Toolkit for Heritage Managers
The COOLTOUR Toolkit shares tested good practices, serves as inspiration, and also as guidance when planning to introduce participative practices for Heritage Managers with young audiences.
1. Choosing the heritage Tool 1.1 Choosing the heritage top- down: “5 exhibition” in Cyprus Museum – Nicosia, Cyprus
This tool helps you focus on the main message you want to convey with the exhibition.
The selection of heritage and the objects to interpret in exhibition “5” were realised by the institution itself with the clear goal to create unique experiences for millennials through storytelling by evoking and then presenting life stories of ancient Cypriots.
Practice
The Department of Antiquities organised the temporary exhibition FIVE in the Cyprus Museum aiming to present what it was like living in Cyprus in ancient times.
- Highlight a few objects of the collection. FIVE adopts an anthropocentric approach allowing the visitor to come “face to face” with the stories of 5 people from the past, by translating scientific bio- archaeological information into narratives that (re)create moments of the life of: the man from Souskiou, the diadem child from Dromolaxia-Vyzakia, the man from Idalion, the woman from Omodos and the woman from
- Make a twist. The embodied experiences are presented by means of creative museological storytelling, using technology, sound, visuals, archaeological findings and site interpretation in order to help make archaeological knowledge more accessible, allowing the visitors to review the ways they think and learn about the past.
Tips and Recommendations
Through storytelling we understand the world, we process complex information, we communicate and we understand our experiences. At the same time, the potential of new media and technology to create interactive narratives and share them with a wider audience is helping to build communities.
The cultural heritage sector can use storytelling as a method to communicate to the public the findings and research conducted by the domain experts of a cultural site or collection.
Museums, – such as the Cyprus Museum with it’s ‘5’ exhibition – “tell stories” through the informed selection and meaningful display of artefacts; and the use of explanatory visual and narrative motifs in their exhibits.
Nevertheless, storytelling as applied by museums has for the most part been limited to descriptive, scholarly prose and this can change through the combined use of new technologies and innovative forms of storytelling.
Context
The Cyprus Archaeological Museum was selected as the pilot heritage site in Cyprus because an exhibition directly related to the COOLTOUR topic was hosted in the museum during the pilot implementation period. The pilot in Cyprus led by CUT was implemented in three parallel educational phases. The workshop topic concerns the «revival» of the life of ancient Cypriots through the use of innovative tools in archaeological sites (AR, ancient life stories etc) but also through experiences that connect history to the present: for example, culinary experiences that are based on historical/archaeological references regarding daily habits of the ancient Cypriots,
e.g. clothing and everyday life.
In the first phase, a pilot workshop was organised for Cultural Heritage Managers and relevant stakeholders and the “Cooltour concept” was explained. The CUT team presented the Cooltour platform to the participants and the topics of the Toolkit.
In the second phase, a pilot seminar with the participation of at least 30 Cypriot Millennials was organised aiming to engage participants in content creation for the Cooltour platform. In the final phase a visit at the Cyprus Archaeological Museum was organised with the occasion of the ‘5’ exhibition
1. Choosing the heritage Tool 1.1 Choosing the heritage top- down: “5 exhibition” in Cyprus Museum – Nicosia, Cyprus
This tool helps you identify the focal points and interests of the audience regarding a complex heritage site. Gathering data directly from the people can be helpful when you are searching for new topics to explore and present,and when designing new programmes. It can also be effective when the goal is to personalise the site’s activities toward the needs of the users.
Practice
During the Hungarian pilot programme, the main issue was what the people considered as a heritage site or individual heritage object, phenomena in the city that are important and interesting for them to ignite further exploration and co-operation.
- Define the task and purpose of the programme and the benefits for all participants. Specify the context of co-working between millennials and CHMs. In this case that maifested as an interview and the production of online media materials. Always find an occasion to gather the ideas and opinions from those that have already expressed their interest in participating.
- Pass the baton to the audience to choose the heritage in the form of an open call. Set the scope for applicants to choose the specific heritage of interest. The scope and location of the experiment was Budapest, as the Hungarian capital offers a huge variety of heritage and heritage-related
- Share the open call across all your media and with others that have potential reach for your target audience: university magazines, student associations, facebook groups for volunteers,
- Gather the answers.
- Contact the applicants and inform them Find the chosen site’s manager to invite to the initiative and ask for co- operation. Organise the individual interviews.
- Collect feedback from both parties (institutions and volunteers) and encourage them to take the initiative in deepening their co-operation.
Tips and Recommendations
By asking your audience, you can attract volunteers, people who have true interest in and caring for your site. This way you can address people who are more likely to engage long-term. Set the bar just right with the task – not too low and not too high. High entry level for applying for a volunteer programme might scare away participants. Also, requiring investment in a lot of resources can also be a reason to decline the invitation from a heritage manager.
By making a list of possible options or presenting examples, you can guide the contributors towards providing the data that you need.
If you are just interested in the opinion of visitors and not in further engaging them, the format of an online (survey) form could be considered. You can create an online competition between nominated ideas with a live online vote on the heritage site’s website, and immediate showing of results.
Context
Budapest offers a huge variety of heritage managed by multiple stakeholders (institutions, municipality or private owners). While the city as a whole can be perceived as one site, the different elements of that heritage cluster are perceived differently by all actors (CHIs, history enthusiasts, locals, tourists).
The Hungarian pilot for COOLTOUR initiated by KÖME, titled “Heritage Together!” (Örökséget Közösen!) consisted of community-driven mapping of heritage sites in Budapest and created profiles, reviews, and content for the COOLTOUR Platform. Young participants were involved in the dissemination and publishing an open call for volunteers to reach the chosen target audience. Work method consisted in forming work teams of 2-3 members, to realise the mapping of their chosen site. The teams and participants involved chose their site, after which a 1-1,5 hour long interview with the stakeholders sites was organised. Then, our teams created the site pages on COOLTOUR based on the workshops. They not only delivered the site description, but we asked the to leave reflections in the comments section which works as a dialogue between the site and the community; heritage- users. Our goal was to help connect devoted young people bringing certain questions, developing ideas and innovative sparks – with heritage sites not receiving enough attention from their managers, neglected or incapable of fulfilling their potential to thrive.
1. Choosing the heritage Tool 1.1 Choosing the heritage top- down: “5 exhibition” in Cyprus Museum – Nicosia, Cyprus
This tool helps you find the way to the target audience and also to strengthen the engagement of all parties involved, in order to build long-term co-operation with local communities.
Practice
- Involve the Municipality and the heritage site. The first step we took was to involve the Municipality in the person of the Mayor, to make sure to have his full support for the initiative from the start. We also involved the Antas Temple site management since the start of the COOLTOUR project, to make sure they were aware of its aims and different stages. They thus felt informed, committed and part of the process since its initial phases. Then, as soon as the pilot project organisation was launched in the various territories, we held different workshops, 1:1 meetings with both the Municipality and the site management to share the pilot details, as well as to ask for their contribution towards the youngsters’ involvement.
- Increasing the active engagement of the social and cultural community within the Municipality. A plan was co-designed with the institutional support of the Municipality and the heritage site. We designed a call for participants and all the available tools were used to share it: word of mouth, social media channels, institutional communication and articles in local newspapers. At the same time, to mobilise the local community, social and cultural organisations at local level were approached, as well as those responsible for other projects in the locale (for instance the Civic Service).
- Involve and meet with the youngsters. The call for participants was positive. Among the first volunteers we chose some “ambassadors” who already knew the site and / or the persons involved in its management, and we worked with them to involve more youngsters for the pilot. These ambassadors were effective since they were able to better convey the project aim, its potential and to motivate peers narrating the beauty of the site. We found ambassadors are key to activities like this one.
Get together. The pilot participants were:the full staff of the Antas Temple, all the youngsters that had subscribed and the Mayor, on behalf of the Municipality. The group worked together fruitfully for the 2 days, thanks to the good spirit of trust and co-operation created during the preliminary phases. Youngsters felt they were privileged to participate in the project on behalf of their community and were aware this experience could be important for them and for the Municipality. They were aware they could “give something back” to the community in which they had grown up. At the same time, the Municipality and the Heritage management perceived the importance of having reinforced their legacy with the community, thanks to the project. Everyone’s efforts were fully rewarded!
Tips and Recommendations
Tailor the idea according to the needs of each party involved. With a preliminary meeting as the preparation for co-operation, a programme suggestion can be adjusted to fulfil the needs of the different stakeholders, in order to make a better impact during implementation.
Organise in-between meetings with stakeholders. A meeting with a group of youngsters was set before the official start of the pilot, introducing them to the heritage managers, detailing the project aims and brainstorming around the main themes we could tackle together in the pilot. This helped lower the barriers amongst participants and to align towards a common goal to be pursued.
Context
The Italian pilot workshops for COOLTOUR assessed by Assoenti Locali took place throughout June 2023, in four heritage sites in the southern part of Sardinia, one of them was Antas. During the pilots, the team fine-tuned the project’s working methodology, using a tailor-made system in order to:
- adapt to the needs of the sites and work on something that interests them
- adapt to local ways of working, skills and structures, to be supportive and ensure the replicability of the model. Antas had already started working on the binomial of the heritage site and natural Talking to heritage managers, exchanging competences and interests, interpretative approaches and perspectives, youngsters created communication strategies and tools in line with what each site needs. Amongst the tools developed, there are memes, posts, photos, videos, poems, small screenplays. In Antas: videos and photos were produced that enhance the beauty and spirituality of the place.
2. Millennials and Cultural heritage managers TOOL 2.2 – Round table discussion on how to make permanent collections more attractive to youngsters in the Archeological Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
This tool can enhance better dialogue and understanding between CHIs and young audiences and identify the preferences, goals and how to address them. Moderating an open discussion, addressing problems and challenges can lead to the definition of clearer aims to the CHI and the institution can become more meaningful to the public.
