As the HIGHRES project comes to a close, it feels like the right moment to pause and look back at what brought us here—and what we are leaving behind for the communities we worked with.
Why HIGHRES was needed
Across Europe’s rural areas, there is an incredible wealth of intangible cultural heritage – stories, traditions, crafts, local knowledge, and memories that give communities their identity. Yet these living traditions are fragile. If they are not documented, shared, or valued, they can easily disappear.
HIGHRES was born from a very simple, yet powerful idea: digital storytelling can help communities preserve their heritage while opening doors to new opportunities, especially in sustainable tourism.
We wanted to offer not just inspiration, but also practical tools and skills that local people can use to discover, protect, and share the stories that make their regions unique.
What we achieved together
A collection of inspiring European stories
Our first mission was to explore how different communities already use digital tools to keep their traditions alive. Partners from Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Netherlands collected local examples—ten in total—that now form the Good Practice Handbook. These cases represent a wide spectrum of creativity and expertise: from ecomuseums to local NGOs and municipal initiatives, each finding its own way to honour intangible cultural heritage.
A practical framework and a replicable training model
From this research, we built a methodological framework and designed a training pathway. This was first tested at the Casa del Monte Redondo Museum in Portugal, becoming a model that can be used elsewhere.
The heart of HIGHRES is the set of six training modules that guide learners through:
- identifying intangible cultural heritage
- collaborative management and community engagement
- creativity and innovation
- building digital stories
- using digital platforms
- connecting heritage with the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable tourism
The training platform is designed to enable anyone to learn at their own pace. Each module includes reflective questions, small tests, and links to further resources.
Connecting people across Europe
HIGHRES concluded with the European dissemination conference ‘The role of digital storytelling in the promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritage’, hosted at the University of Milano-Bicocca on 21st November 2025. National events followed in each partner country, creating spaces where communities, organisations, and culture professionals could exchange ideas and celebrate the work done.
Challenges along the way
No meaningful project comes without challenges. One of the biggest was simply time: the training material we developed is rich and comprehensive, and communities needed more time to fully explore it. Even so, participants recognised its value and potential. Their feedback helped us refine the modules and confirmed that the themes we focused on truly matter.
A few final words
HIGHRES may be ending, but we like to think of it more as the beginning of many new stories. The tools, methods, and examples created during the project now belong to the communities who inspired them. Our hope is that people will continue to collect, share, and celebrate their living traditions—using digital storytelling not only to preserve the past, but to imagine the future.
Thank you to everyone who walked this journey with us: partners, participants, local storytellers, and the many people who opened their doors to the project. You made HIGHRES a truly human experience.
And finally – although the project itself is closing, the resources are not. The HIGHRES training platform will remain freely available as an open-source tool for anyone interested in intangible cultural heritage or digital storytelling. Whether you’re part of a community group, a cultural organisation, a teacher, a student, or simply someone curious about heritage, we hope you’ll explore it, use it, and make it your own.