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Project Summary

CIRCE - InClusive valorIsation model foR Controversial cultural hEritage in the Mediterranean Harbours and beyond

Abstract

In today’s multicultural societies, Controversial Cultural Heritage (CCH) often sparks debate due to its association with historical conflicts, marginalised communities, and contested narratives. CCH includes monuments, artworks, and intangible heritage depicting racialised, minoritised, gendered, and religious groups. CCH is threatened by mis/underrepresentation, or erasure, also because of a lack of consistent strategies for identifying, interpreting, and managing CCH, particularly in Europe. The CIRCE project tackles this challenge through the elaboration of an interdisciplinary and co-created model aimed at fostering inclusive and participatory approaches to CCH management.

While discussions on CCH frequently focus on colonial and totalitarian-era monuments, CIRCE extends the analysis to medieval and early modern heritage, emphasizing Jewish, Muslim, and Black histories in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions. Case studies include contested/neglected CH in Italy, Spain, Croatia, Tunisia, and Kenya. The project recognizes the role of migration and global power dynamics in shaping contemporary heritage debates and stresses the need for collaboration with African partners to decentralize perspectives.

CIRCE is structured around 3 research objectives: (1) developing a framework for identifying and interpreting CCH, (2) co-creating tools for its valorisation (including a multilingual glossary and an Atlas of Controversial Cultural Heritage) and (3) implementing training programs for CH and tourism professionals, including a MOOC and guidelines for cultural institutions.

By adopting a participatory, decolonial approach, CIRCE aims to transform CCH from a source of division into a shared cultural resource fostering inclusion and dialogue. Through artistic collaboration and community engagement, the project promotes new ways of narrating and visualizing heritage, ensuring its responsible preservation and meaningful reinterpretation in evolving global contexts.

Introduction, objectives and overview of the research and innovation program

In today’s multicultural, multiethnic, and multireligious societies, cultural heritage is often polarized by contentious identity traditions. Cultural Heritage (CH) become often controversial, difficult or dissonant when it represents people or events connected to historical conflicts or periods that still divide or disturb social groups.<ref>Macdonald, Difficult Heritage. Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond, London 2008.</ref> This Controversial Cultural Heritage (CCH) includes monuments, artworks, and intangible memories depicting racialized, minoritized, gendered, sexual, and religious communities.

CH associated with controversial topics faces significant issues, including physical damage, misrepresentation, underrepresentation, or erasure. This heritage is often avoided or forgotten due to its potential to offend racialized groups and create divisions, while deliberate concealment or destruction raises concerns over “cancel culture.” Furthermore, such CH can heighten social tensions, especially when individuals feel personally targeted by its content.

These issues stem from a lack of cohesive, community-driven strategies at the European level to properly identify, interpret, and valorise this heritage. As a result, participatory approaches involving stakeholders and affected communities are essential but remain underutilized, highlighting the need for innovative, interdisciplinary frameworks.

Debates on CCH often focus on 19^th-20^th century “fallen idols”<ref>A. von Tunzelmann, Fallen Idols, London 2021</ref> tied to colonialism and totalitarian regimes, such as Bristol’s Edward Colston statue or Nazi-fascist monuments. However, medieval and early modern CH also sparks controversy. Examples include Bologna’s depiction of Muhammad in hell, targeted by threats after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and Córdoba’s mosque-turned-church. In Croatia, some communities still struggle to acknowledge the anti-Jewish implications of Istrian paintings. Italy debated removing Mantua’s altarpiece representing the Jewish banker Daniele da Norsa and relocating Livorno’s Monument of the Four Moors, criticized for depicting Black and Turkish slaves.

These challenges are particularly evident in the Mediterranean, where migration patterns are reshaping European societies, including countries historically less affected by colonialism. The medieval and early modern CCH, linked to Jewish, Muslim and black presence, although more distant in time, is particularly relevant - now more than ever - given migration from Africa and predominantly Muslim countries, and the resurgence of anti-Semitism following the Middle East conflict. These are issues that concern not only the EU but also the Global South. In this context, CH professionals, especially in museums, cultural institutions, and tourism, must adopt inclusive and respectful practices to address these social changes and support cultural diversity.

