Organised by Europa Nostra, Romanian Order of Architects and Associata Prin Banat in the frame of the International Forum on Historic Centres.
Reflections by Sara Crofts, Europa Nostra Council Member and Chair of Europa Nostra UK
Last month (22 April 2023) I moderated the Masterclass on “Diversity and Inclusion in the Heritage Sector” held in the splendid an uplifting nave of the New Millennium Reformed Center in Timisoara. I was deeply honoured to be asked to take on this task, not because I have any level of expertise in diversity and inclusion policy and practice, but because it is something that I feel very strongly about. In my view we have a duty to ensure that the widest possible range of people are educated about our shared cultural heritage so that they come to cherish it as we do. We do this in the hope that in the fulness of time they will come to play a full and equal role in decisions about how our cultural heritage is managed for the benefit of future generations. This is about democracy as its purest – making it possible for all voices to play a part in building a fairer and more cohesive Europe regardless of individual backgrounds or identities.
In my opening address to the assembled delegates I suggested that we should take a moment to check that are all in the same place in terms of our understanding of the words “inclusion” and “diversity.” These are words that many of us hear often nowadays in our work and in the media. But perhaps we do not always share the same understanding of their meanings. So, with this in mind I shared the definitions that we use in my own organisation – the Institute of Conservation (UK).
Icon (the Institute of Conservation) defines diversity as characteristics which connect and separate individuals and groups.
In the UK legally protected characteristics are: age; religion and belief; race; disability; sex; sexual orientation; pregnancy and maternity; marriage and civil partnership; gender reassignment.
However there are other characteristics which we might wish to consider: socioeconomic background and status; ethnicity; regional and local identities (including accents); and identities within the wider LGBT+ community.
Inclusion is working without discrimination to ensure our behaviour and actions are equitable.
I also felt that it was important to acknowledge that Europa Nostra is not an expert in the matter of diversity and inclusion. While Europa Nostra embraces the full breadth and depth of cultural heritage – both tangible and intangible – in our work, there is still much that we have to learn. However, Europa Nostra is one of the most demonstrably open organisations that I have ever encountered; constantly welcoming new members and reaching across borders to make new friends and allies. But this alone does not make us inclusive. And it is only right that we acknowledge that from an operational and governance point of view Europa Nostra is not as diverse as it should be.
So how do we begin to change?
As we embarked on the masterclass I offered a suggested approach to the question of how we begin to address diversity and embed inclusive practices in our work.
Firstly, we need to listen. We need to listen carefully and with respect to the ideas and the experiences of people who are already doing good work on this topic.
Secondly, we need to learn. We should actively seek out ideas and inspiration that we can take back to our own communities and organisations.
And thirdly, we need to question. We must ask questions of ourselves, our organisations and our cultural heritage places. We need to think about who visits our heritage sites or participates in our activities and who does not. Who is missing from our audiences? Why don’t they visit? What barriers have we – perhaps accidentally – put in place?
We also need to ask ourselves questions about who makes the decisions about what happens to our heritage. Who is part of these conversations and who is missing? Do we include all of our stakeholders, or are we sometimes selective about which voices we listen to? Are we willing to be open to other perspectives and event to challenge?
Listening and learning
In the first part of the session we heard from a range of speakers who each offered a unique perspective on how they approach building inclusive and participatory practices into their organisations’ work. Examples included:
- Tímea Junghaus (HU) explaining how ERIAC (the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture) weaves Roma perspectives into European cultural heritage
- Eduardo Gargiulo (IT) describing how the Paranza Cooperative drives social and urban regeneration through the involvement of the local community at the Catacombe di Napoli
- Eugen Vaida (RO) outlining how the Ambulance for Monuments organisation promotes gender equity through heritage
- Coline Pélissier (FR) offering a case study demonstrating how ACTA VISTA uses heritage as a lever for employment, training and social inclusion in Marseille
Asking questions
After a short break the delegates split into groups to join one of the four workshops led by the speakers from the first session. The workshops provided a chance to learn more about the projects, but more importantly offered the opportunity for delegates to engage with the topic and to start to ask questions of themselves and each other. Each of the workshop groups entered into a lively dialogue with people offered honest reflections and seeking to challenge their own preconceptions and biases. There was even the opportunity for interactive engagement as Hakan Shearer Demir, an expert in inclusive heritage governance in community regeneration projects, asked workshop participants to role play the arguments raised by long-term residents versus newcomers in places when the ‘local’ is being redefined. Through asking people to place themselves in the shoes of a range of stakeholders the session highlighted the tensions and contradictions that can arise in regeneration projects and reminded everyone of the need for broad and inclusive conversations where everyone’s voice can be heard.
Towards the end of the morning when we reconvened for the closing remarks it became clear to me that everyone in the room had gained something from their participation in the event. As the conversations spilled out into the courtyard over an al fresco shared lunch it was clear that there was a willingness to engage and to take those important steps on the path towards a more inclusive cultural heritage community that embraces and celebrates diversity – in all its forms.
The Masterclass was supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and was delivered through Europa Nostra’s Network project European Cultural Heritage Agora “Empowering Europe’s Civil Society Movement for Heritage”.The Masterclass took place as part of the International Forum on Historical Centres: Heritage Connects People and Places which was organised by the Romanian Order of Architects, Europa Nostra and Asociația Prin Banat in cooperation with the Timișoara Municipality. The forum was part of the official programme of the European Capital of Culture 2023.