Heritage in Depopulated European Areas team together with Charles University invite you to submit your contribution for the conference “Heritage and Depopulation in Europe” that will take place on 27. – 29. 8. 2025 in Prague.
Rural depopulation and population decline in urban centers affect demographic stability, social security systems and standards of living in many parts of Europe. Demographic challenges of out-migration and population ageing result not only in abandoned houses, disappearing villages and dilapidated infrastructure, but also in the discontinuity of cultural transmission and changing relationship between man and nature. The Heritage and depopulation in Europe conference focuses on the consequences of population decline in
rural and urban areas of Europe. We invite contributions which explore the consequences of the European demographic challenges for heritage in the broad sense of the term, including cultural and natural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Participants from the disciplines of cultural anthropology, ethnology, history, architecture, natural sciences, and other fields of scholarship are welcome.
We invite contributions (including those from PhD candidates) that focus primarily on the
following themes:
1) Social and cultural consequences of population decline in Europe. How does it affect heritage, memory of places, cultural transmission, the relationship between people and nature?
2) Heritage in urban areas suffering from population decline. What happens to heritage in shrinking towns and cities? Is tourism a panacea or a doom for the economy and heritage of European cities?
3) Consequences of population decline for heritage in peripheral and rural areas of Europe. How to handle heritage in the context of rural depopulation? Can heritage be used as a tool for strengthening the resilience of local communities?
4) Consequences of demographic changes like population shrinkage, population ageing migration, re-settlement, or expulsion of specific ethnic/religious groups for the relationship of people to local heritage. Is a concept of heritage from below useful to explore these changing relationships?
Venue: Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague
Pátkova 2137/5, 182 00 Praha 8 – Libeň, Czech Republic
Partner: Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change
Send a proposal including the title of your presentation, a short abstract (up to 300 words),
your contact details (e-mail, affiliation) and a short CV herindep@gmail.com.
Deadline for sending abstracts: January 15th, 2025.
