The 3rd Transnational Project Meeting of the EMPATHS project has just wrapped up in Pozzuoli, hosted by the Campi Flegrei Archaeological Park.
The meeting began with the story of a fig tree growing downwards and ended with a journey through the ancient Mediterranean — an inspiring and thought-provoking frame, in the true spirit of heritage interpretation.
Over the course of the meeting, partners came together to review the meaningful progress made across the project and to move further from research and co-design towards implementation. After shaping the new EMPATHS methodology for co-creating heritage meanings with communities, the meeting helped partners take the next step: refining the training programme that will help heritage professionals put it into practice.
Key highlights from the meeting
The partners discussed the development of the EMPATHS online modules, which are now nearly ready to launch. These modules will support heritage professionals in developing the competences needed to facilitate participatory processes, engage communities and co-create meaningful heritage narratives.
The call for participants will also be launched in the coming days by the EMPATHS pilot partners: the Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei (Italy), the Ethnological Museum of Thrace (Greece), and the Karawanken-Kravanke UNESCO Global Geopark (Austria-Slovenia).
The meeting ended with am exciting local dissemination event that brought together partners, the Park’s staff and members of the local community. The event was followed by a concert of music and dance inspired by the ancient and modern Mediterranean, creating a powerful connection between heritage, performance and shared experience.
From ideas to practice
Pozzuoli reminded us once again why this project matters. Heritage interpretation becomes more powerful when it is not only about telling stories, but also about listening, connecting and creating meaning together.
As the project now moves towards the launch of its training activities, EMPATHS continues its work to support heritage professionals as facilitators of dialogue, participation and co-creation.
