MineHeritage is a Wider Society Learning project that intends to use Cultural Heritage, Mining and Raw Materials to create popular educational tools for the dissemination of Raw Materials importance to society though historic periods.  By developing a comprehensive roadmap of mining and raw materials since prehistory, linking European regions to commercial routes of raw materials used through various times, we can entice school age children and young adults to explore history together, raw materials, technological development, society, new materials and cultural tourism using a web based multilevel game and an Application for mobile devices. Dissemination elements in the platform include videos produced by partners in their natural language with subtitles in English, information collected by partners on important sites but also on unfamiliar mining explorations, booklets and brochures, news clipping and other captivating elements. The increased dissemination opportunities within partner countries by having information in local languages but also in English promotes cultural diversity in a unified European context of Raw Materials. The large number of partners involved will provide and create new lines of communication between different KIC partners and regions, being a positive incentive to create a common platform of knowledge and understanding. 

Project Objectives

The objective of the proposal on Historical Mining is to develop a comprehensive picture of Mining and Raw Materials since prehistory, linking regions to historical and contemporaneous social strategies of work and technological developments. Reconizing ancient and abandoned mining sites will bring additional information to the use and exploration of Raw Materials. In that way we will be able to provide a wider understanding  of the developements in mining technologies and raw materials during specific historical periods and territories with the resulting impact in society progress. As a wider society learning proposal, and through a positive networking within partners of the proposal,our main objectives are the following:

• Engaging dissemination approaches to cross-generational target audiences on mining and raw materials as a unifying common ground for Europe through an historical perspective.
• Promote synergies with other actors such as Schools, Museums, Local Administration and Mining Companies.
• Society involvement in Raw Materials and Mining through knowledge.
• Building multicultural bridges between different regions in Europe.
• Stimulate the debate on Environmental Sustainability in Mining and Raw Materials.
• Development and execution of popular science materials and related events.
• Other KIC activities.

Background of the project

The MineHeritage (MH) proposal results from the need to outreach to society about the knowledge in mining and raw materials in Europe, their demand, the impact in technological development and the effect in the evolution of societies. Looking at mining through an historical approach brings a positive perspective on the subject which has been looked upon as hostile and a source of conflict. MineHeritage will show that mining is a core part of the history of Europe, being a key component in Europe's development and modern living, including virtually all aspects such as work, quality of life and environmental dynamics.

The MH project responds to the strategic objectives of KIC by increasing the attractiveness of the Raw Materials sector across the wider society by joining the growing interest in cultural heritage with mining. A strong de-siloing is achieved by the large number of partners from different activities, countries and CLCs contributing to the consortium, covering Europe, from North to South and East to West (Portugal, Croatia, Poland, France, Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Germany, Sapain, Estonia and Belgium). The characteristics of the consortium and the MH proposal will allow a wide dissemination on Raw Materials related themes to the Wider Society, expanding the outreach of the KIC community.

A strong impact is expected among different target audiences, such as shool age students and the young adult and adult society, since partners belong to research institutes and universities where other dissemination activities already occur. An engaging approach is going to be prepared, recurrring to the integration in a platform of the various information on historical mining and raw materials from the different European countries participating in the project. For a winning approximation to the target audience, an interactive serious game is going to be developed through the e-Learning laboratory and facilities of the coordinator of the project (FCT-NOVA) along with the cooperation of all partners. In this multi-level game with Europa from Greek Mythology as narrator, using as starting point different eras to choose from, along with a periodic table, players will be transported through time showing the different countries in Europe, materials used, mining activity, processing technologies and devlopements attained. According to the age of the gamer, evolving levels for different degrees of Application (App) for mobile devices will be devised to give on time information on existing mining sites that can be visited according to the location of the user. This will create further impact with other actors in local communities where historical mining sites can be visited (such as municipalities), raising societal awareness to KIC partners involved and Raw Mateiaisl in general. Other educational and dissemination activities are also predicted such as the production of videos by the different partners relating to historical mining sites and raw materials in their respective countries and regions, organization of seminars and lectures in schools, museums, universities and local communities along with a small exhibition with simple cases to show historical procedures and manipulation of raw materials, booklets for dissemination with small historical cases, regional routes of interest regarding historical mining linked with local administration agencies and companies that own the sites and that already have very good cooperation relationships with universities and research institutes involved in the proposal.