Before our Parliaments, before the High Courts – there were Things. Our project shares and exchanges knowledge on how to sustain and develop these sites in whose history lie the roots of northern democracies.

Project Partners at Gulatinget, Norway © Frank BradfordZoom The THING Project is a three year transnational project funded by the Northern Periphery Program involving partners in Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, the Highlands of Scotland and the Isle of Man.  The Northern Periphery Program aims to help peripheral and remote communities on the northern margins of Europe to develop their economic, social and environmental potential. The project has established a network to explore and promote the shared links between the Northern European thing sites and develop sustainable business and tourism opportunities in each of the partner regions. 

We have created a common strategy for interpreting and promoting thing sites across the network. Although each site is unique, they share many of the same concerns and challenges, and we can gain valuable insights through exchanging knowledge and site management strategies. Partners have collaborated and shared expertise to create educational and interpretive materials and activities. We have established and are testing methods for raising awareness and communicating information using innovative web based technologies and social media.

One of the project’s main outcomes is the creation of this web portal which will act as a hub for anyone looking for information relating to each of the sites and the partner regions. We are also exploring the possibility of a future serial UNESCO World Heritage nomination, building on Iceland’s existing World Heritage site at Thingvellir.

In order to achieve these objectives we have:

• Organised a series of international workshops, lectures and field visits to strengthen the network and promote site awareness
• Explored the use of web based project management systems and social networking sites to facilitate networking between partners and interested parties, and to promote awareness about the sites
• Developed common interpretation and dissemination strategies for the communication of information on the sites
• Created a separate public facing website which will act as a hub connecting users with relevant information about each site, and promote sustainable tourism. 

For more information on the THING Project please visit www.thingproject.eu

Watch a film about the Project partners and activities here