Practice
- Target wisely. Organise and advertise the public discussion in an easy-to-reach place during times that would be most convenient for most people (end of work hours on weekdays or just after).
- It will be particularly difficult to get youngsters but finding those who might be especially interested and open to collaboration with museums might do the trick: students of design, art, museology, history, anthropology, different youth organisations and students Invest in media targeting youth especially. Work on getting as many interested as possible.
- Involve local heritage institutions in the Contact them early on in the implementation phase and keep them in the loop with necessary information. Invite them attentively and give them the floor to present what they are working on. Ask to share relevant project news with them via their social media, and where necessary contextualise it locally/nationally. Heritage managers will be motivated to come and share difficulties and ideas.
- Start with the positive: successes, good examples, working models to establish common ground. Record the best
- Sincerely address the negative: the existing struggles, deficiencies, conflicts of interest too. This can reduce biases, question assumptions and create better understandings of the path of future improvement.
- Ask about opinions and suggestions, and possible solutions to the problems mentioned by all A common brainstorming can generate new ideas. What kind of support do HMs need to do a better job including and targeting content towards the youth? Which trainings, support organisations, require investment? Do they need a budget and upskilling around how to work on one?
- The revision of possible solutions, when summarising, is an essential During an extensive workshop, always recall the key points of the discussion.
- Always evaluate the event. Find a way to stimulate all participants to form opinions, and share what they have learned, and what they will take away from the discussion.
Tips and Recommendations
A Moderator is a key person who can relax everyone and establish a safe and protected environment which is not filmed, where no-one’s opinions will be shared outside the circle without consent.
Share the workflow. During the discussion of the pilot, heritage managers were invited to say whether and how they include youth in content creation; whose job it is in their institution , how they deal with it, whether they organise ad hoc activities and how they target participants. The youth were invited to say what they like in the area of cultural heritage, where they feel seen and included, and what they don’t like. Discussion takes off from here and unfolds naturally. After the event, keep the participants informed about relevant developments regarding the discussed topics, throughout project implementation, and factored into plans for the future.
Context
The Croatian pilot for COOLTOR organised by BRODOTO focused on capacity-building the chosen target audience: children (and through them families), and millennials (students and young adults). The pilot was implemented as a round table discussion gathering together HMs and youngsters as well as their peers and colleagues from the university. The topic was how to target youth and better involve them in content creation and from the curatorial side, how to better communicate collections and content. Heritage managers exchanged their challenges, problems in daily work and practices. We heard some good practice examples, and the youth gave their opinions on the topic. In general, all were in agreement that Croatian cultural institutions struggle with attracting families and youth and have to make a 180 degree turn in storytelling and marketing.
3. Interpretation and Storytelling TOOL 3.1 – Interpretation and Storytelling activities in Viminacium, Serbia
In making a better overall relationship with the public, this tool is very useful to create narratives that can be used for site tours or as an inspiration for digital content. This tool can also be used for the initial creation of storytelling and site interpretation as well as the improvement of existing ones.
Practice
- Define topics for storytelling and interpretation before the
- Make a plan of how to detail and inform participants about the topics in an interactive and participatory For instance during the mobility in Viminacium participants had
multiple guided tours throughout the site, short, inviting lectures on exact topics,
time to communicate with managers and researchers on the premises,
a day of exploring CH sites and institutions in the area within the study visit
participatory – and engaging – workshops,
free time for their own research and exploration of the site.
- Brainstorm by creating an open discussion, guided by mentors who will work with the participants in order to facilitate navigation, while not overly influencing their creative
- Be COOL with changing the topic! – if during the workshop you or the participants find a more suitable and interesting topic or way to interpret and/or storytell, go with the
- Bring the ancient times closer. Brainstorm with youngsters around how the topics and stories can be used in a modern context, Write them down, and bury them for managers to find and interpret! Do not hesitate to communicate old stories using modern means of interpretation (popular music, catchy dance, everyday phases, connection with popular culture-movies, netflix, etc.) Having a physical activity with participation and interaction, where participants have to work in groups and make decisions willbring them closer as a group.
- Provide them with opportunities, materials, objects to maximise their creative results. Give a challenge that resonates with the target audience’s everyday interests. For Viminacium an Instagram challenge was made and
- Provide a real experience for immersion in the historical context. The preparation of Roman dinner and walking a night in Roman shoes brought so much inspiration and content!
Tips and Recommendations
Build in authentic data to each activity. Whether it be historical, archaeological or artistic, give context as to the origin of what was reinvented and/or gamified.
Find the most suitable way of expressing your existing content to maximise its potential for youngsters.
Provide the participants with a variety of topics and tools to choose from, but be open to their own ideas. For example, our participants made amazing memes, but some took a different route
– they made Snapchat filters, radio dramas, interactive maps, and Tik Toks. Interpretation and storytelling of Viminacium was enriched by integration of the Thermal Power plant (its chimney) as industrial heritage into the Roman scope (recalling Vesuvius and Balkans Pompeii), inscriptions from sarcophagi were used as the basis of the love story for radio drama, Roman curses were modernised (but the original point remained), gladiators fights were reinterpreted in contemporary context, Roman costumes were worn in many different styles, etc.
