ILUCIDARE activities (onsite and online) reached out, managed and engaged with its international network (community) of heritage practitioners and stakeholders, which accounts for around 1.500 “core” stakeholders and 3.400 in its online community.
The ILUCIDARE “core” community builds on the members of the ILUCIDARE consortium, which counts on already established international networks in the field of heritage (tangible, intangible, digital, natural, landscape), innovation and international cooperation. This initial group has been enlarged during the project lifespan to include people and organisations that interacted with ILUCIDARE throughout its various onsite activities and online communication/dissemination channels (e.g. website, social media).
While understanding the importance and benefits of digital engagement, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ILUCIDARE was careful to dedicate particular attention to place-based engagement activities to reinforce social ties between project partners and participants. This was a conscious choice taking into account the digital divide and low media literacy of many stakeholders where the project was active, especially in remote rural areas such as Susudel, Ecuador. In these locations, a complete switch to online activities would have cut out a considerable portion of potential ILUCIDARE community members. In line with the “people-first” and co-creation approach embraced by project partners since the very beginning, ILUCIDARE opted for an inclusive approach considering blended onsite-online activities whenever possible.
This attention towards personal and face-to-face interactions, while challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed ILUCIDARE to plant seeds into various local communities to “cultivate relationships” even after the project lifespan. ILUCIDARE has already identified several initiatives at EU and local level kick-started by the project which will continue after its end through cooperation and exchanges established during ILUCIDARE, notably in Ecuador and Kosovo.
