February’s #HeritageChat focused on Storytelling and Heritage.

Participants explored the elements that make a story really successful, giving also practical suggestions, and what is the potential of digital storytelling. They highlighted in particular the potential of reaching geographically diverse audiences. The chat then focused on community-led storytelling, with associated risks and opportunities, and the difficulties of telling stories about dark heritage.

The chat also explored how to measure the success of storytelling, and participants highlighted that the impact of storytelling is difficult to measure with numbers, as it involves emotions and reflections. Finally, participants discussed to what extent storytelling can be used to motivate the public become more engaged with important issues such as climate change. The power of giving examples and sharing stories is showcased in our report Heritage Responds, which aims to inspire heritage organisations to take action to fighting climate change through case studies.

You can read the summary of the chat here.