of self-development, improved social skills and improved economic prospects. In addition, such programs also lead to improved learning outcomes by keeping learners more engaged. With a long-term view to strengthen the protection of heritage in all its forms, facilitating access to and enjoyment of heritage among the younger generation as related to development of their self-identities, we've provoked positive feelings and attitudes among our students towards their heritage seen as a personal belonging that needs to be cherished and not taken for granted. As the leading agency in the heritage field, UNESCO has pioneered and set the standard for a number of education and awareness raising programs linked to various dimensions of heritage. However, there is so far no education program for young people, which takes into account a comprehensive approach to heritage in all its different dimensions and diversity. Along this project we have explored the educational mechanisms useful for highlighting local identity and values as embodied by heritage, and for enhancing appreciation of others’ heritage and values. The need for such a comprehensive and innovative program for heritage education is critical, given the growing recognition of the interconnections among the various forms of heritage and the role of heritage in our lives, particularly from a broader social perspective. It also increases awareness of the need to articulate integrated responses to heritage safeguarding, particularly in ways which reflect the inter-linkages among the principles of the relevant UNESCO conventions. We believe, as Mother Teresa once said, that “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”, hoping that our project may inspire others to pursue our mutual mission.