In this activity participants explore their environment and link heritage sites with human rights.
Related rights
• The right to education
• The right to freedom of belief and religion
• The right to participate in the cultural life of Communities
Objectives
• To become aware of the heritage that is present in one’s town or living environment
• To link remembrance and heritage sites with human rights
• To develop an appreciation for diversity in the community
Materials
• If the variation is used, then a list of questions to be discussed at each site
• Maps with the areas that the groups will explore (optional)
Preparation
• Identify certain areas of the town in which the groups will walk (you may decide to let the groups choose the areas they want to explore, but it is easier if they have options to start with)
• Print out or send electronic copies of maps with delimitated areas which the groups should walk or explore
• Inform the participants that the activity will take place outdoors in order to dress appropriately and bring with them water or anything else they might need
Key Date
21 MayWorld Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
Instructions
Invite the participants to form groups of 5-6 people and briefly share their favourite building/place/statue/symbol in the town and the reasons why they like it.
Inform participants that in the same groups, they will walk for one hour in a certain area of the town and look for buildings, statues, symbols, street names, plaques etc., which are part of the town’s heritage. You might want to identify certain parts of the town where you want them to go or invite them to choose where they want to go. Ideally each group should go in a different part of the town.
Their task is to search for more information about each site identified, either online or by asking the people who are passing by what they know about it (or both). They should write down the information and take photos of the sites.
When the groups come back, give them 30 minutes to process the information and prepare a presentation of what they found (including photos) some time to prepare
Each group briefly presents what they found on their tour and the information they learned.
Debriefing and evaluation
How did you feel exploring your/this town through the lens of heritage?
Was it difficult to find information about the different places online? What about from the people in the street?
What human rights are related to the sites you identified?
Are you surprised by the things you learned in this process? Which ones?
Did you find sites that refer to diverse cultural/religious groups? Can these groups fully enjoy their human rights in Europe, in the present?
Do you think that most people living in this town are aware of this heritage and its significance? Why?
Do you think that other aspects of heritage should be present in the public space, but are not? Which ones? Why do you think they are not present?
Tips for facilitators
It is quite common for many people to pass by heritage sites in their town and never notice them. Some heritage sites are very well known, while others are completely ignored. For example, in some parts of Europe they might find former synagogues that are no longer used or places where synagogues or mosques were destroyed and only a plaque is left, marking the spot. These plaques are easily missed by the passers-by. You might decide, depending on the groups of young people with whom you are working, to give them no instructions, and let them find whatever they can, or you could identify certain specific places that they should look for. It may be useful to give participants a copy of the Summary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially if they are not very familiar with human rights. This will allow them to easier identify which rights are related to the sites they are seeing.
Make sure you allocate enough time for the participants to move to and from the places they are exploring. If the places to which they have to get are quite far, you can choose to do the first part of the activity (the exploring) at the end of one day and the presentations and debriefing in the beginning of the following day.
Variations
You might decide to tell the groups beforehand what specific sites to look for. In that case you could a give them a list of questions to discuss in each of those places. Alternatively, you could organise this activity in the style of a treasure hunt. For example, the first task of the group is to go to a site, take a photo, discuss the site and then answer one specific question or do a specific action. A team member is placed next to each site and the group gives the answer or shows the action to that person who, in turn, gives them an envelope with instructions for the second site and so on.
You can focus the activity exclusively on exploring the names of streets or squares. For example, the participants can explore which people or events are remembered by naming a place in their honour. The participants can also analyse the following aspects: Are there equal representations of men and women? Have any of these people contributed to a culture of human rights? Or, instead, have they been or are they associated with human rights abuse and violations? In the debriefing you can also invite participants to identify and discuss in groups which people should, in their opinion, be honoured with a street name because of their contribution to human rights.
Suggestions for follow-up
If you would like to further explore the aspect of memory and remembrance you can run the activity Memory Tags.
The participants can contribute to European Heritage Days which is a way to engage with Europe’s cultural heritage, to reinforce a sense of belonging to the European common space, and to share insights into how the European dimension of local heritage is understood throughout Europe: https://www.europeanheritagedays.com
Ideas for action
The participants may want to research how and by whom are names given to streets or squares and write to the local authority in charge in order to propose new names or replace existing ones.
