OUR IMPACT
How the People’s Heritage Collective supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and key UK heritage and cultural frameworks.
Impact & the Sustainable Development Goals
Heritage has a powerful role to play in shaping fair, inclusive and sustainable futures. People’s Heritage Collective supports organisations to widen representation, strengthen cultural safety and share interpretive power: work that contributes directly to global goals for equity and justice and to the sector’s own ethical and strategic commitments.
Here we outline how our practice aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and with key UK heritage and cultural frameworks, demonstrating the breadth and depth of our impact.
How we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 4: Quality Education
Inclusive, equitable learning for all
Through reinterpretation, community‑led memory work and culturally safe visitor experience, we help organisations create learning that is inclusive, truthful and grounded in lived experience, strengthening public understanding and supporting lifelong, equitable education.
SDG 5: Gender equality
Eliminating discrimination and ensuring full participation
We support organisations to surface overlooked histories and achievements, rebalance narratives, challenge gendered inequities and ensure women’s voices and leadership are represented across interpretation, engagement and organisational culture.
SDG 8: Decent work & economic growth
Inclusive employment and safe working environments
A culturally safe organisation is one where staff can thrive. Our work on equity, representation and organisational culture helps heritage institutions create fairer recruitment, progression and workplace practices, supporting decent work and reducing structural barriers.
SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
Addressing structural inequity within and between communities
Much of our work directly tackles inequality: challenging misrepresentation, widening who shapes interpretation and designing accessible visitor experiences. By redistributing interpretive power and centring lived experience, we help reduce inequities in how heritage is created, shared and accessed.
SDG 11: Sustainable cities & communities
Inclusive public spaces and protection of cultural heritage
Heritage institutions are civic anchors. We support them to become genuinely welcoming, community‑centred spaces where diverse histories are protected, valued and shared, strengthening social sustainability and community wellbeing.
SDG 16: Peace, justice & strong institutions
Inclusive institutions, accountability and public trust
We help organisations challenge harmful narratives, strengthen accountability and embed justice‑oriented approaches that rebuild relationships with communities historically excluded from heritage spaces.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
Collaboration across sectors and communities
Our work is inherently collaborative. We partner with museums, archives, universities, community groups and cultural organisations to co‑create change, strengthening the networks needed for long‑term, justice‑centred transformation.
How we contribute to key UK cultural and heritage frameworks
Arts Council England, Let’s Create: Strategy 2020-2030
We support organisations to deliver on ACE’s “Inclusivity & Relevance” investment principle by widening participation, embedding community voice, strengthening representation and ensuring cultural spaces reflect the people they serve, helping organisations move from aspiration to action.
Museums Association, Code of Ethics & Decolonisation Resources
We operationalise the MA’s ethical principles by prioritising public benefit, challenging harmful narratives, embedding equity and supporting community‑led interpretation.
National Lottery Heritage Fund, Mandatory Outcomes
We help organisations demonstrate a wider range of people involved, improved wellbeing, increased organisational resilience and stronger place‑based identity, directly supporting successful funding bids and delivery.
Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
For local authorities, universities and public museums, we help fulfil statutory duties in regards to the 3 aims of the duty: to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. Our Heritage ACCESS Method provides a structured, heritage‑specific route to compliance.
UNESCO Culture 2030 Indicators
We contribute to indicators relating to cultural participation, inclusive governance, cultural rights and heritage protection, strengthening organisations’ ability to evidence culture’s role in sustainable development.
Wellbeing Frameworks
Our work supports outcomes linked to belonging, social connection, cultural participation and community trust, all increasingly central to cultural investment and policy.
Other ways we demonstrate impact
Organisational transformation
Shifts in culture, confidence, governance and decision‑making.
Representation and narrative change
More inclusive stories, more equitable interpretive practice, more people seeing themselves reflected.
Cultural safety and workforce wellbeing
Staff feeling safer, more valued and more able to contribute.
Community trust and participation
Stronger relationships, deeper collaboration and more meaningful involvement.
Sector influence
Talks, advisory roles, teaching and contributions to sector guidance.
Why this matters
The SDGs and sector frameworks remind us that heritage is not peripheral to social justice, it is central. The stories we tell, the spaces we shape and the power we share all influence whether communities feel seen, valued and able to participate fully in cultural life. The work of the People’s Heritage Collective contributes to a future where heritage is equitable, inclusive and reflective of the people it serves, and where cultural institutions play an active role in advancing global goals for justice and sustainability.
Our impact begins with how we work: widening representation, strengthening cultural safety and supporting organisations to share interpretive power with care and accountability.
Learn more about the ACCESS Method and how it supports meaningful, sustainable change: