In February, a group of young people attended Heritage Action Day in Coventry. The day was co-designed by the group and the outcomes were exciting and insightful. Pay attention to the group and their social action to find out what they want at heritage buildings.
Who are the group?
1020 Voice for Heritage is a group made up of 10-20 year olds in England. Every one of the young people involved have been fantastic in sharing their ideas and helping to improve the way young people are heard in the heritage sector. Some members of the group first met to talk about their experiences at heritage sites in September 2022. Since then, some have filmed interviews at heritage sites near them and they have co-designed Heritage Action Day.
What was Heritage Action Day all about?
On 18th February, 2023, the 1020 Voice for Heritage group met in Coventry. They chose to answer the following questions in a previous co-design session online:
- How can we get adults to listen to us?
and
- How can we encourage better inclusion at heritage buildings?
The method of social action they chose was to use costumes for storytelling which can be filmed and put on social media. This was achieved by borrowing costumes from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and a workshop and training session with Amrit from Rebel Creatives who taught the group how to make great short-form videos.
Each person at Heritage Action Day made their own video and decided themselves whether to speak on camera, what b-roll footage to film and which costumes to use. The result of the day is some powerful 30-second videos where the young people express themselves and give their opinions on the questions above.
Have you been wondering what young people really want at heritage sites? Here is your chance to listen.
What are the outputs from the day?
Some of the videos have been posted on social media. They were designed for Instagram and TikTok so those are their main platforms and the group hope that they will be shared and reach a wide audience. You can also watch the videos here:
@heritage_trust_network Created by Elliot at Heritage Action Day! This is part of heritage social action from a group of 10-20 year olds and this video was created by Elliot. #HeritageActionDay @heritagelincolnshire
♬ original sound – Heritage_Trust_Network – Heritage_Trust_Network
@heritage_trust_network Make sure to add an accessible story to your website. On Heritage Action Day, Ryzelle made this fantastic video as social action to help improve inclusion at heritage sites! #HeritageActionDay @heritagelincolnshire
♬ original sound – Heritage_Trust_Network – Heritage_Trust_Network
@heritage_trust_network A great video by Anton and Lois showing 3 historic places in Coventry you must see! This is part of heritage social action from #HeritageActionDay
♬ original sound – Heritage_Trust_Network – Heritage_Trust_Network
@heritage_trust_network Alfie created this great video as part of heritage social action on #HeritageActionDay in Coventry, showing you 8 shots of heritage!
♬ original sound – Heritage_Trust_Network – Heritage_Trust_Network
What’s next?
The project, 1020 Voice for Heritage is now coming to an end but the group who participated are now armed with social action skills which they plan to use in the future. They are trained in creating short-form videos and have co-design and teamwork skills which they have developed throughout this project.
Some have said themselves that they hope to take part in more youth social action in the future!
We hope that other heritage organisations will look to the outputs created by young people in this project to inform future work they do with young people.
And lastly, remember that the 1020 Voice for Heritage group want adults to listen to them and to make heritage buildings more inclusive!
