We are happy to announce a new EU-funded project, EMPATHS (EMpowering landscapes with Participatory Approaches to Heritage interpretation Skills), that aims  to redefine how heritage stories are told and experienced, creating lasting connections between people and places through participatory heritage interpretation (HI). The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme and brings together six organizations in four different countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy).  

The project  kicked off during a meeting on December 12-13, 2024, in Berlin where the partners aligned their roles and responsibilities. 

Cultural heritage is a crucial economic and social resource for EU countries .  Community participation to heritage interpretation is an invaluable way to democratize heritage and ultimately foster citizen participation in the enjoyment of heritage and for its contribution to sustainable development. But heritage professionals often  lack the necessary competences, practices and resources to implement participatory HI and ignore its benefits according to research. 

EMPATHS aims to address these challenges by developing a new methodological framework and a new blended professional training programme, methodology and materials for participatory heritage interpretation practice by heritage professionals and local communities. 

The project will support the work of heritage professionals, increase their competences, and support Vocational Educational Training (VET) with a replicable training methodology. Throughout its duration (2024-2027) EMPATHS project will raise awareness of the benefits of participatory heritage interpretation to ultimately foster greater citizen participation.

The EMPATHS consortium features six enthusiastic partners, each of whom brings diverse and valuable skills to the table. HERITΛGE is joined by Interpret Europe, the European association for Heritage Interpretation with more than 1,000 members that also serves a project co-ordinator, The Story Behind, a start-up SME specialising in ethical branding, storytelling and interpretation for heritage and cultural organisations, The Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark that spans 1,067 km² across Austria and Slovenia, The Ethnological Museum of Thrace in Greece and The Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei in Italy. 

The team is beginning to conduct interviews with heritage and vocational professionals and is developing a Skills Manifesto to be published in the coming months with a comprehensive training curriculum to follow. These are just the first steps in the EMPATHS project’s journey that will see us explore participatory approaches in heritage interpretation  and promises transformative impacts for both heritage professionals and local communities, fostering inclusivity, co-creation, and sustainability in the heritage sector. By empowering diverse voices and embracing innovative methodologies, EMPATHS aims to redefine how heritage stories are told and experienced, creating lasting connections between people and places.