On Friday, I had the opportunity to participate in the final conference of the European project InThrace, dedicated to the challenges and opportunities involved in safeguarding and promoting intangible cultural heritage.
The conference brought together representatives of cultural institutions, researchers and practitioners interested in how heritage can remain relevant in a rapidly changing world. Although my presentation was not part of the project’s official programme, I was pleased to contribute with a related topic based on the Transylvanian Creative Camp held in Țara Lăpușului in August 2025.
My presentation focused on the practical challenges of engaging young people with cultural heritage today. We discussed issues such as shortening attention spans, the difficulty of communicating traditional subjects in ways that resonate with contemporary audiences, and the challenge of presenting local traditions authentically, without reducing them to stereotypes or caricatures.
It was an interesting and rewarding exchange of ideas, and a reminder that preserving heritage is not only about documentation and conservation, but also about finding meaningful ways to tell its stories to new generations.
