Unveiling children’s perceptions of World Heritage Sites: a visual and qualitative approach

Abstract

This paper investigates World Heritage (WH) perception from the perspective of children, both as physical representations in space and as experiences and understandings of place. The Little Artists Exhibition serves as a case study. This exhibition was a global call initiated by UNESCO inviting children between 6 and 12 years old to draw a WH site that matters to them. More than 500 children participated in the online exhibition and posted their artwork on Instagram. By proposing a mixed visual and qualitative text analysis method for the assessment of children’s drawings and narratives, this paper captures both children’s perceived image and values of WH. Results show that children express a holistic perception of heritage combining built, natural, and intangible assets. Correspondingly, findings from the qualitative text analysis highlight: (1) children’s historic and aesthetic appreciation of WH; (2) children’s emotional and experiential association with built heritage and natural landscape; (3) children’s inspirational and imaginative stories; and (4) heritage as a social construct in the minds of children. We discuss our findings by reflecting on their conceptual contributions as they speak to broader debates on WH and associated values.