Cultural heritage has been recognized as an important glue holding people together on local, regional, and national levels. Political and other forces attempt to control narratives about the past, especially where they fear losing power, which is increasing the number and intensity of attacks on heritage in different parts of the world. For example, in Ukraine the Russians are deliberately trying to rewrite history by looting museums, destroying sites, and killing cultural figures with the goal of obliterating Ukrainian identity. Heritage education can play a crucial role in forestalling and combating that kind of erasure.
The proposed theme for the next issue of THEJ, then, is the role of heritage education in supporting memory, identity, resilience, cultural legacy, and self-empowerment in the face of threats of erasure. What works and what does not work? What are some best practices we can adopt?