Heritage as a driver of change
With a press conference on February 14, we launched the project Direction: Cultural Heritage, which will connect and strengthen the non-governmental cultural heritage sector. This marks the continuation of the heritage story we began in 2022 with the Digital Heritage Incubator (DDI) project.
The project brings together five organizations—Zavod Dobra pot, Zavod ID20, Kulturno izobraževalno društvo KIBLA, Zavod Sopotniki, and Zavod Muzej norosti—and places heritage at the heart of societal transformation. We presented the project in the Kosovel Room in Sežana, a symbolic location, as the values of Srečko Kosovel also serve as inspiration for our initiative. Over the next 27 months, the project will foster collaboration, develop competencies, and establish national initiatives to promote heritage as development opportunities.
Connecting to better utilize the potential of heritage
Already within the Digital Heritage Incubator project, we established the Duri heritage platform, designed for heritage enthusiasts, which we will enhance over the next two years with new approaches to heritage education and research. We will also strengthen the voice of the non-governmental sector at the national level and enable better transfer of best practices and networking among heritage organizations.
The upgraded platform will feature educational webinars, interview series, and podcasts with both domestic and international experts. Guidelines and strategic documents will also be developed.”
– Nava Vardjan, Director of the Dobra Pot Institute
Although the role of heritage in society is often emphasized, its potential remains underutilized in practice. Muzej norosti Institute will contribute its expertise in heritage activism and content accessibility to the project, while the Sopotniki Institute will provide solutions for quality aging and the inclusion of older generations in heritage activities. KID KIBLA will play a key role in employing modern technologies to make heritage more accessible to the public.
Two new partners with a shared vision
With this new project, two additional institutes have joined our consortium team: Sopotniki and the Muzej norosti. The latter focuses on so-called ‘difficult heritage,’ which is no stranger to us in Idrija. The museum operates in Cmurek Castle, where the Hrastovec-Trate Institute for Mental and Nervous Disorders was active for several decades, and strives to contribute to Slovenia’s deinstitutionalization process. The Sopotniki Institute enables greater inclusion of older adults – who are often heritage bearers – and facilitates their access to heritage content. Through this project, we also aim to provide older generations with access to contemporary heritage experiences and involve them in digital and other innovative approaches that are otherwise for all age groups.
It is precisely this networking of diverse stakeholders that enables heritage to become an engine of development. Today, it’s impossible to address any field without utilizing digital tools.”
– Marko Zevnik, Sopotniki Institute
First steps: writing memories and networking
The project’s first major action will be the all-Slovenian initiative Record the Memory, starting on March 17. Through an app, we will record the memories of the elderly, with all interested individuals able to participate as witnesses and recorders.
Before summer, we will organize a bazaar of good practices – a networking event for exchanging experiences in the field of heritage. Additionally, we will conduct the Heritage Barometer survey, which will highlight the public’s attitude towards cultural heritage and contribute to the development of new initiatives and guidelines. A similar survey was already carried out in 2020 by the ID20 Institute for the Idrija and Cerkno areas, but this time we will expand it to the national level.
