Societal impact of cultural heritage

Key data

Topic identifier

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-HERITAGE-07

Type of action

HORIZON-RIA – Research and Innovation Action

Call

HORIZON-CL2-2027-01 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society – 2027

Programme

Horizon Europe, Cluster 2 (Culture, creativity and inclusive society), Cultural Heritage

Funding model

HORIZON Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS)

Status

Forthcoming

Planned opening

13 May 2027

Deadline

23 September 2027 (single-stage)

Topic budget

EUR 15,000,000 (2027), for about 5 grants

EU contribution per project

EUR 2,500,000 – 3,000,000

Europe’s rich cultural heritage and strong creative industries not only reflect our past but also shape our future. It is by building on this foundation and developing our strengths that we can face the great challenges of our time with confidence and shape a desirable common future.

Europe's cultural heritage originates from the interaction between people and places through time and is constantly evolving¹. Every citizen has a right to engage with the cultural heritage of their choice, while respecting the rights and freedoms of others, as an aspect of the right to participate freely in cultural life².

Europe’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage and its cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are strategic assets that foster social cohesion, resilience and a sense of belonging. They employ more people than the automotive industry and match the trade balance of food, drinks and tobacco combined. From multinationals to SMEs and micro enterprises, the sector creates jobs, especially for young people, and drives innovation across the whole economy, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and prosperity.

This destination adopts a people-centred perspective and places cultural heritage and the cultural and creative industries at the very heart of the European economy, its competitiveness and sustainability. R&I activities under this destination will be aligned with the main principles and objectives of the Culture Compass for Europe and support objectives such as circular and just fashion and textiles value-chains, social cohesion and resilience through arts, design and cultural practices and creative entrepreneurial ecosystems for regional development. R&I activities under this destination will support and strengthen European cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries essentially along the following lines:

Some actions funded under this Destination will need access to and/or generate data. Where appropriate, actions should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud or included in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and the ESFRI roadmap, as well as data from relevant European Data Spaces. In particular, projects that produce data or digital tools of potential interest to cultural heritage institutions or researchers should, as appropriate, establish links to and/or consider integrating their results in the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage (ECCCH)³. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of actions under this Destination is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

The innovation ecosystems created and nurtured by the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), in particular the KIC “EIT Culture and Creativity”, may contribute to actions under this destination, and may as appropriate be considered by applicants.

R&I actions under this Destination will help ensure Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness, support people, strengthening our societies and our social model, contribute to protecting our democracy, upholding our values and boosting a global Europe, leveraging our power and partnerships. They will contribute to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to building a stronger, more participatory and crisis-resilient society and economy. They will support the realisation of the full potential of cultural heritage, arts and cultural and creative industries as drivers of sustainable innovation and a European sense of belonging.

To maximise the impacts of R&I under this Destination in line with EU priorities, international cooperation is encouraged whenever relevant in the proposed topics.

Scope

Cultural Heritage as a Driver for Social Cohesion and Resilience

Heritage is a dynamic resource that can foster societal resilience, intercultural dialogue, and a sense of belonging in increasingly diverse and fragmented societies.

It can contribute to social cohesion and resilience through arts, design and cultural practices. Thus, cultural heritage is central to the preservation of the social fabric and community cohesion. Understanding and amplifying the societal impact of cultural heritage is essential for reinforcing identity, cohesion, and global leadership based on shared values. Research proposals should explore how cultural heritage actively shapes civic engagement, social innovation, collective memory, and the transmission of democratic values.

A New Narrative for Europe

Moreover, it is crucial to develop new narratives around heritage — ones that are forward-looking, critically aware, and deeply connected to Europe's evolving values. Such work will not only strengthen Europe's internal cohesion but also position cultural heritage as a strategic asset in addressing global challenges.

Cultural Participation

In this context, social innovation could also translate into working with cultural heritage practitioners and custodians to explore how cultural heritage can solve some of today's societal challenges (achieving better social inclusion, social cohesion, well-being, and equality). Whereas previous research (including contributions by SSH disciplines) has widely explored developing heritage-based education, contribution of culture to rural development and cultural tourism, there are some fields that could benefit from more research: cultural participation and access to culture, with a focus on young people; gender roles and identities; a shared cultural heritage and shared responsibility in the light of security challenges.

Research projects should choose one of the following areas:

Area ACultural participation and access to cultural heritage

Access to culture, acquired through socialisation and education, plays a crucial role in shaping cultural practices and preferences. As mentioned in the Political Guidelines⁴ for the European Commission, there is a need to improve access to cultural heritage, in particular for young people, and contribute to tackle cultural inequality and strengthen a sense of identity and belonging. In addition, attention should be paid to disadvantaged groups, eventually solidifying participatory culture and democracy and fostering a sense of stewardship towards cultural heritage.

