Heritage Revised — New Media Approaches to Heritage Awareness in Youth Work

Why this programme?

Young people increasingly experience the world through digital, visual, interactive and participatory media. At the same time, heritage education can sometimes remain centred on traditional formats: guided tours, exhibitions, historical information and passive observation.

This creates an opportunity for youth work.

New media can provide alternative entry points into heritage, allowing young people to:

• explore places and stories through immersive experiences;
• discover hidden or forgotten narratives;
• connect personal and community memories with wider European heritage;
• question dominant interpretations of history;
• create their own narratives;
• collaborate across cultures;
• transform physical spaces into interactive learning environments.

The programme therefore does not aim to turn youth trainers into technology specialists. Instead, it aims to help them become creative facilitators who know when, why and how to use technology to create meaningful learning experiences.

General aim

To strengthen the capacity of youth trainers to use new media and emerging technologies as tools for heritage awareness, intercultural learning, creativity and youth participation.

Specific objectives

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Explore contemporary approaches to cultural heritage and heritage awareness.
• Identify opportunities for using immersive and interactive media in youth work.
• Experiment with VR, AR, 360° media, projection mapping, interactive installations, digital storytelling and other creative technologies.
• Design non-formal education activities connecting young people with local, national and European heritage.
• Use storytelling and participatory methodologies to make heritage more relevant to young people.
• Encourage young people to question, reinterpret and remix heritage narratives.
• Develop low-cost and accessible digital heritage activities that can be replicated in different youth-work contexts.
• Create a prototype heritage-awareness activity in an international team.
• Reflect on ethical issues such as authenticity, representation, ownership, AI-generated content and digital accessibility.
• Develop a concrete transfer plan for implementing the methodology in participants' local communities.

Learning approach

The training should follow a simple principle, rather than having long theoretical sessions, participants encounter the technology first, then reflect on its educational potential.