Critical heritage studies is a newly emerging interdisciplinary field which is concerned with exploring the ways in which the past is used in the present, covering research into what we choose (or not) to conserve and why we choose to do so; relations of power and the politics of the past in the present; processes of heritage designation, conservation and management; and the relationship between commemorative acts and public and private memory.

The CHEurope project focuses on developing a new theoretical and methodological framework for critical cultural heritage studies and their application for training in heritage management and the development of the cultural industries in Europe. Our program explores the processes by which heritage is ‘assembled’ to inform more conventional aspects of cultural heritage designation, care and management. In so doing, research will have a more direct impact on future heritage policies and will be linked explicitly to new modes of training with a view to enable future practitioners to be aware of and to facilitate a more democratic and informed dialogue between and across various heritage industries and their audiences in the twenty rst century.