Roots and Futures: Community Voices 2022-23 (Project report 2023, English version)

Roots and Futures is a place-based community heritage project. Since 2020, we have been working with communities across Sheffield to explore the diverse histories, stories and cultures in the city.  Roots and Futures takes ‘place’ literally - we have worked only in the city of Sheffield - but we also see place as more than just geography. Places can store people’s emotions, experiences, and memories. The idea of a place can also bring people from different backgrounds together and forms part of our sense of belonging and identity. To live well in a place, we need to feel like we belong.

Between January 2022 and 2023, the Roots and Futures project designed and delivered a series of conversation and consultation events with people across Sheffield whose histories and stories are not well represented in the city.  Many of Sheffield’s diverse communities are under-served by current heritage policy, which has resulted in a lack of representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people. 

Our community-based discussions have shared the histories, stories and places that matter to some of Sheffield’s minority ethnic communities. We have also talked about how the presentation of histories and experiences in the city do and do not reflect the needs of many people. Our conversations have given us a valuable understanding of how to undertake more inclusive, supportive and sustainable consultations that support communities in the long-term, based on participants’ own experiences. 

The information presented in this booklet highlights the importance of representing different heritages, histories and cultures in the city and offers ways to make Sheffield’s heritage policy more inclusive in the future. It also celebrates the rich and diverse histories of the people of Sheffield who participated in the project.

This booklet presents the work of each organisation and every person who has participated in Roots and Futures. It focuses on the contributions of each project partner in detail and shares information from each of the consultations that took place. In doing so, its purpose is to share what we have learnt directly with everyone who has made this project possible. We offer our sincere thanks to everyone who got involved and shared their stories. The project does not end here!

This project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and is part of their Place Programme (AH/W008254/1)

The research presented in this report obtained ethics approval from the University of Sheffield Research Ethics Committee, application 045600.