Promoting Social Inclusion Around Cultural Heritage Through Collaborative Digital Storytelling Vanessa Cesário 1[0000-0002-0938-9476] , Albert Acedo 1[0000-0003-3912-8135] , Nuno Nunes 1[0000- 0002-2498-0643] , Valentina Nisi 1[0000-0002-8051-3230] 1 ITI/LARSyS, IST University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal vanessa.cesario@iti.larsys.pt Abstract. We present a case study to understand how migrant communities em- brace and connect with their host city’s cultural heritage. To achieve this, we deployed a study with ten adult migrants (first- and second-generation Lisbon dwellers) articulated into two stages: (i) a five-day photo-challenge involving storytelling elucidated by pictures and short textual descriptions, followed by (ii) a four-hour audio recorded co-creation workshop, in which participants explored the material they had captured and co-created stories around specific sites, link- ing them to their memories. This method enabled the participants to express their opinions and experiences on social, cultural, and historical matters. By exploring their connections with the places they inhabit through their own, personal narra- tives and sharing these with their peers, the participants activated a discussion process exploring the role of storytellers. This case study focuses on the lessons learned and the limitations of the practical work carried out. Keywords: Cultural heritage, Immigrants, Urban challenges, Digital storytell- ing, Co-creation, Qualitative analysis. 1 Introduction Cultural heritage institutions are described as places that materialize and visualize knowledge [1]. Their goals are to collect, preserve and share that knowledge with the public. These institutions are slowly but surely moving away from being collections of exhibits, to become dynamic centres where people can engage and empower their knowledge by discovering and challenging themselves [2, 3]; visitors are turning from passive to active participants [4, 5]. Storytelling has been known to be an effective way to convey ideas and beliefs; museums and cultural heritage institutions not only tell us stories but also build those stories through the meaning-making process in which the visitors engage. This fact allows museums’ audience to indulge in narratives that aid the construction of meaningful memories as well as providing the fulfilment of a com- plete experience. This research was conducted under the European-funded project MEMEX promot- ing social inclusion by developing collaborative storytelling tools related to cultural heritage. MEMEX will deploy three distinct pilots to analyse different expectations