HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-07: Societal impact of cultural heritage

Expected Outcome:

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

Enhanced understanding of the societal impact of cultural heritage; Good practices and case studies to enable positive societal impact described and documented, for the context of the research area chosen.
Capacity building and knowledge dissemination among practitioners and policymakers.
Produce and disseminate policy recommendations, guidance, and toolkits, supporting policymakers, in. the context of the research area chosen as appropriate.
Scope:

Heritage is a dynamic resource that can foster societal resilience, intercultural dialogue, and a sense of belonging in increasingly diverse and fragmented societies. It can contribute to social cohesion and resilience through arts, design and cultural practices. Thus, cultural heritage is central to the preservation of the social fabric and community cohesion. Understanding and amplifying the societal impact of cultural heritage is essential for reinforcing identity, cohesion, and global leadership based on shared values. Research proposals should explore how cultural heritage actively shapes civic engagement, social innovation, collective memory, and the transmission of democratic values.

Moreover, it is crucial to develop new narratives around heritage — ones that are forward-looking, critically aware, and deeply connected to Europe’s evolving values. Such work will not only strengthen Europe’s internal cohesion but also position cultural heritage as a strategic asset in addressing global challenges.

In this context, social innovation could also translate into working with cultural heritage practitioners and custodians to explore how cultural heritage can solve some of today’s societal challenges (achieving better social inclusion, social cohesion, well-being, and equality). Whereas previous research (including contributions by SSH disciplines) has widely explored developing heritage-based education, contribution of culture to rural development and cultural tourism, there are some fields that could benefit from more research: cultural participation and access to culture, with a focus on young people; gender roles and identities; a shared cultural heritage and shared responsibility in the light of security challenges.

Research projects should choose one of the following areas:
A. Cultural participation and access to cultural heritage
B. Gender roles and identities
C. Cultural heritage, cohesion and security

Proposals shall clearly indicate the thematic area they have selected to work on.

Proposals should adopt a multidisciplinary approach (involving, for instance and not exhaustively, heritage and museum studies, cultural anthropology, ethnology, media studies, theatre studies, literary studies, musicology etc.) to assess and demonstrate how cultural heritage initiatives contribute to societal well-being, community empowerment, inclusion, and sustainable development while identification of needs for further research in the field should be promoted.

Proposals should prioritize empirical research, participatory methodologies, and policy innovation to maximize and communicate the transformative power of cultural heritage across all layers of society.

Proposals should connect to both formal and non-formal education, particularly arts education. Encouraging collaboration between cultural heritage actors and educational institutions would enhance impact.

Proposals should build on existing knowledge, activities, networks and platforms, notably the ones funded by the EU, for example paying attention to the future digital tools and platforms provided by the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH), and the Common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage.