Roots & Futures
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Roots and Futures is a collaborative community heritage project based in Sheffield, UK.
We aim to help to embed the perspectives of under-served communities in the city's heritage strategy and policy. We are partnered with Joined Up Heritage Sheffield (authors of Sheffield’s grass-roots led Heritage Strategy), Sheffield City Council, and a range of community partners.
Since 2020, we have been designing and delivering consultation events with Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities whose histories and stories are not well represented and whose experiences are marginalised in traditional heritage narratives in the city.
Roots and Futures champions the value of heritage-based engagement and representation as a foundation for social inclusion and wellbeing through its exploration of identity, place and belonging. We have co-produced our project aims and methods with university, city, and community stakeholders, drawing in approaches which integrate oral history sharing with creative modes of consultation and have engaged directly with heritage policy and strategy.
One theme emerged time and time again from the many findings of Roots and Futures 2022-23 conversations: the importance of young people's opinions about heritage. Participants thought we should be speaking to younger Sheffielders about their heritage need and priorities, and finding ways to ensure these were fed into heritage policy and education policy. We were asked to find ways to create a future for the past.
In October 2023, Roots and Futures have begun work to design a new project that works directly with young people through schools, youth clubs and youth advocacy groups. We will be exploring opportunities with new partners Create Sheffield, Sheffield Anti Racist Education and the Sheffield City Council Youth Cabinet.