Collaboration with the Global South, particularly African countries, is critical for tackling these challenges. In Tunisia, slavery-related sites are overshadowed by tourism, and Jewish heritage in Tunis and Djerba faces threats from memory loss. Similarly, in Kenya, there is limited awareness of Mombasa’s slave trade history, with coastal ruins linked to Arab slave owners neglected due to their negative associations.

In response, the CIRCE project aims to create an interdisciplinary and based on a co-creation approach model for managing CCH. It will develop strategies for identifying, interpreting, and promoting this heritage while offering specialized training tools for CH and tourism professionals. By addressing gaps in awareness and fostering inclusive practices, CIRCE seeks to ensure the preservation, responsible valorisation, and shared understanding of CCH in a multicultural and evolving global context.

To address these challenges, the project will focus on several port cities and surrounding areas in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions, many of which are represented by project partners. Historically, harbours have been key sites of cultural exchange and conflict, making them rich in CH that reflects these dynamics, that may give rise to controversies. By comparing the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean contexts (a less explored axis than the more common Mediterranean-Atlantic one) the project will directly involve two Kenyan port cities. The inclusion of African actors in the research, along with the exploration of geographical areas rarely considered in the context of CCH, addresses the need to decentralize the gaze and shift the attention on less investigated viewpoints.<ref>Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo, Moving the centre. The struggle for cultural freedoms, London 1993.</ref> This approach stems from the belief that a decolonial perspective can be effectively applied to medieval and early modern European heritage as well.

Following these premises, the CIRCE project will address three main themes observed through specific case studies:

1. Jewish and anti-Jewish cultural heritage in the Adriatic and Mediterranean regions.
2. Islamic and/or Ottoman legacy in the Mediterranean in the light of Christian and Arab/Ottoman encounters and conflicts.
3. Blackness and slavery in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions.

Although CH can be considered dissonant in nature because it reflects historical power dynamics that marginalised specific groups,<ref>For the concept of Dissonant Heritage see J. E Tunbridge, G.J. Ashworth, Dissonant Heritage. The management of the past as a resource in conflict, New York 1996</ref> the CIRCE project focuses on Jews, Muslims, and Black communities as emblematic of marginalization in European heritage. It examines medieval and early modern ports in the Mediterranean and African Indian Ocean, key sites of interaction and conflict among these groups. By analysing three case studies, CIRCE aims to understand broader patterns of marginalization and provide guidance for addressing other forms of exclusion in CH.

Considering the challenges posed by a lack of awareness and non-specific training about CCH, especially in relation to medieval and early modern periods in UE countries, the overall research objective of CIRCE is to develop, test and validate an innovative and inclusive model for the correct identification, interpretation and valorisation of CCH, elaborating a shared verbal and visual language that facilitates the inclusive and participatory reinterpretation of it. Through targeted research activities, CIRCE seeks to transform CCH into a shared one, that is a resource for the whole community.

In this respect, CIRCE moves from the following critical questions:

1. What constitutes controversial CH in the project partner countries?
2. Who perceives this heritage as controversial, and in what context?
3. How do citizens of one geographical area perceive the controversial heritage of another?
4. How can we manage, interpret, and present such heritage in a way that resonates with multiethnic and transcultural audiences, including tourists, citizens, and museum visitors?
5. How can we reframe artistic masterpieces, often uncritically presented in guidebooks, to address multiethnic audiences inclusively?

