European Horizon: CIRCLE – Collaborative Innovation for Responsible, Critical and Localised Engagement with Europe’s Dissonant Heritage

HeritageCircle advances constructive and ethical approaches to discussing, interpreting, presenting, and reusing Europe’s dissonant and contentious heritage. It creates a cross-sectoral Community of Practice to connect stakeholders from academia, policy, practice, civil society, cultural and creative industries. Through these communities, HeritageCircle mobilises knowledge from existing research and practice, develops shared methodologies, and cocreates a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda that sets out future directions for heritage-related work in Europe. The project addresses urgent challenges: the political manipulation of heritage, marginalisation of minority narratives, tensions tied to histories of violence and oppression, silencing of difficult pasts in tourism and education, and the misuse of heritage in the digital sphere. To respond, HeritagCircle establishes the Space for Productive Heritage Engagement (SPHERE), a sustainable digital hub for collaboration, capacity building, and dissemination. SPHERE will curate tools, resources, and outputs, ensuring long-term access and dialogue. By systematically mapping policies, projects, and practices, HeritageCircle identifies gaps and needs, and tests reflexive and inclusive methodologies in pilots and incubators across Europe. Outputs include the Guide to Dealing with Heritage Dissonance, the Careful Dialogues Training Guide, capacity building, educational, heritage presentation toolkits, and participatory governance models. These will empower municipalities, NGOs, educators, heritage organisations, and CCIs to integrate plural narratives, design sustainable tourism products, and strengthen local ownership. Policy recommendations and the SRIA will channel insights from local practice to the European level, guiding future research, innovation, and policy frameworks. Together, these efforts ensure heritage dissonance is not a liability but a driver of resilience, intercultural dialogue, social justice, and inclusive democratic values.