REVIVE

REVIVE (Community-centred language REVItalisation powered by heritage-led storytellling and digital innoVation in Europe) is a €3M project funded by Horizon Europe, led by the StoryLab Research Institute at ARU. The project brings together an international consortium of European academic and industry partners from the UK, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Estonia.

The aim of this programme of research is to promote more meaningful and democratic use 3D immersive technologies and digital innovation in Europe. REVIVE will explore the integrated use of Extended Reality (XR) technologies, data visualisation and archival research for the protection of Europe’s heritage and linguistic capital to avoid cultural dilution, to strengthen European identity, culture and creativity, and to promote mutual understanding and social inclusion in Europe.

Project Summary

Languages are part of our shared Cultural Heritage and gateways to European multicultural identity. Within this framework, Endangered Intangible Heritage and Language (EIHL) communities hold unique traditional knowledge that supports a distinct sense of place-making and long traditions of cultural and heritage sustainability within some of the most vulnerable ecosystems. Although digital technologies provide a uniquely powerful opportunity to revitalise EIHL, previous efforts have predominantly concentrated on preserving grammatical/lexical aspects. There remains untapped potential in exploring the integrated use of immersive technologies and participatory storytelling for linguistic heritage revitalisation through active community engagement.

REVIVE will identify and evaluate the role of digital innovation, creativity and interactive narratives in promoting understanding and engagement with EIHL, fostering social integration and cross-cultural fertilisation among marginalised European communities. The project will be based on two concrete case studies and cultural contexts: Cornish (UK), and Griko (Italy).

Taking advantage of XR (Extended Reality) technologies, REVIVE will produce the first EU online digital scaffolder – so called REVIVE(S) – comprising a) an online repository (and showcase) of old material testimonies collected by locals and new XR digital narratives and b) onsite temporary exhibitions, made of micro and macro outputs born out of REVIVE(S) and setup in selected communities’ venues.

These activities will inform policy recommendations, best practice guidelines, and toolkits for EIHL revitalisation, aligning with REVIVE’s main goal: demonstrating that citizen participation, multidisciplinarity, and the creative connotation of digital innovation are crucial and effective means for consolidating and promoting multilingualism and EIHL in Europe.

Vision and Ambition

REVIVE will address internal fragmentation within EIHL, enhance the sustainability of research outputs and strengthen the European linguistic capital. This will be achieved through digital and community-based implementation measures that will support the identification, inventory and transmission of regional, minority and local languages.

These interventions will empower local communities and promote a medium-/long-term participatory and sustainable management of their EIHL in line with the Faro Convention and the principles of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), and European policies in the context of Endangered Languages and Linguistic Diversity and Digital Society.

REVIVE will change the overall neglect and disregard for the EIHL of minority groups in Europe through a bottom-up approach. This will be achieved by:

• Providing ICH stakeholders with sustained digital tools to promote multilingualism, recognise the importance of EIHL, and enhance cooperation in Europe.
• Preparing policy recommendations for relevant decision-makers, such as State Parties and local/regional stakeholders (i.e. The Union of Municipalities of Grecìa Salentina, Italy; Cornwall Council for Cornish Language, UK).
• Promoting young people’s linguistic heritage (re)discovery and (re)connection, as well as learning and daily use of more than one language.

Objectives

• REVIVE goes innovative – Communities’ participation and promotion of their heritage and languages to tackle inequality and marginalisation through community members’ participation in the creation of digital contents and stories to promote reawakening of two endangered languages.
• REVIVE goes digital – Development of a digital gallery about heritage of languages to address the gathering, search, and exhibition of EIHL at European and local levels, empowering cross-cultural fertilisation between different target groups, cultures, and countries
• REVIVE goes green – Experiencing and sustaining heritage of languages “with” and “inside” communities and local CCIs to enhance the efficacy of EIHL preservation policies and practices, particularly in relation to national and ‘international’ languages.

HORIZON Europe Project 101177908 REVIVE

Padstow Maypole © Bryan Ledgard Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

All other photographs © StoryLab Research Institute