Towards this ambitious goal, CIRCE will focus on 3 specific research objectives:

1. Developing a framework for identifying and interpreting CCH (RO1): Using a co-creation approach, the framework will be designed through focus groups with stakeholders and affected communities. This framework will guide the mapping of CCH at the project’s case study sites, employing participatory methods. Additionally, CIRCE will create a cataloguing method to record the conflict dynamics and contextualise the reason for controversies.
2. Co-creating a scientific model for valorising CCH (RO2): The project will develop two key tools: a multilingual Glossary (Italian, Spanish, Croatian, French, Arabic, Kiswahili, and English) containing around 20 sensitive terms for engaging with CCH respectfully, and an Atlas of Controversial Cultural Heritage inspired by Aby Warburg’s Atlas. This Atlas will consist of 18 panels showcasing CCH-related images in dialogue and contrast, highlighting controversies for open discussion. These tools will be co-designed and validated through artist-led workshops with stakeholders, ensuring a bottom-up and decentralized approach. The resulting valorisation model will integrate the Atlas, Glossary, and the framework and cataloguing method developed in RO1.
3. Enhancing the application of the model in CCH contexts (RO3): To support the adoption of the valorisation model in museums, cultural institutions and tourism, CIRCE will create training programs for CH and tourism professionals. These programs, tested with target groups, will include a MOOC (5-hour self-paced course in six chapters) freely available as an open educational resource. Additionally, guidelines will be developed to facilitate the implementation of the CIRCE model in museums, cultural institutions, and heritage sites.

Drawing on bell hooks’ decolonial frameworks,<ref>bell hooks, Black looks: race and representation, New York and London 2015.</ref> the project emphasizes participatory processes that empower marginalized and racialized communities to reclaim and redefine their representation in CH. By critically examining and transforming representational practices rooted in colonialism, CIRCE aims to reshape how heritage is narrated and visualized, promoting more inclusive perspectives.

Project vision. Using participatory strategies, the project seeks to create “shared cultural heritage” that fosters inclusion, embraces diverse perspectives, and promotes cultural understanding, thus transforming CCH from a source of division into a tool for dialogue and inclusion. By providing concrete tools, guidelines and strategies to cultural institutions, decision-makers and educators, CIRCE project will contribute to the responsible preservation and promotion of CCH across the Mediterranean and beyond. In the long-term CIRCE project is expected to shelter CCH from both memory loss and/or the risk of removal, censorship or destruction.

The project is supported by a consortium of academic and non-academic institutions, including racialized scholars from African universities and organizations. CIRCE leverages arts-based practices, involving visual artists from Europe and Africa, to creatively reimagine heritage narratives and challenge mainstream assumptions. These artists play a vital role in the co-creation process, ensuring diverse perspectives and advancing the decolonization of CH practices, thereby amplifying the project’s impact and scope.

Innovations to go beyond the state of the art

CIRCE project introduces innovation in chronology, geography, and methodology to advance the study and valorisation of CCH:

1. Chronology: While Europe’s CCH is often associated with colonialism and totalitarian regimes of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, CIRCE focuses on the medieval and early modern periods, specifically the representation of Jews, Muslims, and Blacks and their heritage. These depictions often portray racialized groups as submissive, servants, or slaves, reflecting a colonial system of power within Europe itself since the Middle Ages. This subtle form of colonialism, rooted in representation, remains understudied and requires further exploration.
2. Geography: Discussions on CCH frequently centre on Europe and the Americas, neglecting the Global South. CIRCE shifts attention to less-explored areas, such as North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on their CCH. For instance, North Africa’s historical antagonism with Christian Europe and sub-Saharan Africa’s experiences with slavery and colonization (by Arabs, Portuguese, and British) are key areas of study.<ref>M. Liebst, Urban East African Slavery, in The Palgrave Handbook of Global Slavery throughout History, eds. D.A. Pargas,

J. Schiel, London 2023; R.B. Allen, Satisfying the “Want for Labouring People”: European Slave Trading in the Indian Ocean, 1500-1850, “Journal of World History”, 21, 1, 2010: 45-73; R. Austen, The Nineteenth Century Islamic Slave Trade from East Africa (Swahili and Red Sea Coasts): a Tentative Census, “Slavery and Abolition”, 9, 1988: 21-44.</ref> The project seeks to understand how these regions’ heritage interrelates with Mediterranean and Atlantic slavery, offering a broader, more nuanced perspective.

