Watch “Living Legacies”: An Awarded EHL Call for Projects 2024 Video Series
Living Legacies is an awarded project under the EHL Call for Projects 2024, led by the Colonies of Benevolence in partnership with Das Oderbruch. Together, these large-scale agricultural landscapes—shaped between the late 18th and early 19th centuries—tell a shared European story of optimism, experimentation, and belief in progress. Once considered unsuitable for farming, these lands were transformed through ingenuity, technical innovation, and collective effort. Agriculture remains a defining presence in both regions today.
The project focuses on capacity building and knowledge exchange across serial EHL sites, centering on shared European values and community building. In spring 2025, partners organised study trips to explore similarities and differences in governance, heritage practices, and community engagement. These exchanges enabled a deep dive into each other’s methods—balancing local realities with broader European perspectives.
Insights from this collaboration were transformed into a documentary vlog relay, using a dynamic questions-and-answers format to surface Europe’s common ground. The resulting six thematic videos—soil, water, settlements, landscape, people, and museums—were completed in autumn 2025. Together, they show how local communities cherish the living legacy of their ancestors while actively caring for evolving cultural landscapes.
By foregrounding the European motto “Unity in Diversity,” Living Legacies fosters pride and belonging, particularly in rural communities that may feel marginalised. The project also engages local influencers and organisations who are redefining EHL legacies today—demonstrating how diverse voices can unite around a shared narrative of European integration and cultural cohesion.
Designed for educational use, the series works as a conversation starter and thematic introduction, supporting dialogue across generations and regions.
👉 Watch the Living Legacies video series on YouTube and discover how Europe’s landscapes continue to live through their communities.
