HerInt: Cultural heritage participation patterns among immigrants and their influence on integration. The case of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Norway.

Project Information

HerInt

Grant agreement ID: 101059766

DOI

10.3030/101059766

Project closed

EC signature date 12 July 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 June 2025

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 155 793,60

Coordinated by

UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI
Poland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HerInt (HerInt: Cultural heritage participation patterns among immigrants and their influence on integration. The case of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Norway.)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

How do immigrants engage with cultural heritage in both their countries of origin and new homelands—and what drives their participation? Can cultural heritage serve as a pathway to deeper integration in new societies? These were the guiding questions of the HerInt project, now fully completed, offering critical insights for policy-makers and cultural heritage professionals.
The HerInt project, grounded in interviews with Polish immigrants in Norway and Ukrainian immigrants in Poland, has identified diverse patterns of cultural heritage participation. These patterns were analysed in relation to immigrants’ demographic, cultural, and economic backgrounds, revealing how different factors shape engagement with heritage.
HerInt also evaluated how national integration policies—especially those promoting immigrants’ cultural expression and protection—impact their heritage practices. By analysing cultural policy frameworks in Norway and Poland, the project highlighted the varying institutional conditions influencing heritage engagement.
Perhaps most importantly, HerInt found that cultural heritage participation is not just an expression of identity—it also has tangible effects on integration outcomes. Using the newly developed Emplacement Index, the study demonstrated that specific forms of cultural heritage participation are closely linked to how immigrants find a sense of belonging and agency in their new environments.
These findings call on cultural heritage institutions, integration bodies, and policy-makers to actively use cultural heritage as a tool to support the integration of immigrants.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project conducted interviews with Ukrainian immigrants in Poland and Polish immigrants in Norway, alongside ethnographic observations of heritage-related practices. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using qualitative software. Additionally, relevant policy documents on cultural heritage in both countries were reviewed, and interviews with institutional stakeholders were carried out in Poland, followed by ethnographic observation of cultural institutions in Poland and in Norway. The data collected allowed to identify patterns of cultural heritage participation and to explore how these patterns relate to individual backgrounds and integration outcomes. The research also compared the focus on immigrants in the cultural policies of Norway and Poland. Key findings were presented in the research report at major international conferences in Warsaw, Galway, Istanbul, Lisbon, and Montreal. Three academic articles were submitted to international peer-reviewed journals, and all planned scientific deliverables and milestones specified in the project application were fully achieved.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project significantly advanced the dialogue between heritage and migration studies by offering new perspectives and empirical insights into micro-level, non-institutionalised heritage practices among migrants—an area previously underexplored. Through qualitative research in Poland and Norway, it uncovered how demographic and sociocultural factors shape individual patterns of heritage participation beyond formal institutions. Crucially, the study identified clear links between different forms of cultural heritage engagement and migrants’ emplacement outcomes in their settlement society. This led to the development of an original analytical framework connecting individual background characteristics with specific heritage participation patterns. By introducing this model, the project filled a notable gap in existing research and provided a foundation for more nuanced, person-centred approaches to migrant’s heritage, shedding light on the relationship between heritage engagement and migrants’ integration.