Context
The Serbian partners KSA and AI iworking together in collaboration, delivered 2, two-day pilots in the biggest cities (Belgrade and
Niš), and one-day pilots in other three locations across Serbia. To prepare for the pilots we familiarised ourselves with the social media and public relations of heritage managers, especially those targeted at Millennials and youngsters in general. We conducted one-on-one meetings with cultural heritage managers at the local level to obtain general knowledge about their capacities, then mapped out the needs regarding a younger audience and introduced them to the COOLTOUR toolkit and platform.
Viminacium Archaeological Park was selected not only as the pilot site, but also chosen as the focus for the COOLTOUR Mobility of Young People. Viminacium tour has been constructed around scientifically-based interpretation methods combined with storytelling. This means that guided tours are developed precisely according to the appropriate usage of both, as well as with the considerable participation of the wider Viminacium cultural landscape. This can be considered as a good starting point for further interpretation and storytelling development – in this case undertaken by the younger generation. Topics were selected: love, beauty, death, ritual, magic, as well as the Viminacium landscape. Younger generation researchers participated in: guest lectures, thematic workshops, facilitative guidance from professionals, study visits to the important heritage sites in the region and individual explorations of the site. All of these led to the enrichment of Viminacium interpretation and storytelling. The results were plentiful and are presented with various multimedia.
3. Interpretation and Storytelling TOOL 3.2 – Role playing game for rebranding Limassol Castle, Cyprus
This tool proves that by combining role- playing game elements, storytelling, and cultural heritage, you can create a unique and immersive experience that fosters cultural appreciation, enhances understanding, and fosters a sense of interconnectedness among people interested in cultural heritage.
Practice
- Group work. The participants were divided into groups to complete the workshop task.
- Give a challenge. The groups were asked to address the following challenge: Imagine that you are managing the mediaeval castle of Limassol and you need to attract the attention of Millennials in order to increase visits to the heritage What are you going to do?
- Provide time to develop solutions. By allowing the participants to shift perspectives and immerse into a situation, a new, different boost of creativity can be generated for the
- Present the solutions The participants came up with some innovative ideas which could be really useful for the “rebranding” of the heritage site:
a. Culturally-Based Campaign: Participants suggested that the heritage managers of the Limassol Castle should draw inspiration from the tradition of the wedding between Berengaria and Richard the Lionheart, and create interactive performances where visitors can immerse themselves in this event and interact with characters and scenarios reflecting the unique cultural heritage of the castle.
b. Mythical Quests: Participants suggested that CH Managers could develop quests and adventures based on the myths, legends and historical facts related to the castle. Visitors can take on the roles of legendary heroes, prisoners, conquerors or defenders of the castle and embark on epic quests.
c. Guest Speakers: CH managers could invite guest speakers (e.g. historians/ archaeologists) to share insights and stories related to the castle. This can provide visitors with a deeper understanding of the cultural context they are exploring.
5. Evaluate the feasibility of the suggestions and if possible, make them real!
Tips and Recommendations
When elaborating a task which is connected to a challenge, be as specific as possible! Participants can better understand and focus on a concrete case than brainstorming around an abstract idea. (Possibly give them guidance about the budget, the number of people in the team implementing the idea, past happenings, other things that help them visualise the situation etc.)
Sharing a common experience can transform personal connections towards a heritage site. Completing the game, participants felt more ownership of the Limassol Castle.
Context
The pilot in Cyprus led by CUT was implemented in 3 phases. The workshop topic concerns the revival of the life of ancient Cypriots through the use of innovative tools in archaeological sites (AR, ancient life stories etc) but also through experiences that connect history to the present. In this context, during the second phase of our pilot seminar with the participation of Cypriot Millennials and heritage managers, a role-playing game was implemented aiming to engage participants in content creation for the Cooltour platform.The mediaeval Limassol Castle is one of the most important mediaeval sites of the historic centre. According to tradition, this is where Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria of Navarre and crowned her Queen of England in 1191.
4. The level of engagement and participation TOOL 4.1 – Planning a cultural hub together in Serramana former slaughter house, Italy
This tool shows that a careful and well planned engagement strategy is the first step to ensure participation and success.
Practice
- Listening to the main stakeholders involved. As a first step, we spoke with the main stakeholders participating in the pilot project, to investigate the context into which the project was being inserted. This meant the local needs, challenges and expectations. Only in this way was it indeed possible to plan a long-term engagement within the locale and not a spot project. The Serrammanna Municipality was interested in creating a new museum which would relocate the collection of archaeological remains found on the local site. The challenge was due to the fact that this museum will arise within a former slaughterhouse, abandoned for ages and thus detached from the social and cultural life of the City. The Culture City Ministry had tried to involve local youngsters within the process, but without success. On the one hand, when talking to youngsters we discovered very little about the place and the plans the Municipality had to refurbish it; on the other hand, we noticed youngsters were interested in the broader repurposing of the place, to be reorganised as a cultural hub.
