How can we bring museums closer to citizens? What should we do with heritage and what heritage should we leave for future generations? Can the private sector play a more active role in urban regeneration projects? Just three of the dozens of questions debated at IN2PAST’s 5th National Meeting of Researchers, held in Braga and Extremo, Arcos de Valdevez, between January 22nd and the 25^th, 2025.

António Candeias, president of the Board of IN2PAST, explains to Rádio Universitária do Minho (RUM) why the associate laboratory, a consortium of seven research centres, may be more attractive to public or private partners (compared to an isolated research centre).

Fátima Moura Ferreira, vice-president of the Board, emphasised the new format of the meeting, which brought around 170 participants to the University of Minho, and promoted the sharing of experiences and discussion at the intersection of Heritage, Arts, Sustainability and Territory, to the detriment of the traditional format of individual communications and presentations.

Rebeca Blanco-Rotea coordinates the thematic line (guiding line for all IN2PAST activity) dedicated to Landscape, Territories and Cultural Heritage, and organised the lab’s 3rd Field Trip, destination Extremo, a living communal laboratory where researchers and villagers actually do citizen science.