Engaging Communities through Gamification: Case Studies in Cultural Heritage Preservation – Aldeia Pintada And Lagoa Geotour in Portugal

The HERITAGE GAME - “A gamification model for community-based heritage work”, is a university consortium project included in a KA21. The action aims, among other things, to create a gamification handbook of strategies, tools, and techniques based on best practices of communitybased heritage actions. In the first stage, the project’s development relies on identifying, selecting, analysing, and evaluating community-based heritage initiatives in low-density areas in each consortium country, involving gamification strategies. The collected community heritage actions were analysed and verified using a multi-criteria matrix that included gamification criteria and social and economic impact. In Portugal, the evaluation led to the selection of two case studies: Aldeia Pintada in the municipality of Batalha and Lagoa Geotour on the island of São Miguel in the Azores archipelago. This evaluation allows us to identify successful gamification strategies within community-based heritage projects, assessing success factors and potential pitfalls. Our findings suggest that gamification techniques applied to cultural heritage can develop decision-making skills, ensure that heritage contributes to the social and cultural dynamics of the communities, and increase the visibility and replicability of heritage-related actions.