- Facilitating the process. We therefore decided to adapt the pilot a bit to local needs. The pilot was to focus on creating a new meaning (and related brand identity) for the former slaughterhouse as a cultural hub. In this phase it was important for the co-operation between the Culture City Ministry in charge of the project and the main representative of the youngsters involved, that they were able to identify a great co-operation opportunity within the project. Enlarging the scope of the project indeed allowed the Municipality to start a co- operation with the local youngsters, based on a theme they were really interested in. The key was to engage youngsters in a process they felt deeply engaged in and responsible for.
- Working together, listening to and understanding the different positions. Heritage managers, municipal representatives and youngsters worked together on the repurposing project for the former slaughterhouse, starting from the real needs of the community and its youngsters. Key needs emerging include: to have a place where to study or work, where to attend local exhibitions, and where to socialise in a stimulating environment.
During the conversation, mediators from the partner organisations aimed to validate different positions expressed and to navigate between diverging ones, in such a way as to guide the process but at the same time leaving youngsters to freely express and debate their positions in an animated way. This was key to enable youngsters to express their ideas and perceive them as valuable and worthwhile
- Assessing the results. The final results of the process were: a concept note of the new cultural and social hub of Serramanna, that in turn resulted in a new logo, on a map with the new functions assigned to the place; as well as a concept note for the upgrading of the entrance with murals. It is to be noted that murals represent a strong cultural artefact in Sardinia, therefore the mural concept note represented a deeply rooted tool to demonstrate the affection for – and belonging to – the place.
- Planning ahead At the end of the process, both youngsters and the heritage managers expressed their full satisfaction with the pilot project. In particular, youngsters had felt heard, involved and engaged since the first moment, had perceived their ideas as valuable and were satisfied that these would be taken into account by the local Municipality for the future planning of the cultural hub. The Municipality used this pilot to involve and engage youngsters and has expressed its willingness to keep on working with them to realise the new hub. The COOLTOUR pilot was therefore a first step that enabled wider participation and co-operation.
Tips and Recommendations
When imagining a co-operation process between heritage managers and youngsters, it is always important to understand the context in which the project falls and the different expectations (and how to reconcile / merge them. This might usefully include: an incentive/reward policy towards youngsters (why they should participate, what they gain from this initiative, what is really important for them), as well as the outlining the possible future sustainability of the action you are undertaking.
Context
The Italian pilot workshops for COOLTOUR assessed by Assoenti Locali took place throughout June 2023, in four heritage sites in the southern part of Sardinia. One of them was Serramana. During the pilots, the team fine-tuned the project’s working methodology, using a tailor-made system in order to:
- adapt to the needs of the sites and work on something of interest
- adapt to local ways of working, skills and structures, in order to be supportive and ensure the replicability of the
Serramanna needed to activate a group of young people around the redevelopment project of the former slaughterhouse. In dialogue with heritage managers, exchanging competences and interests, interpretative approaches and perspectives, youngsters created communication strategies and tools in line with the site needs. Out of this emerged, a plan of what the former slaughterhouse should look like after conversion into a cultural centre, and a brief to create a mural on the façade.
4. The level of engagement and participation TOOL 4.2 – Belgrade #RCPR – Engagement and brainstorming on rebranding visual identities of cultural heritage sites in Belgrade, Serbia
This tool is useful when combining different groups or stakeholders that need to observe and conquer common problems from different aspects. It is also handy when you want to brainstorm across two different generations to create a new outcome, which can feature both youthful innovation and the wisdom of lived experience.
Practice
1.Use COOLTOUR sheet to prepare for the action:
a.and Define Workshop Objectives, Identify Target Audience, and Develop Workshop Content (Design the Workshop content in a way that is interactive, engaging, and informative. Consider using a mix of presentations, hands-on activities, discussions, and multimedia elements),
b.Plan Interactive Activities (Incorporate hands-on activities and interactive exercises that allow participants to actively engage with cultural heritage
– this could include arts and crafts, storytelling, role- playing, or traditional performances),
c.Create a Workshop Schedule: outline a detailed schedule for the workshop, including specific time allocations for each activity and breaks. Ensure that the schedule allows for a smooth flow and keeps participants engaged throughout,
d.Invite Guest Speakers and Experts: Consider inviting guest speakers or cultural experts who can share their knowledge and experiences related to the heritage being explored. Their insights can enrich the workshop experience,
e.Promote the Workshop, and Prepare Workshop Facilitators: If multiple facilitators are involved, conduct a training session to ensure everyone is familiar with the workshop content, activities, and their roles in guiding the participants effectively.
2. Facilitate the Workshop:
a. On the day of the workshop, create a welcoming atmosphere for the participants.
b. Start with an icebreaker activity to build rapport and establish a positive learning environment.
c. Deliver the workshop content, engaging participants through interactive sessions and activities.
