Understanding community perspective on the heritage of locality: memory map methodology

Purpose Community involvement in heritage preservation requires appropriate approaches. Sanciai (in Lithuanian: Šanciai) historic district in Kaunas (Lithuania) has long-lasting military and industrial heritage, valuable urban structure and connections to the natural frame of the city. Sanciai residents’ willingness to participate in heritage preservation and urban planning prompted the aim of this research – to develop, test and present the mapping methodology, that would be applicable in the process of community involvement into heritage identification, preservation, interpretation and creation process. Design/methodology/approach The methods of research included analysis of literature and theoretical research, development and testing of the methodology for the community involvement in heritage identification, preservation, interpretation and creation process. The workshop methodology and interactive online map are presented in this research. The memory map methodology developed and presented in this research includes the elements of mental mapping, design thinking and citizen science. Findings The methodology was tested in spring of 2021 in two-day online workshops with the students of pro-gymnasium located in Sanciai. Workshop participants together with workshop coordinator and moderators created different layers of the mental map, collected stories from the members of community and gathered the data for online interactive Sanciai memory map. The evaluation of the methodology and workshop results allowed concluding that memory map methodology is a functioning participant, community and research-oriented approach that can be applied in diverse heritage and community related circumstances. Originality/value The originality of the research is determined by the synergistic nature of developed memory map methodology which complements traditional mental mapping with creative hands-on techniques, empathy-oriented tasks and interactive online tool. Moreover, the research reveals the importance of local-global connections in urban studies as active local community became the stimulus for memory map methodology. The two-fold aim of the methodology – community cohesion and empowerment as well as research data collection – contributes to the originality of the research as well.