1. Methodology: CIRCE applies Aby Warburg’s flexible method to CCH, adopting a decolonizing perspective and engaging affected communities and racialized artists in a co-creation process. This participatory approach, combined with arts-based practices, aims to develop an inclusive valorisation model applicable to diverse case studies and geographies. The project employs qualitative research methods, such as focus groups, to capture different perceptions of heritage, fostering community participation. A diverse research team ensures a decentralized gaze, questioning dominant visual norms and promoting inclusive communication models for museums. By involving non-academic organizations, CIRCE ensures close ties with local communities, enhancing the sustainability and societal impact of its outcomes, while proposing innovative approaches to the complex challenges of CCH.

Methodology for each RO

The activities of CIRCE project are organized in three distinct phases, corresponding to the three ROs of the project.

All the phases are characterized by a strong co-creation approach, which will ensure continuous interaction between partners, and with stakeholders and target groups. Using co-creation in heritage-related projects is considered a key requirement to align CIRCE with the Faro Convention (2005), turning the top-down approach to heritage management into as bottom-up as possible. Stakeholders and target groups of the project are: researchers in art history, history, museum studies, cultural anthropology, pedagogy; CH and Tourism practitioners; cultural public/private organisations; informal groups or associations involved in Jewish/Islamic history and culture, black slavery-related history and legacy; decision makers in the sector of CH, tourism, equal opportunities, education/training; teachers and educators in the field of CH.

The research activities will focus on three case studies selected based on scientific literature and cantered on diverse, particularly significant territories.

The first case study (a) concerns the Jewish and anti-Jewish presence in the city of Ancona and its territory, in the city of Split (including Dalmatia and Istria), and in the cities of Tunis and Djerba. In all these geographical areas, the Jewish presence was accompanied by encounters and conflicts that have produced a heritage that continues to challenge the present, especially after the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East. The second case study (b) concerns the Islamic/Ottoman legacy in Genoa (where there are many controversial images of Muslims and Ottomans), in Tunis and Testour (where controversial memories of the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain and conflicts with Christians are preserved) and in Madrid and some Spanish harbours (where the Islamic heritage is sometimes disputed and problematic). The third case study (c) deals with the enslavement of blacks and includes the coast between Kilifi and Mombasa (where there are many memories of the enslavement of blacks by the first colonisers, Arabs and Portuguese), the city of Genoa (where early modern sources described as full of slaves of different ethnicities, including both Northern and Sub-Saharan Africans), the city of Macerata and its coastal areas (where there are also preserved memories of the enslavement of blacks and of the Ottomans).

These cases enable meaningful comparisons that illuminate both similarities and differences. The selection includes examples of tangible and intangible CH within a geographical area encompassing the Global South, featuring noteworthy instances of controversial or potentially contentious heritage. A general historical methodology for analysing the case studies will be developed and adapted to the specificities of each case study and geographical area, and refined on the basis of the experience gained from the case studies.

In order to achieve RO1, an initial mapping of controversial or potentially controversial material, selected on the basis of their conflictual or disruptive potential in the specific geographical areas, will be carried out through desk and field research on the subject. According to the co-creation approach, the results of this initial mapping will be verified and validated with stakeholders and target groups in two subsequent stages.

First, using Focus Groups (FG) as main research method.<ref>P. Liamputtong, Focus group methodology: Principle and practice, SAGE 2015.</ref> During secondments in the locations involved in the case studies, research staff carries out local FG. FG brings together a small group of people (5-10) to answer questions in a moderated setting. Participants include all the target groups and stakeholders mentioned above. CIRCE will conduct ‘semi-structured’ FG in the presence of a facilitator, using an interview guide that has been co-designed by the research team and that allows ample space for participants to clarify their responses. The data collected is then analysed and returned in the form of qualitative reports. Observing the group dynamics, their answers to the focus group questions, their reactions to controversial issues related to the topic, even their body language, will provide valuable insights for achieving the scientific purposes of RO1 (what heritage is controversial, for whom and why).