Culture is a universal right

A Special Eurobarometer on Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Culture⁵, published in May 2025, showed that a majority of Europeans believe that their country and the EU should work more closely together when it comes to making arts and culture more accessible to everyone. Prior research⁶ indicates that increased cultural participation can potentially enhance civic engagement, social inclusion, and democratic governance, and counteract alienation and social disengagement. However, research also indicates profound and multifaceted barriers to access. These barriers include, for example, geography, including the challenge of rural isolation; under-representation of minority groups; economic disparity.

Gaining the youth

The proposals should explore good practices for fostering access to cultural heritage, with a focus on young people and ways to empower them to take an active role in their communities and strengthen social cohesion. Proposals should also explore which are the main barriers for access to culture and effective means to increase cultural participation, identifying specificities for different types of groups.

The proposals should employ interdisciplinary and participatory methods to identify effective models for inclusive cultural participation. Results are expected to guide policies on cultural access, with recommendations, for instance, for digital infrastructure, educational programmes, and cross-sector collaboration to foster inclusive citizenship.

Area BGender roles and identities

Including and Involving People

Cultural heritage has the power to promote diversity and inclusion by showcasing diverse narratives and histories, but it can also perpetuate inequality if stereotypes, cultural role models, and representations are limited or biased, silencing marginalised voices. The proposed research should explore the complex relationships between cultural productions, representations and societal attitudes towards different sexes and gender identities, with a focus on understanding how culture can shape our cultural landscape and influence our attitudes and imaginaries.

Reshaping a Commonwealth

Proposals should provide an analysis of the representation and overview of different gender identities and intersecting factors such as racial or ethnical background, disability or socioeconomic background, in cultural fields. Proposals should explore how gender aspects have been absent, or forgotten, in major supranational cultural narratives. Proposals should provide actionable recommendations on how to promote a more inclusive and diverse representation, including in the cultural content, and to address the absence of diverse representations in the cultural field. These recommendations should be developed in a dialogue with different stakeholders, for example researchers, policymakers, cultural heritage institutions, civil society representatives.

Area CCultural heritage, cohesion and security

Supporting the FIMI

The proposed research should explore the role and conceptualisation of cultural heritage as a distinctive element of our shared identities and democratic values. It should also examine the links between culture and security including issues of disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) etc. Proposals are expected to explore the notions of shared heritage and shared responsibility as an expression of our social interdependence, and culture as a factor of union and cohesion.

Defending values

Cases of instrumentalisation of cultural heritage and the political influence on museums or other cultural institutions should also be taken into account in the research. Culture can also face factors of destabilisation, attacks on cultural heritage can destabilise society and jeopardize security while cultural content can greatly influence public opinion and the imaginaries. The proposals should explore how to deal with polarising narratives and controversial aspects of cultural heritage use. The proposals should propose good practices, policy guidelines, run pilot projects and propose didactic materials to raise awareness on existing challenges, enhance “neutrality” in cultural heritage management, collective responsibility and cultural resilience; explore the notions of care and repair applied to cultural heritage.

Expected outcome

Expected impact

Key Results

Conditions

• Admissibility, page limits and layoutAnnexes A and E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes; page limits in Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System.
• Eligible countriesAnnex B of the General Annexes. Some non-EU/non-Associated Countries not automatically eligible have made specific provisions to fund their participants (see the Horizon Europe Programme Guide).
• Other eligibility conditionsAs described in Annex B of the General Annexes.
• Financial and operational capacityAnnex C of the General Annexes, including exclusion criteria.
• Award criteria and evaluationTo ensure a balanced portfolio, grants are awarded not only in order of ranking but at least also to the highest-ranked proposal within each area (A, B and C), provided it attains all thresholds. Scoring and thresholds in Annex D; submission and evaluation process in Annex F of the General Annexes and the Funding & Tenders Online Manual.
• Legal and financial set-upLump sum contributions under the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising lump sums in Horizon Europe, and Annex G of the General Annexes. The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results (Annex 5).
• Specific conditionsAs described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Keywords

• Anthropology, ethnology
• Cultural anthropology
• Social structure, inequalities, social mobility, interethnic relations

Tags

• Cultural heritage
• Cultural studies
• Gender
• Imaginary
• Informal education
• Intergenerational
• Social representations
• Sociology
• Youth

Library

Background documents for this call. Select a cover to download the report.

Download299 KB Download4.4 MB Download1008 KB Download3.8 MB Download1.0 MB Download6.5 MB Download6.3 MB Download596 KB