YoungArcHers: New inclusive and accessible digital storytelling about cultural heritage in educational contexts

The cultural heritage sector is at a crossroads. The boost of digitalisation and technology are the ultimate solutions to an increasing demand for audience development, and call for new approaches to engage with our cultural and artistic heritage. Digital storytelling enables unprecedented forms of engagement and opens up new spaces for educational contexts to explore collaborative forms to understand, preserve and engage with cultural heritage. E-learning tools promote access to cultural content in homes, schools and universities, and allow people to generate, reuse and add value to content, enhancing the value of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Educational contexts constitute safe and inclusive spaces for learners with a diverse range of abilities. Still, education in cultural heritage is commonly perceived as discipline-bound, unidirectional and academic, not consistent with the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (CAST 2018), which favors a learner-centric approach catering the needs of all learners. Accessibility and inclusion are crucial concepts in cultural heritage for achieving the CRPD (2006), and the UN Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They have also became key priorities of the European Agenda under the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disability 2021-2030. In the specific case of cultural heritage, the "European Heritage Strategy for the 21st Century" also idenitifies accessibility as a societal challenge. But what does it mean, being inclusive and promoting accessibility in cultural heritage? "Young ArcHers" is an Erasmus+ project that proposes a mindset shift in education advocating the use of cultural heritage, as a valuable tool for educators to create inclusive and accessible digital storytelling content for promoting intercultural dialog and social inclusion.