CULTIVATE: Co-Creating Cultural Narratives for Sustainable Rural Development

RQ1 What is the role of cultural heritage narratives in shaping sustainable landscapes and communities?

• To what extent is the structure and diversity of cultural narratives related to a) characteristics of socio-ecological systems i.e. geography and social dynamics b) significant drivers of change including Covid-19, climate change and demographic change?
• How does creative co-construction of cultural narratives allow contestation and negotiation between narratives between stakeholder groups and at different spatial scales?

RQ2 Are co-creation approaches an effective means of engaging rural communities in eliciting, reshaping and disseminating cultural narratives that relate to landscape sustainability?

RQ3 How can cultural narratives be captured and synthesised for dissemination and integration into systems of landscape planning and development?

WP1 Communication of outputs

Objective: To communicate CULTIVATE outputs to regional and national stakeholders and to international audiences

Description: Effective communication of the concept and findings of CULTIVATE to wide audiences including the communities of the study regions (BRs) and stakeholders at regional, national and international scales.

WP2 Transdisciplinary conceptual framework

Objective: Develop a transdisciplinary conceptual framework that connects the concepts of cultural heritage and cultural narratives with landscapes, understood as complex social-ecological place-based systems.

Description: The transdisciplinary conceptual framework will be used to inform the design of the research methodologies co-created and implemented in WP3.

WP3 Co-creation of cultural narratives in the four BRs as social-ecological systems

Objective: Engage communities and stakeholders in co-creation methods to understand the diversity of cultural narratives in relation to social-ecological dynamics in BRs and to reshape narratives based on ‘seeds of a good Anthropocene’.

Description: A co-creation approach will be used with communities and stakeholders to ensure high levels of inclusivity, participation and diversity. Methods will include interviews, workshops, virtual focus groups, arts and film-based methods. Data will be partly collected using digital means, to reflect changes in modes of working due to Covid -19 and to capture diverse demographics including digital-centred youth. Narratives will capture historical change in terms of the lived experience of participants and future trajectories. Partnerships will be forged between artists and cultural heritage organisations in each BR to develop arts-based outputs.

WP4 Representing cultural heritage during change – integrating cultural narratives into planning and decision making

Objective: Synthesise project findings and make recommendations to integrate cultural heritage narratives into decision making processes at the regional, national and European levels.

Description: Findings from our study regions will be contrasted and synthesised, and recommendations developed for the valorisation of cultural heritage narratives for diverse rural landscapes. Discussions with policy makers will explore how cultural heritage narratives can be integrated into policy processes. We will hold regional training events on transnational findings for stakeholders.