International Workshop
Heritage as Habitat: Building Communities through Jewish Cultural Heritage
March 4th-6th, 2026 | Helsinki & Turku, Finnland
How can cultural heritage become a living space for communities? The international workshop ‘Heritage as Habitat’ considers Jewish cultural heritage as a living process that fosters relationships, shapes identity and strengthens social cohesion, rather than as a static relic.
It focuses on how Jewish cultural heritage creates communities at the local level, within civil society and academic networks, and how these communities in turn shape cultures of remembrance, knowledge transfer and identity formation. Through interdisciplinary case studies and comparative analysis, participants will explore how heritage-based communities promote resilience through social cohesion, intergenerational knowledge transfer, civic participation and cultural reappropriation following traumatic experiences.
At the same time, the workshop will address challenges such as vulnerability, exclusion, conflict and erasure. It reveals how power, politics, and discourse can exploit memory and weaken communities, and how these dynamics can be countered.
The workshop brings together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers for interdisciplinary dialogue. The aim is to provide concrete impetus, including in the form of a position paper, policy briefs for local stakeholders, and a planned special issue.
We cordially invite you to take part in this international exchange programme in Helsinki and Turku.
February 22nd, 2026
