The Atapuerca Foundation took part in the third and final transnational meeting of the “From Past to Future” project, held on 14 April in the Côa Valley (Portugal), which brings the series of international meetings to a close and marks the start of the programme’s more community-focused phase.
The meeting, organised by the Fundação do Côa, brought together representatives from the project’s partner organisations: the Portuguese foundation itself, the Centre Européen de Recherches Préhistoriques de Tautavel (France), the Atapuerca Foundation and Redtree Making Projects (Spain), as well as Generazione Zero (Italy), which participated online. The aim of the meeting was to assess the progress of the project and outline the final actions leading up to its completion in August 2026.
The day began with a working session in which the participating organisations reviewed the programme’s progress, paying particular attention to the activities of the young ambassadors and the planned communication initiatives. The Atapuerca Foundation, as the coordinating organisation, led the meeting and set out the lines of work for the final phase.
As part of the project, the various archaeological sites and museums involved have groups of young people who have volunteered to join the initiative and have received specific training using the materials developed. At this stage, these young people will begin to create and share content on social media about the project’s three main archaeological and palaeontological sites: Atapuerca, Tautavel and the Côa Valley.
Currently, 30 young people spread across the three sites are continuing their training and working collaboratively within an international network focused on creating digital content, which will be disseminated through their own channels and those of the participating institutions. Hailing from Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and China, the participants reinforce the international dimension of the project, which aims to contribute to the promotion of Europe’s archaeological heritage and to establish a model for youth participation that can be replicated at other archaeological sites and museums.
During their stay in Portugal, part of the Atapuerca Foundation team – comprising representatives from the Projects, Communications and Institutional Relations departments – visited the museum and the sites in the Côa Valley alongside specialists from the site.
The Côa Valley, situated in north-eastern Portugal, is one of the world’s most important sites of Palaeolithic rock art in the open air. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is home to engravings dating back more than 25,000 years, featuring depictions of horses, aurochs and goats that have been fundamental to our understanding of the symbolic capacity of early human communities. Together with the Siega Verde site (Spain), also a World Heritage Site, it forms a unique cross-border complex of international significance.
The project is based on the premise that archaeological sites and museums are not merely spaces for interpreting the past, but active tools for social inclusion, youth participation and development in rural areas, as highlighted at the meeting held in the Côa Valley. From this perspective, heritage is understood as a living process, connected to current challenges, capable of fostering critical thinking and contributing to the construction of more cohesive and participatory societies.
“From Past to Future” runs from September 2024 to August 2026 and is co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme. It is coordinated by the Atapuerca Foundation and involves the University of Burgos (Spain), Generazione Zero (Italy), Fundação do Côa (Portugal), Redtree Making Projects (Spain) and the Centre Européen de Recherches Préhistoriques de Tautavel (France).
To mark the end of the programme, the Atapuerca Foundation will organise two closing events — one in person and one online — at which the project’s main findings and lessons learnt will be presented.
The Atapuerca Foundation thus reaffirms its commitment to a more inclusive, connected and aware society.