3. Encourage Participation and Feedback:
a. Throughout the workshop, encourage active participation from the participants. Ask questions, facilitate discussions, and address any queries they may have.
b. Provide opportunities for participants to share their own experiences and connections with the cultural heritage.
4. Evaluate Workshop Success:
a. After the workshop, gather feedback from participants and facilitators to evaluate the success of the engagement and participation efforts.
b. Use this feedback to identify strengths and areas for improvement in future workshops.
5. Follow-Up and Continuation:
a. Consider ways to continue the engagement of the participants and the broader community after the workshop. This could include creating online resources, organising follow-up events, or establishing a cultural heritage network.
Tips and Recommendations
- Find a good moderator that knows both stakeholders and is comfortable working across generations, but who also knows the subject.
- Go deeper into the issues raised and ask for realistic solutions.
Context
The Serbian partners KSA and AI working together in collaboration delivered 2 two-day pilots in the biggest cities (Belgrade and Niš), and oneday pilots in three other locations across Serbia. When it comes to preservation, The Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute of Belgrade (and others in Serbia), has, by law and other legislation, a good definition of their line of work, including steps and procedures. Our youngsters were clear about how much social media presence is important, and how fighting with and through social media can in some cases bring lots of help towards a given situation. It was stated that the cultural heritage institutions do not know how to communicate their goals, so it was not surprising that a large part of the population can not understand the daily complexities they face. Our cultural heritage manager was extremely open in discussion and while we discussed the pillars of the Institute, we reached agreement on how to describe these in a way that will not overwhelm a young reader, but rather stimulate their minds.
Four pillars:
Research – Fieldwork/Internal documentation/Historical Archive of Belgrade Collect – Documents/Plans/Photos/Knowledge
Protect – Measures/Consultations/Monitoring Respect – Presentation/Popularization/Education
We created the hashtag #RCPR. We have fallen more and more in love with #RCPR because the young people, every day, do RCPR on our cultural heritage sites. This was the beginning of a journey to re-visualise some of the CH monuments we enjoy every day in Belgrade, and tend to forget or mistreat. Playing with colours, objects and a little light can go a long way!
5. Connecting the physical with the virtual experience TOOL 5.1 – Enriching guided tours with digital contents in Nora Archaeological Site, Italy
This tool can be useful in cases where the site needs tools to enable visitors to visualise the traditions and habits of the people who inhabit that same site. For instance: if there are no audiovisual materials available, if there is scarce availability of material heritage related to the site, or if the heritage is conserved / exposed in a location different from the site.
Practice
- Preparatory phase. First of all, meetings were organised several times with the heritage site managers in charge of the Nora Archaeological site, who had worked on the project (the Director, the operators of the educational services and the official guides). This was fundamental both to align to the project needs and expectations, as well as to adapt the project to the site interests and We brainstormed about which elements of the Nora site could be an inspiration for the youngsters (myths, symbols, real life scenes). We focused on a specific need of the site to be tackled by this project: to create digital tools that could enrich the visit to the site and its interpretation.
- Organising a study The heritage site provided youngsters with a very exhaustive, interesting and interactive visit to Nora Archaeological site. Two experienced site guides explained main Nora features from a geographical, historical, cultural and social point of view and then focused on storytelling based on the real costumes and habits of the ancient inhabitants (how thermae were functioning, how rich merchants used to give celebrations and feasts at their homes, feminine rituals and habits). Nora is mainly an open-air archaeological site with remains, so the storytelling was fundamental to the imagining of the past quotidian life of the site.
- Theme and tools choice. At the end of the study visit, youngsters brainstormed together about the main topics they could tackle, taking into account:
the cultural / social aspects that piqued their interest; the most documented ones from a scientific point of view; the ones that could better integrate the site visit which the guides already make and the themes they tackle;
the ones that could inspire stories that could be used in different sectors of the site.
The brainstorming was supported by the heritage managers, who helped youngsters in detecting the themes, exploring their scientific basis and their usability more.
As so, youngsters decided to work on a photo story about the life and costumes of Roman women inhabiting youngsters decided to work on a photo story about the life and costumes of Roman women inhabiting the site.
4. Realisation
a. Heritage managers and youngsters co-operated deeply towards the realisation of the photo story. On the one hand, youngsters created a story about the murder of a rich merchant at the hand of his wife, enriching the story with different characters, anecdotes and dialogues between the wife, her friends and her servants.
b. On the other hand, heritage managers provided information, pictures, gave lectures on specific remains and documents provide relevant and accurate details about what women’s life was like during Roman times in Nora. The final piece, named “Murder in Nora” thus combined a new storytelling approach to the site, with the solidity of a scientific base.
5. Publish the created The piece was uploaded on the Nora page of the project platform. The Nora site guides will therefore be able to show the photo story during visits, thus allowing visitors to have a better vision of how real life in Nora looked like, through this digital content.