Then, all stakeholders and target groups participate again, plus groups of citizens, namely Jews/Muslims/Black or Afrodescendents, young people and students, thus extending participation to proposed activities. Participatory Mapping (PaM) is the main research method. PaM is a tool that allows the inhabitants of a given place to represent the heritage, landscape, and knowledge with which they identify and which they wish to pass on to new generations.<ref>J. Brown, T. Hay-Edie, eds., Engaging local communities in stewardship of World Heritage: a methodology based on the COMPACT experience, UNESCO 2014.</ref> It highlights the way in which the local community sees, perceives, and values its territory and consists of a cartographic representation or any other artefact with which the community can identify.<ref>C. Grasseni, Community mapping as auto-ethno-cartography, in “Advances in visual methodology”, 2012, pp. 97-112; S.M. Cabeça, Cultural mapping: A sustainable methodology for intangible cultural heritage, in “Memoriamedia Review”, 3(5), 2018, pp. 1-9.</ref> CIRCE will apply this methodological approach organising Decolonial Heritage Walks (DHW), guided tours that highlight details and urban contexts that narrate and bear witness to the controversial past represented in the CH. Territories will be shown as places where identity and memory tied to power are built, while also serving as spaces of resistance and alternative stories that connect race with other forms of marginalization.<ref>I. Yoon Ramirez, Walking-sensing as a decolonial art and pedagogical practice, in “International Journal of Education Through Art”, 17, 2021, p. 115-133.</ref> CIRCE will apply this method by using decolonial lenses and narrative approaches to dismantle the genealogies of race and colonisation that underlie contexts of medieval and early modern period. After an initial phase of collaborative research and piloting, open public moments will be organised to share the stories of awe and resistance associated with the places being explored and to draw out more from the participants.

Lastly, FG and PaM will contribute to establish the contents of a CCH catalogue related to the case studies. The cataloguing method will be developed through field research, comparing different approaches to CH cataloguing across the consortium’s countries. This process aims to create a model of catalogue card specific to CCH, incorporating not only historical data but also documenting the conflicting or potentially conflicting dynamics identified in FG and PaM. The online catalogue that hosts the CCH catalogue cards completed during the project will be co-designed as well, with a representative of target groups. As shown by previous EU-funded projects,<ref>See ILUCIDARE, funded by H2020 programme, Grant Agreement ID: 821394; HERITACT, funded by HE programme, Grant Agreement ID: 101094998.</ref> co-creation in the heritage sector can yield significant outcomes. These include fostering a shared understanding of definitions and concepts, strengthening relationships between heritage institutions and local communities, connecting social groups that share a common heritage but might not typically engage with one another, and increasing awareness and sensitivity to critical issues that can be more openly discussed in participatory contexts.<ref>E.B.N. Sanders, P.J. Stappers, Co-creation and the new landscapes of design, in “CoDesign”, 4, 1, 2008, 5-18.

</ref> With this in mind, the archive will be designed not only as a preservation tool but also as a platform to encourage heritage communities to actively participate in the identification and interpretation of CCH. Users of the online archive will be able to comment on existing catalogue cards, suggest additional controversial elements for validation by curators, and organize or display the cards according to their preferences. The catalogue cards will be further refined using a standardized language developed through the glossary created in WP2.

In order to achieve RO2, CIRCE project will follow four steps.

