Heritage in Action: Youth Perspectives on Tourism, Accessibility & Community Engagement
A field workshop at the Garni–Geghard–Havuts Tar cultural landscape exploring how young heritage professionals see, assess, and reimagine heritage sites, followed by an online session presenting youth-led recommendations for inclusive cultural tourism.
A field workshop at the Garni–Geghard cultural landscape marking the first step in exploring how young heritage professionals see, assess, and reimagine heritage sites, followed by an online session presenting findings and youth-led recommendations for more inclusive cultural tourism.
During the field workshop held on 4 July in Armenia's Upper Azat Valley, ten young heritage professionals, students, guides, architects and tourism practitioners from Armenia, Italy, Romania and Serbia explored three sites with very different approaches to heritage ownership, management and conservation: Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery and Havuts Tar Monastery. Working in small teams, participants documented accessibility challenges, visitor experiences, cultural tourism practices and opportunities for stronger community engagement through photography, video and on-site observation, and spoke with local stakeholders about what these places mean to them and what they would change.
During the online session on 14 July 2026, participants presented their findings, visual stories and youth-led recommendations to a wider audience, focusing on how young professionals can contribute to more accessible, inclusive and community-centred approaches to heritage management and cultural tourism.
The workshop was organised by SIREH, Center for the Study, Preservation, and Enhancement of Armenian Cultural Heritage, as operator of the Europa Nostra Heritage Hub in Yerevan, and facilitated by Youth.Heritage.Europe, within the framework of the EU-funded European Heritage Hub.