Following the series of policy briefs elaborated by the B-Shapes project to support evidence-based policymaking and inclusive considerations for policymakers and those interested in the role of borders within the wider context of EU Cohesion policy and practice, we now present PB #11 Border landscapes as people’s heritage (WP5), by Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola (Oulu University) and Dorte Jagetic Andersen (SDU); co-authors: Martin Guillermo Ramírez (AEBR), Martin Klatt (SDU), Caitriona Mullan (AEBR), Elżbieta Opiłowska (Wrocław University), and Sara Svensson (Halmstad University).
Borders Shaping Perceptions of European Societies (B-SHAPES) is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action project that analyses how borders remain a key factor in our understanding of societies. Eight European universities, one research institute, a national museum, a foundation, a political association, a consultancy, and an art collective have come together for three years[1]. The special border region focus promises new insights into how borders shape perceptions of societies, and how the story of borders can be narrated differently than from a purely national perspective.
B-SHAPES continuously summarises and disseminates key findings from the research in a way which can support an evidence-informed approach to policy debates.
European border regions are sites of shared and contested heritage. Heritage policies can respond to European identity-building and self-awareness by incorporating borders and border memories into these policies. Making shared and contradictory border heritage and border heritage narratives visible is crucial for better understanding European identity politics and how borders shape people’s perceptions of European societies.
European heritage making is often seen as an economic resource. Thus, funding schemes such as the European Interreg programme are used to develop heritage as a tourist attraction, but this commodifies culture and heritage. Today’s development and funding schemes often bypass local citizens and their perceptions, even though the engagement of various stakeholder groups is crucial for promoting inclusiveness in heritage management, as underlined in the Faro Convention (Council of Europe 2005/199).
European border regions are well-suited for evaluating the implementation of heritage policy at the local and regional levels. The evaluation of the heritage policy requires attention to the practices, knowledge, and values that local citizens connect to the landscape across different sites along the border. Within the context of the research carried out by the B-SHAPES (Borders Shaping Perceptions of European Societies) project, knowledge is offered of borders as people’s heritage in different European border regions. It responds to the need to gain more knowledge about the incorporation of people’s perceptions and values of borders to regional, national and European heritage politics and policies.
Read the entire B-Shapes Policy Brief #11 here
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[1] The Centre of Border Region Studies at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) coordinates B-SHAPES. Other partners in the consortium are: Brunel University London, Halmstad University, University of Oulu, University of Wroclaw, University of Strasbourg, ELTE University in Budapest, Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic, EURAC Research, the Bulgarian Museum of National History, the Lungomare artists’ collective in South Tyrol (Italy), the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR/AGEG/ARFE), KREATUS Consultancy, and the European Network Remembrance and Solidary Foundation.
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