The first step consists in the initial design of the Atlas of Controversial Cultural Heritage using the methodology of Aby Warburg, which finds its ultimate expression in the Bilderatlas Mnemosyne. The latter is an unfinished project left incomplete upon Warburg’s death in 1929, consisted of black canvas panels onto which photographic reproductions were thematically and morphologically arranged around a central guiding image. This central image encapsulated the problematic core of the subject, which was then explored through comparative and contrasting visual dialogues with other images.<ref>Aby Warburg, Bilderatlas Mnemosyne: the original, edited by Roberto Ohrt and Axel Heil, Berlin 2020; David Freedberg, Claudia Wedepohl (eds.), Aby Warburg 150. Work, Legacy, Promise, Berlin 2024.</ref> Warburg’s atlas even tackled sensitive topics, such as anti-Semitism, demonstrating its capacity of addressing complex and controversial issues.<ref>Charlotte Schoell-Glass, Aby Warburg and anti-semitism: political perspectives on images and culture, Detroit 2008.</ref> Considered as an agonal field, the atlas panel is an appropriate tool to visualise the issues raised by the CCH and to reach the RO2.

Following this methodology, CIRCE Atlas will be composed of an initial set of 9 relevant CCH objects (3 per case), that are selected from the ones identified in WP1 and used as guiding images. These are chosen for their ability to be representative and emblematic of the problem to be addressed. The items selected serve for building 9 panels with images and text (3 per case) during Co-design Sessions (CDS) (3 in total, 1 per case). CDS, held by seconded research staff, aim at exploring ideas and collaboratively finding solutions with small groups of local stakeholders. CDS are 1 day long, gather representatives of all stakeholders and target groups of CIRCE (8-10 participants) to collaboratively design a first prototype of the Atlas. Participants are introduced to the Warburgian methodology, and the guiding images are presented (half day); seconded staff drive them to choose from the list of CCH (D1.1) other items to match with the preselected guiding images and organize their spatial composition onto the panels.

Step 2. Locally organised debates will be used also to co-create a Glossary of Controversial Cultural Heritage in 7 languages, including Arab and Kiswahili and collecting a set of terms that may be harmful of raise conflicts when used in relation to CCH represented in the three case studies. A first draft of the glossary will be elaborated starting from the set of terms drawn from the activities in WP1 and through a comparative analysis of already existing glossaries or vocabularies used in CH contexts. This draft will be then discussed with researchers in linguistics and literature, museum & tourism staff, and representatives of communities implicated in the three cases, thus leading to an Initial Glossary.

Step 3. The Atlas and Glossary will be tested, refined, modified and expanded in the light of the results of Artist-led Workshops (AWS). AWS, lasting 3 days, gather seconded research staff together with all the stakeholders and target groups of the project in 3 days of co-creation (15-20 persons). AWS are twofold: 1 day is dedicated to introducing participants to the Warburgian methodology and to work in small groups on the 3 panels of the Atlas validating through discussion their composition and layout, proposing changes or integrations and testing the appropriateness of the Glossary. Artists start in this phase to collect inputs from the debate for developing their own artistic research about the CCH at stake. In the second part of AWS, 10 days after for conducting further research, artists bring their own idea for a new visual representation to be discussed and then co-produced during other 2 days of co-creation workshop with the same participants. To strengthen a decolonising approach and leverage the exchange of perspectives on the topic at stake, African artists are seconded in European countries of the consortium, while European ones will work in Africa. AWS are run 3 times per case study covering all the location involved in the previous phases of the research, for a total of 9 AWS (3+3+3=9). In each AWS one more panel is added to the Atlas featuring the co-created visual representation. Thus, at the end of the AWS the Atlas will count 6 panels per case study, thus resulting in at least 18 panels in its ready, at M32.

