The Heritage Lottery Fund has identified young people (aged 13-20) as an under-represented audience for the heritage and therefore a target group for our grants. This has raised a number of questions about young people`s attitudes to and view of their heritage and what barriers may be preventing their involvement.

To explore these issues, we commissioned the Trust for the Study of Adolescence to undertake a literature review exploring the research literature relating to young people and heritage. It is not a traditional `academic` literature review rather it draws on a variety of sources, including journal articles, books, and reports.

It suggests that young people have a largely negative view of, and limited engagement in, heritage as traditionally defined. However, broadening the definition of heritage to include identity, culture, `roots`, and local sites/settings makes heritage very relevant to all young people. The review concludes by identifying areas where more research is needed to better understand young people and heritage.

The review will be of interest to practitioners, funders and policy makers. We will be using it to inform the delivery, monitoring and evaluation of our Young Roots grant scheme.

· Young people and heritage review (pdf file 237 KB)