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The Intangible Cultural Heritage Toolkit at Your Disposal!
Intangible cultural heritage is not just about past stories, traditions, and skills—it is a living part of our everyday lives that adds depth and meaning to our experiences.
Intangible cultural heritage is not just about past stories, traditions, and skills—it is a living part of our everyday lives that adds depth and meaning to our experiences.
The intangible cultural heritage toolkit, developed in the HEART project, provides methods to creatively incorporate traditions into various activities. The toolkit includes exercises that merge art and tradition, such as writing exercises, drama methods, and community workshops.
The toolkit is freely available and can be used in cultural hobby groups and learning communities of all kinds. Intangible cultural heritage can serve as a resource that brings joy, inspiration, and fresh perspectives into daily life. The HEART toolkit offers practical tips on how to integrate heritage thinking into diverse activities.
The HEART toolkit is available in Finnish, English, Spanish, Romanian, and Irish.
5 Ways to Use the Toolkit to Highlight Traditions:
- Ask People About Their Own Traditions
Each individual’s background is a valuable asset. Encourage people to share traditions from their families or communities. Celebration customs, skills, or stories can reveal surprising connections and help us see how traditions live within all of us.
- Explore the Meaning of Traditions Together
What do traditions mean to a community or to you personally? The toolkit’s exercises, such as The Object Speaks of Tradition, help reflect on the value of traditions. Discussions can open new perspectives and strengthen shared understanding.
- Invite a Tradition Bearer
An expert, such as a folk musician or a master craftsman, can share knowledge and stories with others. These encounters often spark interest and deepen the understanding of traditions. In fact, anyone can be a tradition bearer!
- Create Opportunities to Revitalize Traditions
Traditions stay alive through practice. Organize workshops where people can learn traditional skills, such as crafts, music, or dance, in new environments and with different audiences. This way, traditions connect with contemporary activities, take on new forms, and bring joy to everyone.
- Emphasize Pride and Joy
Be proud of what you do! Every effort to preserve and celebrate traditions continues the chain of generations and gives meaning to the community. Pride and appreciation for shared heritage strengthen a sense of belonging and inspire continued engagement with living traditions.
Explore the HEART Toolkit here
Discover all of Citizen’s Forum educational materials here
More Information:
Kansalaisfoorumi’s Educational Planners:
Pekka Kinnunen, Annamari Martinviita, and Hanna Pulkkinen
The HEART project was an Erasmus+ project coordinated by Citizen’s Forum from 2022 to 2024.