What is RISE?
Re-imagining International Sites of Enslavement (RISE) brings together managers of sites around the Atlantic with a connection to the slave trade. This knowledge-sharing programme is a collaboration between INTO and the American National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP).
Practitioners working at INTO member sites come together in monthly webinars to share their experience of interpreting the history of slavery with their peers, supported by Elon Cook-Lee, Director of Interpretation and Education for historic sites at the NTHP.
In January 2023, we are reconvening our group. We will restart knowledge-sharing exchanges alongside those at the forefront of research and practice in this area of the sector.
If you work for an INTO member and would like to get involved in the RISE programme, please contact us at info@into.org
RISE in 2022
In 2022, we welcomed 25 site directors from INTO members around Africa, the Caribbean, America and Europe to a programme of peer-to-peer learning, structured around open conversations.
As well as virtual meetings, delegates attended INTO Dundee in October, where members hosted a plenary and workshop on RISE themes. At the National Trust for Historic Presevation’s PastForward conference in November, RISE delivered a session combining perspectives from Saint Lucia and the USA, marking the occasion of the first African-Americans in the territory of the modern USA.
RISE participants were invited to explore bilateral collaborations in a series of direct TAP INTO exchanges.
What does the programme cover?
With a focus on the institution of racial slavery that was prevalent across the Atlantic Ocean from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, RISE covers the following themes:
• Re-imagining heritage sites – equitable and respectful interpretation strategies
• Fundraising and development
• Staff recruitment, training and retention
• Leading change, board diversity and ethical stewardship
• Tourism and engaging the Black diaspora
• Inclusive marketing and communications strategies for reaching domestic and international audiences
• Site rentals and event hosting – weddings and celebratory events
• The next generation: education and outreach
• Facilitating respectful visitor behaviour – selfies, re-enacting and history theatre
• Ideological controversies and their impact on historic site interpretation
What inspired RISE?
This programme was inspired by conversations sparked at our conference, INTO Online 2021. You can still watch our 'Sites of Memory' panel where international trusts shared their approaches to honouring a history of enslavement at their heritage sites.
Watch 'Sites of memory'More from INTO projects
