Reviving of cultural heritage: Social and Economic Empowerment of Rural Areas

Re-Cultural Heritage seeks to improve the cohesion of the local communities through educational paths that support the personal development of teachers, citizens and minorities towards employment and labor market integration. Furthermore, the intent is to build a strategy of economic and employment development linked to quality tourism and to underline the role that a proper appreciation of cultural heritage can play in the economic regional development. The project addresses the following needs: 1- The increasing abandonment of rural areas, caused by urbanization and the lack of job opportunities, especially for younger generations 2- The necessity to include minorities in the economic system by developing training paths, in order to access employment and interaction at the social level 3- Promoting awareness on the importance of cultural heritage in innovative and modern terms for the creation of a sustainable local economy 4- Training adults in the field of restoration of the historical, cultural and environmental heritage in order to create new jobs and to improve the landscape and the conservation of cultural places.

The principal aims of the Re-Cultural Heritage project are: 1- Improved employability capabilities in order to facilitate the opening-up of youth work to cross-sectoral cooperation 2- Increase adult’s competencies related to job profiles especially in the social, touristic and artistic sector 3- Guarantee new approaches to better support competitiveness in order to fill the lack of job opportunities, of these rural areas, that is pushing an entire generation in the major cities or abroad 4- Creating networking activity on education, entrepreneurship, leadership and equal opportunities 5- Improve practices to cater for the needs of vulnerable groups, with fewer opportunities in order to address gaps in learning performance caused by regional and socioeconomic inequalities and to facilitating the access to different labour markets 6- Increasing the employment opportunities adapting them to the post-Covid-19 demand 7- Increasing the sense of inheritance and historical values, especially in the rural areas where the heritage it is not seen as a means that can be used for their own prosperity

The implementation of the project provides for: - Creation of a network of contacts throughout Europe to share action programs, involving the same citizens and entrepreneurs in order to promote quality tourism. - Creation of a handbook with theoretical contents (success stories) - Development of an E-learning platform - Creation of a research, Assessment Nationals Reports and Dissemination, to better understand local, regional and national strategies in the field of restoration through interviews to stakeholders, and a compilation of good practices. - Creation of a research report containing the data on the impact of the project - Better valorization, protection and use of cultural heritage - Teachers will have a standardized formation, with Europass recognition, based on innovative restoration techniques - Virtual and real events: 5 multiplier events will be scheduled during the last two months of the project in five countries of the partnership - Learning and training activity (LTTA Insight seminar Slovakia): the learners involved in this activity will enhance their abilities through training programs that enable them to use innovative techniques in the fields of historical, cultural, and environmental heritage. The methodology that was used to complete the project will be based on the exchange of good practices, design-based research and technological tools. The dissemination of adopted methodology and results will facilitate the coordination of the partners and the involved nations. The project suggests a two-step teaching and learning process, with specialists in the sector of cultural heritage teaching chosen people from the country of partner organizations, who will then be the subject of the second teaching phase, with the aim of improving their skills through innovative methods.

The project will be unfolding the following activities classified in 3 different results: - Project result n°1: European framework Basic Skills Handbook. To draw up and develop a handbook for the public administrations on how to activate training programs that alternate training and qualification with productive work. - Project result n°2: Online Learning Platform. To develop an e-learning platform for inclusive digital education based on the restoration field. This output is primarily addressed to adults and vulnerable groups in order to provide high-quality learning opportunities and support teachers' skills and competences. – Project result n°3: Assessment Nationals Reports and Dissemination. To carry out a research of the potential impact of historical heritage and restoration in rural areas, underlining the outcomes on the economic, tourist and artistic fields in order to establish an employment plan to relocate young, adults and minorities. The research will involve similar situations occurring in other European territories. The communication and dissemination of results will be done using in particular digital tools, such as websites, in order to assure a potential and relevant audience on the theme on the importance of sustainable tourism. The most important impact will be the creation of strong collaboration between the involved country, in this way the functioning of the project will also be guaranteed after its completion. Also, numerous events will be held in the different countries of the participating organizations in order to mark the project’s achievement and to disseminate the results. Based on the development of the pandemic, each country will host one event during the life cycle of the project. Through this event will create different collaborations between local administration, stakeholders and CSS adult workers in order to improve the cohesion of the local communities and to reduce the social exclusion and marginalization of the minorities through educational paths that support their personal development towards employment and labour market integration. Moreover, is previewed the development of different activity, like insight seminary, who are eager to participate in the project's pilot and deployment phases.