Summary Table of Activities
| Title | Overview | Duration | Keywords | Handbook cross reference |
| Ice-Breakers & Warm-Up Exercises | ||||
| 1. My Photo | Participants are invited to share a photo and discuss and exchange memories related to it to form deep connections. This process highlights the power of individual memories in the context of personal or collective heritage. | 15-20 minutes | Storytelling | |
| 2. Concentric Circles | This icebreaker helps people get connected while also becoming connected to the subject of cultural heritage. | 10 minutes | Group-Bonding exercise | |
| 3. Kaleidoscopic Portrait: Presenting Oneself through Heritage | The ‘kaleidoscopic portrait’ uses concrete objects/places to help people introduce themselves and get to know others (e.g. ‘If I were a book, I’d be…’; ‘If I were a city, I’d be…’). This exercise uses elements of cultural heritage and historical figures. | 10 minutes | Storytelling | |
| 4. What Would You Rather? | This fun and energizing exercise has participants practice self-reflection, connect with others and use intuition when choosing between different things. | 15 minutes | Group-bonding exercise | |
| Short Exercises (30-60 min.) | ||||
| 5. The Places We Inherit | Participants reflect on how heritage influences their identity and life. Using the body – through images, theatre or statues – participants represent a heritage element from their or their parents’ birthplace and link it to their current home | 45 minutes | Acting & Improvisation | |
| 6. The Imaginary Journey | To reflect on how heritage is present in one’s life and in that of others. In pairs, participants lead each other through a personal journey using sound. | 1 hour | Acting & Improvisation | |
| 7. I Am Heritage | This activity aims to help participants understand that heritage is not only outside them but also within, as the most sensitive/emotional, deep-rooted element of ourselves. | 45 minutes | Self-reflection & discussion | Handbook: Heritage as a Tool for Inclusion |
| 8. Doja, The Gypsy Fairy | “Doja, the Gypsy Fairy” is an episode from the Romani television series Gypsy Tales. It explores the ‘bitter fate’ motif of wandering, rather than climbing. The animated story stimulated positive representations of Romani communities and their traditions. Based on the story, participants will reflect on the topic of Roma culture and heritage. | 45 minutes | Storytelling | Handbook: Heritage Communities |
| 9. Birth Order | By using experience relating to the birth order in participants’ families, the activity aims to understand how quickly and subconsciously stereotypes are born and how misleading and harmful they might be. | 45 minutes | Storytelling
Self-reflection & discussion |
Handbook: Heritage and Cultural Dynamics |
| 10. Telling Fairy Tales: Hansel and Gretel | This activity deals with the cultural heritage of tales and telling stories. It also deals with perspectives and how they can shift and shed another light on events. In this activity, the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel will be used, but other fairy tales, folktales and fables could also be used. | 45-60 minutes | Storytelling | |
| 11. Bodies Building Heritage | In small groups, all participants must build different elements of tangible and intangible heritage with their bodies (such as the Eiffel Tower or Christmas), just by observing and responding, without speaking, commanding or pointing. | 45 minutes | Acting & Improvisation | |
| 12. ‘Put Your Name on It!’