Tips and Recommendations
Youngsters are fascinated by stories and better understand concepts if they experience and visualise them. Creating storyboards or similar tools can be a way to have effective and handy materials to support the visit of the site, and start debates and discussions on the cultural and social aspects of the site itself.
As the online storage is low cost and easy-to- manage, these tools can be considered valuable if created with scarce financial resources.
Give space for creation, but be available to provide scientific authenticity for the content.
Context
The Italian pilot workshops for COOLTOUR assessed by Assoenti Locali took place throughout June 2023, in four heritage sites in the southern part of Sardinia, one of them was the Archaeological Area of Nora, Pula.
During the pilots, we have refined the project working methodology, using a tailor-made system in the area, with two strengths:
adapt to the needs of the sites and work on something that interests them
adapt to local ways of working, skills, structures, to be supportive and ensure the replicability of the model
In dialogue with heritage managers, exchanging competences and interests, interpretative approaches and perspectives, youngsters created communication strategies and tools in line with the site needs. Nora was interested in attracting a new target audience and enriching their guided tours with new perspectives, so a new storyline on Roman matrons and their world was developed by the involved young participants.
6. Social media guidelines for heritage managers TOOL 6.1 – Introducing sustainability in managing social media in the National Museum Niš, Serbia
This tool helps you to reach the institution’s goals of minimum content creation.
Practice
- Review the current state of social media accounts and views on communication with the
- Be realistic about the available resources. We are aware of the limitations, especially in small CHIs, in terms of time, budget, and Think about who is responsible for content creation and publishing. Take into acount the human resources required to handle communication.
- Revisit existing policies on target groups and consider the goals of different
- Explore available materials, interpretations, and storytelling experiences from the past that can be re-used for further Inform colleagues about your content campaigns and ask for their contribution with ideas, curiosities from their own collection, and research.
- Use available digital tools for better navigation of content creation, publishing, and measuring of the Canva or Meta Business Suite are handy tools in creating, planning, and publishing content.
- Incorporate into the everyday work
Tips and Recommendations
Always plan and schedule your content ahead of time
Use video and textual materials from documentation about sites, practices, and cultural heritage places
Promote your staff and their significant role in your institution and your society Once a week set a reminder to search for the #ofyourchoice and re-share user content (with tagging) on your profile(fb)/stories(in); create a highlight on Instagram to store the experiences of the public related to the Heritage of your choice/management
For Institutes of protection (or any kind of entity that has a large member/associate group related to your work) that cover large territories: Fallow local museums and other heritage institutions and share their work that takes place under your territory jurisdiction;
Follow and re-share content from other local portals.
Setting a notification when those pages post, will allow you to have a daily way of communicating with the public, while simultaneously growing it.
Context
The Serbian partners KSA and AI, working together in collaboration, delivered 2 two-day pilots in the biggest cities (Belgrade and Niš), and one-day pilots in three other locations across Serbia.
Niš as a city has an enormous number of heritage sites and monuments, and despite all the good work the Institute for Heritage does, they are perceived by the public as an institution that doesn’t do a lot. They are not active on social media. At the same time, notwithstanding the scale and difficulty of the job they have, together with colleagues from the National Museum Niš, we have made a strategic plan and guidelines for sustainable social media management.
6. Social media guidelines for heritage managers TOOL 6.2 – Creating brand new social media strategy in Ram and Sremska Mitrovica
This tool helps you identify the platforms to be on and to find your institution’s identity, when it comes to the creation of a social media strategy.
Practice
- Set a goal and choose a focus.
- Inform people about up-to-date options or ask for help by involving young volunteers, and millennials who are comfortable on the chosen
- Start small. Create a draft content plan for the next 7 In the case of Sremska Mitrovica, millennials brainstormed together with site managers on content ideas. In this pilot, we started by mapping out better and lesser-known facts about local, mostly Roman, CH sites and objects. Then we moved on to some frequently-used terms in the professional community which museums and other institutions often use, but about which the public has little to no knowledge. This has generated a path for us to create dynamic social media with lots of different themes and media that could be reused.
- Get inspired by surrounding objects, heritage, and stories The TIK-Tok trend in Ram was inspired by storytelling about the everyday lives of soldiers who were defending it, on a warm June day.
We imagined all the armour, but trying to rush to the top of the fortress to defend it without that baggage – making it into a modern CH exercise #cardio.
Don’t be afraid of experimentation. As social media trends come and go it is better to be consistent and find the voice that will resonate with the target audience.
Tips and Recommendations
Follow other fellow institutions and their activity.
Don’t be afraid of using AI online tools.
Quora and Reddit can help find hot topics within younger generations!
Experiment with different free digital tools to make your content stand out!
From 2D to 3D picture in 15 min with Blender
Photogrammetry in minutes: LUMA AI Giphy for making gifs and stickers from already existing materials!
Animation of drawings: you can upload drawings that get animated in seconds. https://sketch.metademolab.com/
Context
The Serbian KSA and AI, working together in collaboration, in addition to two main Serbian cities – Belgrade and Niš, conducted one-day pilots as well in Sremska Mitrovica, Požarevac, Viminacium and Ram.
