KÖME is a community of people working in heritage-related fields in Hungary. The membership covers a wide range of professions (e.g. architect, landscape architect, geoarchaeologist, biologist, cultural manager, economist, development policy expert). Since its founding in 2012 KÖME is committed to bringing together heritage-related professions and contrasting knowledge and different points of view that are rarely communicating with each other. KÖME’s motto is: Heritage Together. Heritage, to us, is part of our complex ecosystems. It is of particular importance to us to transfer traditional and contemporary ecological knowledge and to integrate it into our everyday lives at a practical level.

Culture and heritage is often still approached top-down, especially in the former socialist bloc. KÖME is among the few NGOs in Hungary to systematically deal with the concept of bottom-up heritage. Heritage is for us inseparable from the communities which connect to it. Our works inspire and inform new connections between different stakeholders and their heritage.

We have developed our own training courses, we are regularly invited as lecturers to universities, we have been designing exhibitions, educational trails, we initiate professional discourse, and are involved in numerous national and international projects and development projects on the field of heritage. KÖME is a member of the international network Interpret Europe, and active in initiating regional collaborations within it.

SHORT BIOS OF MEMBERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

Ágnes Mácsai works as a freelance cultural consultant in Hungary. She holds a master’s degree in economics and cultural management. She is a specialist in evaluation and visitor research. At the center of her works are participatory methods theories and the possibilities of their applications in the fields of contemporary culture.

Zsuzsa Berecz is a dramaturge, translator and cultural worker based in Budapest.

She is a vice-president of KÖME and a co-founder and member of the artists’ collective Pneuma Szöv.. She has edited among others a handbook and co-designed practical and theoretical programs in heritage interpretation. Zsuzsa’s interest is often channeled into the capillaries where art and other forms of social and human or posthuman life merge. She is a regular author of essays on performing arts and society among others for the Hungarian theatre magazine Színház.

Architect, cultural heritage manager, community-radio dj, president of KÖME. He is project manager, researcher and professional consultant in different projects related to the education, communication, surveying, development and maintenance of all kind of cultural heritage and heritage communities. His main interests are the relations between heritage, landscape and cultural changes. He takes heritage interpretation seriously in his work. He is the country coordinator, the certified interpretive writer and the certified interpretive guide of the European Association for Heritage Interpretation.

Rita Dankovics is a Budapest-based historian, heritage expert, project manager and tour guide. She has experience from heritage institutions, but currently works with international collaborations. She edited guidelines to enhance participation targeting millennials in heritage institutions. Rita loves working with children and merging nature with culture… She has an inclusive and a holistic interpretation on heritage.