New report shows that engaging young people in heritage is key to Levelling Up

A new report released by the University of Wolverhampton shows that young people’s participation with heritage can build strong cohesive communities, promote social inclusion, and cultivate a sense of civic pride and belonging.

The Young People’s Engagements with Heritage: Tackling Inequality & Other Opportunities for Public Policy report has also shown that engagement with heritage can support the goals of government policy in terms of its ‘Levelling Up’ agenda.

The report was commissioned in 2021 by Historic England with the University’s Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences’ Arts Connect and Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD) teams.

The report calls for increased partnership-working between heritage organisations and the education, housing, transport, and healthcare sectors in order to harness the benefits that heritage can bring as well as increased intergenerational and cross-cultural heritage projects, developed, shaped, and led by young people, in the areas that they live.

This is the first report to provide evidence of the specific link between the outcomes of engagement with heritage and Levelling Up. Report findings show that getting involved in local heritage could reduce ‘brain-drain’ by encouraging young people to stay in so-called ‘left behind places’, claiming ownership over the spaces where they live, and contributing towards their revival. These findings add to well-documented research regarding positive personal and social outcomes of heritage engagement such as better mental health and wellbeing.

The report discusses seven case studies from around the country involving over 150 participants.

Projects featured include Stand Out, an LGBTQ+ heritage project in Burnley run by a team of young producers aged 13–25, the Adventurers History Club – which involved an all-male cohort of students from mainly British Asian and Somali heritage in East London who explored together the historical sites of London and beyond – and the Wild Sparks in Yorkshire which caters for 11-19-year-olds (up to the age of 25 for those with special educational needs), through a monthly club which offers outdoor activities and heritage crafts.

Dr Joshua Blamire, Research Associate in the ICRD, said: “Our research highlights the power of heritage in building cohesive communities, tackling social polarisation, and addressing inequalities. Yet this work is too valuable to be left to the heritage sector alone; instead, local, regional, and national partners – encompassing a broad range of sectors – need to play their part in harnessing the benefits that heritage has to offer. At the same time, there are an abundance of opportunities and possibilities within so-called ‘left behind’ places that are both culturally and historically rich and diverse.”

Rob Elkington, Director at Arts Connect, said: “We want this report to bring the voices and dynamism of young people to the fore in showing how their active participation with heritage in all its forms, enabled by heritage, museum and youth organisations matters way beyond their personal growth. We are also offering funders, heritage and youth organisations new language, evidence, and ideas to develop their ambitions for the contribution they can make to the revitalisation of places.”

Sandra Stancliffe, Head of Communities, Learning, Inclusion and Volunteering at Historic England, said: “We warmly welcome this report and the contribution it makes to filling the gaps in our knowledge. We hope the wider sector will use the findings to better describe and expand the unique role that heritage can play in transforming the lives of young people.”

Kenzie, Young Heritage Participant, said: “One of the reasons that heritage is so valuable to us as a collective, is that we all have it, and it’s one of the few threads that connects us all. By highlighting the impacts of heritage, this report shows the importance of it and the positive effects heritage can have on people; helping to bring people together to contribute to something bigger and better than what any individual can do when working alone.”

A free webinar to discuss the key findings of the report will be taking place on Wednesday 14 June 2023.

Anyone interested in courses being offered in the Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences should check out the website or register for one of our forthcoming Open Days.

Picture caption: Taken at an event organised by ICRD and Arts Connect last year, the event was called: Young People’s Heritage Showcase; and the projects the young people were/are involved in include Wild Sparks -Eden; Jason is a post grad student at Hull’s Wilberforce Centre and Hadia is from Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage.