About The Project

“Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and culture and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits”.

The fundamental right of all people to participate in the arts and culture and of access to heritage, have become central in the latest acts adopted by the European Union and the Council of Europe.

The idea has emerged that citizens should not only participate in artistic and cultural activities, but also in their management and curation. Many countries have identified the arts, cultural and heritage as a strategic resource for a sustainable development, acknowledging their social dimension and underlining the importance of engaging with different stakeholders. They also recognize the importance of transparent governance and participatory systems to be shared with the people to whom arts, culture and heritage ultimately belong.

Active Citizens Exploring Culture - ‘ACE Culture’ - has the objective of extending and developing the competences of educators and other personnel such as archivists, artists, museum, and heritage professionals. The aim is to support adult education in Community Learning Environments, working with local people with an interest in gaining new skills on influencing inclusion in their community.

The project has a starting point in examples of social and educational value of arts, cultural and heritage. We want to encourage members of the public to engage as “Mediators” for their local community to act as a bridge between the “expert” and the neighbourhood.

The project is supported by an online platform based upon the value of local knowledge, containing rich media artefacts created and curated by members of the community. To support this educational process a selection of toolkits will introduce both educators and mediator to the training material.

Adults will be trained as Cultural Mediators for their community in order to recognise, explore, document and display their local artistic, cultural and heritage assets.

Methodology

The Project team will explore methods of cultural inclusion with a particular focus on inner city and outer city neighbourhoods and develop practical tools to be used in Adult Education that can provide a link between the public and neighbourhood planners to shape holistic and sustainable change.

Target groups

• Informal adult education programmes - members of the public who would like to get involved as Cultural Mediators.
• Formal adult education programs - front-line workers such as; artists, museum and heritage personnel, librarians, archivists and others who have direct contact with the public.
• Continuous Professional Development course - adult educators working directly with front-line workers.
• Other beneficiaries include professionals working in city planning; architects, policy makers, decision makers, local government staff.