Heritage Journey for Youth

The HERITAGE JOURNEY FOR YOUTH project, funded through the #ErasmusPlus Programme of the European Union and coordinated by Euroactive NGO Alapítvány, Hungary, represents the initiative of 6 European youth NGOs. The main aim of the project is to empower young people to better appreciate their cultural heritage, interact with it, and through it, participate actively in society, as well as to increase their access to cultural heritage, including by digital means, and to activate their creativity when it comes to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.

Digitisation of cultural heritage can be a crucial tool in today’s efforts towards the conservation, renovation, study and promotion of European cultural resources. Connecting youth from all across Europe and enabling them to easily explore and share their interests, digital content has become an essential asset for bringing heritage closer to the young people because they remain largely anonymous from heritage conservation policy and practice. With heritage being viewed as an abstract construct, young people often have a limited understanding of what cultural heritage can be and think that ‘It’s not for me’. Helping young people understand the real significance and value behind the word ‘heritage’ is an important first step in getting them involved in the process of preserving and cherishing it.

Therefore, the project HERITAGE JOURNEY FOR YOUTH is designed to answer two main questions:

How can young people understand cultural heritage in their own terms?
How can young people revive hidden and forgotten cultural gems and make it more accessible to others?

The main activity of the HERITAGE JOURNEY FOR YOUTH project was a Youth Exchange held in Szentendre, Hungary, between the 25th of July and 3rd of August 2022, which gathered in one place 43 curious young people from Hungary, Romania, Greece, Spain, Poland and Bulgaria. Curious to see how our learning journey unfolded? Check out our favourite key moments below!

" Heritage Journey for Youth - the cultural expedition of 42 young Europeans to Szentendre, Hungary

42 young Europeans participate between July 27th - August 3rd, 2022, in an international exchange on cultural heritage and backpack journalism, organized by Euroactive NGO Alapítvány. The Heritage Journey for Youth project is designed as a context for learning and reflection on the discovery, conservation, and promotion of cultural heritage in Europe and the overseas territories. The project is co-financed by the European Union's Erasmus+ programme.

The Heritage Journey for Youth project is dedicated to young Europeans from Hungary, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, and Poland, and encourages them to get involved, understand the potential of this heritage, and promote the hidden, lesser known or forgotten cultural elements of 6 European countries.

"Backpack journalism is a powerful learning tool for young people. The digital tools needed for young people to start becoming creators of journalistic content about cultural heritage are minimal, accessible, and easily fit in a backpack: a video camera, portable editing software, a laptop, a smartphone connected to the internet. During the mobility, the 42 young people attending, without the training of professional journalists, learn to use these modern tools to increase the level of awareness and involvement of locals regarding the conservation of European cultural heritage: tangible, intangible and natural", said the coordinator of Euroactive NGO Alapítvány.

During the 8 days, participants will develop new key skills such as cultural awareness and expression, digital skills and active citizenship and will share concrete ways to protect, conserve, promote and discover cultural heritage. The skills and abilities acquired during the mobility will be reflected in the International Youthpass certificate that the participants will receive at the end.

During the activities, they will discover how to write thematic digital stories about local traditions, customs, and culture, build a digital herbarium to promote the flora of the area, create a collection of traditional games from the 6 European territories and launch “TheUnkownLegacy” awareness campaign through the digital museum.

Heritage Journey for Youth is a project coordinated by Euroactive NGO Alapítvány, in partnership with 5 other European organizations: ASOCIATIA BEYOND (Romania), Xano Channel asociación para el desarrollo comunitario (Spain), NEOI ELLADOS SE EYROPAIKI DRASI (Greece), Idea For Life (Poland), Maverick Association (Bulgaria). "

When amazing things are happening, the news spreads fast! Here are some of the things said about the Heritage Journey for Youth project on social media:

Local workshops hosted by the participants in their local communities, exploring the tangible, intangible and natural heritage of their areas:

Heritage Journey for Youth_Romania

Heritage Journey for Youth_Spain

Heritage Journey for Youth_Bulgaria

Heritage Journey for Youth_Greece

Heritage Journey for Youth_Poland