Importance of youth involvement
Schools require various programs to help children learn about society and culture, and cemeteries can offer an unexpected yet powerful experience. Since the future of cemeteries depends on the attitude that these children will develop, experiencing cemeteries as cultural heritage of their city may change their perspective so that they will be keener to support the preservation of cemeteries and other relevant projects.
For this reason, the main theme of this year's Week of Discovering European Cemeteries is “Schools on Cemeteries”.
Week of Discovering European Cemeteries 2022
Instead of traditional classes in school, students can have cemeteries as their classrooms, and enjoy a cultural week of activities which involves listening, learning, and interacting with history in a different and interesting way. The experience of walking through a cemetery and discovering the diversity of stories and meanings behind the graves and tombstones, is a stimulating, creative, challenging, and intriguing activity that can take students to another level of critical thinking and reflection on cultural heritage and their lives.
Schools on Cemeteries project
Schools on cemeteries is not a new idea. European cemeteries Route (CEMR), which was created under the auspices of ASCE, started this project years ago and many European cemeteries have already started to implement such projects in collaboration with local schools. You can read more about it HERE. Furthermore, you can see some best practices of European Cemeteries Route working with schools in the video below.
Since we strongly believe that schools on cemeteries are one of the best ways to preserve and promote cultural heritage, this will be an area of focus which will be intensively developed during the year and beyond.