Story stroll |
Participants connect to city heritage in a personal and meaningful way through a very simple performance: they will write their names on a piece of paper and take them through the streets and sites they inhabit every day. | 1 hour | Field Trip & site Investigation | |
| 13. Introduction to an Alien | Participants reflect on what it is like to be a member of a community and then consider to what extent certain statements about them are true to the specific individuals. | 30 minutes | Self-reflection & discussion | |
| 14. My Music, Your Music | How does music and song influence memory and identity?This exercise explores the origins and influence of musical heritage and song in forming complex cultural identities. | 30 minutes | Storytelling Self-reflection & discussion | Handbook: The Construct of Heritage |
| 15. Tree of Life | The visual metaphor of trees will be used as a structure to label different elements of the participants’ lives, culture, identity and strengths, linked to the past, present and future. It gives participants the opportunity to share short personal stories about the elements of their tree. | 1 hour | Memories & storytelling | |
| 16. My Heritage, Your Heritage: Talking about Difference | The idea of this activity is to connect personal heritage to collective heritage, without determining what is authorized (recognized by experts) or unauthorized. The narrative aspect is key to this activity: What happens when students share stories about objects and practices that are important to them? | 30-60 minutes | Storytelling Self-reflection & Discussion | Handbook: The Construct of Heritage |
| 17. Drawing a Monument | Participants draw a monument in pairs sitting back to back. | 20 minutes | Drawing & handicraft activities | |
| Multi-Hour & Multi-Day Exercises | ||||
| 18. Heritage Scavenger Hunt | The heritage scavenger hunt is a structured do-it-yourself dive into an object, practice, site, event, building or person of cultural heritage. Using a form that they fill in, the participants obtain a multifaceted perspective on cultural heritage. Methods of research include browsing the internet, interviewing people or going to museums, among other activities. | 1 hour to 1 day, depending on the set-up | Field Trip & site Investigation | |
| 19. Minority Heritage Trails | This activity uses the concept of heritage trails, helping participants to develop a tangible trail within the locality of the education space, as a method for connecting with hidden, overlooked or minority heritage. | 90 min. x 3 | Field Trip & site investigation | Handbook: Heritage Communities |
| 20. Object Biographies: Stories of People, Stories of Things
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Objects serve as tools for meaning-making and inspiration for creating new narratives together. Participants share the biography of their object and how it connects with their experiences, bringing together elements from the objects and their personal histories. This activity requires at least three sessions, lasting two to three hours each, and includes a visit to a cultural heritage institution such as a museum or archive. | 6-9 hours | Storytelling
Field Trip & site Investigation |
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| 21. Monsters: Discovering the Imaginations of Monsters of Our Cultures | Participants will sculpt a monster that is inspired by their cultural heritage. The different monsters that will be crafted illustrate the cultural diversity present in different representations, conceptualizations and functions of monsters. | 90 minutes | Drawing & Handicraft activities | |
| 22. Death, Diversity and Heritage | Participants will investigate culture and cultural heritage by studying and discussing death rituals and visiting a cemetery. | 90 minutes | Field Trip & site Investigation | |
| 23. Authorized Only? Exploring the Boundaries between Expertise and Inclusion in Heritage | Using embodiment, storytelling and Forum Theatre, participants explore the origins and aspects of inclusion in heritage, also learning about immaterial heritage. | 2.5 hours | Storytelling
Acting and Improvisation |
Handbook: The Construct of Heritage |
| 24. What Would You Give Up? | Abandoning one’s culture to assimilate into a new country can be difficult. This exercise takes participants on a reflective journey to explore how they would feel about giving up elements of their cultural heritage. | 1 hour | Self-reflection & discussion | Handbook: Heritage and Cultural Dynamics |
| 25. Cultural Appropriation Detective | Cultural appropriation is a frequently used term, but what does it really mean? This discussion activity encourages participants to explore the concept of cultural appropriation. | 75 minutes | Self-reflection & discussion | Handbook: Heritage and Cultural Dynamics |
| 26. Discovering Our Own Culture through the Heritage of Others | This activity is an invitation to realize that elements of cultural heritage can become an occasion for deeper understanding not only of another cultural group but also one’s own values and representations. | 75-90 minutes | Self-reflection & discussion | Handbook: Heritage and Cultural Dynamics |
| 27. Joseph/Yusuf, Abraham/Ibrahim, Job/Ayoub | This activity connects religious heritage to personal values to build bridges between faiths. While focusing on the Abrahamic religions, it can be adapted to other religious traditions. Participants read one of the stories from the Bible, Torah or Quran centred around the religious figures of Joseph/Yusuf, Abraham/Ibrahim or Job/Ayoub. | At least one hour | Self-Reflection & Discussion | Handbook: Heritage as a Tool for Inclusion |
| 28. Rediscovering the City through Our Bodies | This activity uses performance and Image Theatre as a way to reconnect from different dimensions and rediscover different sites of the city. | 90 minutes | Acting & Improvisation | Handbook: Heritage as a Tool of Inclusion |
| 29. Using Forum Theatre for Conflict Resolution: Religion in the Classroom | Religion in the classroom is a challenging issue for some. Through Forum Theatre, this will be explored further by making the power structures in the learning environment visible and addressing situations of cultural conflict collectively. | 2-4 hours | Acting & Imrpovisation | Handbook: Heritage as a Tool for Inclusion |