Community+Heritage+and+History+Network

=Community Heritage and History Network=
 * Main Country of Operation:** UK
 * Other Countries of Operation:** Possible Lituania, Italy, Latvia, Poland (Others)
 * Contact:** Steve Thompson [|www.steve-thompson.org.uk]
 * Home page**: http://www.commarch.net

This is a placeholder for a project in development.

The Community Heritage and History Network project will utilise Digital Media/ICT to assist communities to describe, in their own words and through a wealth of archived images, linkages between their past and the present. Many small community groups have been established to explore and research the history and heritage of their local communities. For many of these groups in the North East of England their Heritage is steeped in industries such as Mining, Steelmaking, Shipbuilding, Chemicals, Agriculture and Fishing, industries which are either in decline or have disappeared altogether. These changes have given these community groups the inclination to research their heritage and the time to do it (through redundancy/early retirement). Recognising the value of technology to assist in this research, many have approached Teesside University's Institute of Digital Innovation for support to become digitally skilled.

This project aims to: develop the digital skills of residents of isolated communities; create a network of communities to encourage collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and resources; and to connect these communities with others in Europe which share a common industrial heritage, therefore strengthening ties with Europe and raise awareness of the rich social and economic history both within and outside of networked communities. It will serve to break down barriers which lead to the isolation of both communities and their members, increase their skills, ambition and ability to engage with the internet and with other communities via the internet.

Although based in the North East of England, this project would build a set of resources, guidelines and video tutorials (all online) so that processes can be replicated elsewhere. In order to ensure maximum potential for take up in other isolated communities, the project will utilise low cost hardware and free and open source software.

We also propose a number of dissemination workshops with European communities particularly those that have an affinity with the UK groups.

The dissemination workshops would take place over 3 days and consist of the following:

• Presentation and examples from the Community History and Heritage Network Project. • A series of workshops exploring the digital skills and techniques being developed and delivered in UK. • A web conference hook up with participants from the UK • Introduction to the network and how to become part of the network