The HeritACT project travels to Spain for the Youth Heritage Days
From the 26th until the 30th of March 2025, the Youth Heritage Days took place in the medieval town of Albarracin, within the region of Aragon, in Spain. The conference was hosted by the European Students’ Association for Cultural Heritage in collaboration with Hispania Nostra & Europa Nostra, organised under the framework of the European Heritage Hub. Over these five days, students and young professionals came together to explore the role of cultural heritage in addressing the triple transformation – green, digital, and social.
This year’s theme, “Depopulation, Youth, and Cultural Heritage”, invited participants to engage in roundtable discussions collectively addressing challenges, exploring opportunities for mitigation, and proposing solutions, taking the very interesting case of Albarracin as a starting point. Additionally, the event featured presentations on the implementation of Spin-Off Events around the ‘Youth for the future of cultural heritage in Europe’ Position Paper, published by ESACH in 2023, aiming to showcase good practices across Europe and share inspiration. Under this framework, Michaela Charisi from the European Network of Cultural Centres, part of the HeritACT Consortium, was also present to discuss the webinar held on the 21st of February 2025, with the title: “HeritACT’s Methodology: Reactivating local heritage”. During the session, participants got a clear image of the work that has been developing in HeritACT over the last 2 years, with a focus on sustainable, technologically-advanced and inclusive initiatives that have emerged from research and been implemented within the Pilot Cities of the project.
The conference offered a great chance to young professionals from all over Europe, and beyond, to dive into the cultural heritage of Albarracin, a small town with a big history in the heart of rural Spain, and work within its actual conditions, problems and opportunities. Participants were also able to visit Belchite, an abandoned town that was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War and still stands as a living reminder of the terrible battles, as well as Terruel, the capital of the Aragon region where they were warmly welcomed by the Municipality.
Youth Heritage Days were marked with success, fruitful exchanges and sharing of the truly inspiring projects that everyone is involved in. The youth in this cultural heritage bring-together gave a clear and hopeful message for the field: “We are passionate about our work and we want to advance it in every possible way”.
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