As a co-creation method, AWS breaks with traditional ways of thinking and allows creativity to flourish. This happens in many ways and creates a cycle of discussion in which everyone is involved. The space for participation and personal interpretation is expanded, leading to discoveries, connections and understanding.<ref>R. Deluigi, A. Mwiti, Art, Creativity and Spaces of Participation: Looking for decolonial positionings for an active pedagogy, in “Transculturale” 1/2025, in press</ref> The use of AWS will «help relieve power imbalances and communication barriers prevalent in traditional communicative and participatory processes».<ref>R. Vasudevan, The potential and pitfalls of ‘art in research’ methodologies, in “Planning Theory and Practice”, 21, 1, 2020, pp. 58-75.</ref> The artistic expressions then become material objects and symbols, aimed at expressing both feelings, moods and principles that can be more challenging to describe in words. In particular, the decision to integrate AWS within the CIRCE project was inspired by a pivotal event. When Black Lives Matter activists toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbour, Banksy proposed a solution that transcended the binary of cancel culture. In a sketch shared on his Instagram profile, he envisioned the statue restored to its pedestal but depicted in the act of being pulled down by two racialised individuals using ropes. This reimagining shifted the focus from memorialising the controversial figure of Colston to commemorating his removal. However, the statue was ultimately retrieved from the harbour and placed in a museum, losing its potential for transformation and critical engagement.

Step 4. The final activity to achieve RO2 (the scientific model for CCH valorisation) will be carried out by interweaving and integrating the results from WP1 and WP2. Taken together, this work will point the way to an effective CCH valorisation model.

In order to achieve RO3, CIRCE project will use co-creation involving three specific target groups related to education and training: 1) teachers and educators (secondary and higher education); 2) museums and other CH institutions practitioners, 3) professionals in the sector of tourism.

Initially, representatives of each target group are called to participate at Tables of Confrontation (TC) in each country. TC are organised moments of discussion with a small group of people belonging to the same target group, aimed at building collaboratively the different pieces of a training program. Tools from User Cantered Design (UCD) can be adopted to have smooth and focused debates (e.g. personas, journey maps, empathy maps, ecc...).<ref>A. Devecchi, Designing the empathic experience. Suggestions from art practices, Milano 2023.</ref> TC aims at defining a survey methodology for benchmarking the target group’s training gaps and needs. After the survey is effectively carried out, a second TC will analyse the resulting educational needs and define consistent learning objectives and outcomes. A final TC will discuss and validate training needs, learning objectives and outcomes, evaluation method for each target group. TC gather 4-5 persons per target group, last half a day and are repeated 3 times per target group (same working group) per country.

Then, according to the methodology defined as above, specific training contents are developed for the different TGs. Following the co-creation approach, a piloting action for testing the course in real contexts will be held. Researchers will run 3 pilots (1 per target group) in each country (3*5=15) observing and collecting useful data and feedback directly from users. Once tested, the training course will be adapted in order to create a MOOC of 5 hours distributed over 6 blocks (6-8 multimedia contents each).

Lastly project partners jointly elaborate a set of guidelines (targeted at decision makers, teachers and trainers, professionals in CH and Tourism sectors) for the identification, interpretation, documentation, valorisation and transmission of CCH related to the three topics.

In summary, the project transversally uses participatory co-creation methods to reach all ROs. To reach RO1, it uses focus groups and participatory mapping (through the tool of decolonial heritage walks); to reach RO2, it uses co-design sessions and artist-led workshops; to reach RO3, it uses tables of confrontation and pilots. The use of this mix of participatory tools in all ROs ensures a true co-creation approach to the whole project proposal. Co-creation in CIRCE is characterised by a decolonising perspective and boosted by arts-based research. Creativity and the artistic media are leveraged not only in AWS (RO2) but can be considered as native to CIRCE. In fact, the entire project will benefit from the use of film and video as an art-based research tool. In the belief that for dealing with images it’s crucial to handle the intimate mechanisms of image production, researchers in the field of film making are involved in all the phases of the project, contributing also to constant documentation.

Help for researchers

Before creating or editing any content in this wiki, researchers should read the operational guide and use the researcher dashboard as the main entry point.

• CIRCE Researcher Dashboard – main entry point for guides, templates, records, and researcher tools.
• CIRCE Researcher Guide – step-by-step instructions for using VisualEditor, inserting the CIRCE record template, uploading documentary images, and completing research records.
• CIRCE Record Blank Template – reference structure for advanced users or source-mode editing.