Partners

• ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property)
• English Heritage
• Council of Europe
• Associazione fra le Casse di Risparmio Italiane (sponsor).

Participants
3,200 students age 7-12 and 168 teachers from 154 classes represented 25 cities from 24 different countries.

Aim

• To make students aware of the beginnings of their cities;
• to promote the understanding of the layers of cultural heritage accumulated over centuries in their cities;
• to get students talking about balancing urban development and conservation of cultural heritage;
• to help teachers bring heritage learning alive in the classroom.

Project description
During 'The City Beneath the City', students undertook various learning projects about different periods in their city across various disciplines. All their projects were collected in individual portfolios, which were then entered into a competition.

In each city, students learnt both in the classroom and throughout their cities, about the cultural heritage surrounding them. Students visited museums and archaeological sites, studied monuments, drew historical maps, conducted historical research and archaeological excavations, worked in laboratories, talked to residents of old neighborhoods – who often shared memories and old photographs – and took their own photographs, among many other activities.

Students also discussed urban development, its positive and negative aspects, and the inevitability of change, with teachers, their parents, and other experts. It was important to discuss change over time, and how cities could achieve a balance between heritage conservation and development.

The students prepared various projects to share their learning experience, including guided walking tours, handbooks for specific sites, theatre productions, artworks, and so on. Students included all their projects in a folder – An Investigative Portfolio – and created a trail-map about their city’s heritage, which included historical monuments from several different periods.

Main achievements

• 95 investigative portfolios were submitted. A jury made up of education and conservation experts selected the best portfolios. The criteria included creativity, depth of investigation, number of periods covered, and so on;
• a prize of US$2,500 was awarded in each age category: 7-9 and 10-12;
• an exhibition of the student works toured several cities;
• the city of Padua, Italy, launched a poster campaign addressing the fragility of heritage.

updated on: 14 September, 2006