Heritage Alive! – Using new media for communicating the value of cultural heritage sites
Promoting cultural heritage sites as resources for regional development and cultural learning of local people and visitors
Heritage Alive! has been a transregional partnership of municipalities and regional development agencies with the common goal to use digital media and technologies for promoting the economic and social value of cultural heritage sites.
Such sites can be important drivers of regional development and cultural learning, yet it is often difficult to mediate their value to local communities or visitors and tourists. Most approaches have utilised new media and technologies in a static, top-down fashion which leaves little room for active community participation.
In contrast to these conventional methods Heritage Alive! aimed to engage citizens and visitors actively in a cultural dialogue to increase their awareness and understanding of the shared heritage and regional identity. This participatory bottom-up approach allowed to involve a variety of stakeholders including educational and youth organisations, local communities and tourism businesses, and regional development and spatial planning agencies.