In Sremska Mitrovica, together with participants, a social media strategy was made with posts for a year that will use their content in an interactive way: asking questions, making “finding the object games’’, and more besides. In Ram, a millennial TikTok View of the fortress on a hot day was made.
During the pilots, it was realised that the social media of the institutions typically rely on a single person, who is personally interested, informed, and motivated about social media.
7. Evaluation TOOL 7.1 – Testing new evaluation perspectives in Su Mulinu Archaeological Complex and Museum in Villanovafranca, Italy
This tool helps you to make evaluation processes more relevant and valuable to youngsters in any cultural and educational context.
Practice
- The starting point: an evaluation questionnaire. When delivering the pilot projects to test the preliminary version of this Toolkit, we decided to provide participants with an online questionnaire to understand whether they had found the pilot relevant for their personal growth, and for the acquisition of new competences. The questionnaire was delivered to youngsters at the end of the pilot in an online format and they were asked to provide short answers. Some of the youngsters expressed their dissatisfaction towards the questionnaire, since to some extent it was not able to cover the richness and the value of the experience they had witnessed. It was, for them difficult and somehow belittling to analyse and evaluate the experience with separate evaluation grids (for instance, to give a separate evaluation of the personal skills and technical skills acquired).
- Changing perspective. We therefore decided to change the perspective, not starting from the questionnaire that somehow would have forced some answers and feedback. Instead we introduced a new evaluation perspective, starting from youngsters’ sharing of their own experience to get back to the core of the points we needed to evaluate.
- The other way around: from youngsters’ production to evaluation.
a. We started a brainstorming session with youngsters, and to break the ice we started from some of the work they had produced during the workshop: reels and infographics about the jewels found in the heritage site and displayed in the museum, as well as a moon tattoo designed on the basis of the moon carved on the iconic altar within the heritage site.
b. Next, a conversation was initiated about what had moved the creators of these works to focus the attention on the heritage elements. The creators, being mainly girls, focused their answers from a gender perspective and on the fact that some symbols and practices, such as one of the tattoos, resonated well with these youngsters’ perspective. Starting from this approach, we guided the discussion towards the peculiarities of the youngsters and how this project had validated these peculiarities, moving on to the competences that youngsters have in comparison with the adults in charge of the site, when it comes to communication and marketing aspects.
c. Move the conversation to a more theoretical level,asking youngsters to focus on what this exchange amongst themselves – and with heritage sites managers – had brought to both sets, in terms of shared competences, values, and knowledge.
d. Finally, we addressed the technical part of the evaluation, focusing on the methodology adopted. We went back with them from the final work to the first visit to the site, retracing all the phases of the work undertaken and any underlying pros and cons.
e. At the end of this brainstorm, youngsters felt they had the chance to fully cover their experience and provide their feedback in a way that was more in line with their approach.
4. Getting back to the original questionnaire, and while filling them in, rethinking again the conversation we had had; most of the answers were already there!
Tips and Recommendations
Always listen to the feedback of participants and don’t be afraid to change the process.
Starting from their interests; their experience within the project and, their practical achievements, can be a good starting, ice-breaker, that opens up the discussion to the points we want to tackle and evaluate with them.
Context
Evaluation is a key step in every project, but it is seldom perceived as a key one, rather a boring and useless bureaucratic one. When working with youngsters, in different cases we have noticed it is not clear for them why it is so important to close a cultural or educational project with an evaluation element.
The Italian pilot workshops for COOLTOUR assessed by Assoenti Locali took place throughout June 2023, in four heritage sites in the southern part of Sardinia; one of them was Su Mulinu Archaeological Complex and Museum, in Villanovafranca.
During the pilots, we have refined the project working methodology, using a system tailor- made to the locale, with two strengths:
adapt to the needs of the sites and work on something that interests them
adapt to local ways of working, skills, structures, to be supportive and ensure the replicability of the model
Su Mulinu wanted to enhance the Nuragic altar, unique in the area and provide the museum with new interpretation paths. In dialogue with heritage managers, exchanging competences and interests, interpretive approaches and perspectives, youngsters created communication strategies and tools in line with the site needs: in Su Mulinu memes and videos were created on the uniqueness of the altar; alongside videos and posts on the topic of femininity inside the museum.
DOWNLOAD THE TOOLKIT IN 6 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES!
GUIDELINES FOR HERITAGE MANAGERS
The Guidelines offer a full overview of the COOLTOUR topics and also the activities conducted within the 2-year collaboration of the partner organizations from 6 countries. The document discusses 7 topics, and each of them provides a theoretical introduction, shares international good practices, gives step-by step recipes for tested tools during national workshops and also suggests exercises. The Guidelines for heritage managers is accessible in 6 languages (English, Italian, Croatian, Hungarian, Greek and Serbian) Feel free to use, share and build in your everyday work of engaging young audiences.