Inclusive Memory

31/01/2022

About the project

The Inclusive Memory project aims at promoting the building of a common shared social memory realised through a museum based social inclusive system, through the link Art-Health-Wellbeing. The core idea of the project stems from the potential benefits of the cooperation between HEIs, Health and Social care Institutions and Museums, as a strategic partnership to advance in museum education as well as in museum experience to support the design, realization, monitoring and evaluation of art-based activities and actions specifically addressed to people with social care and health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many health systems to collapse: in addition to illnesses directly caused by the virus, hospitals, physicians, and health centers have to deal with numerous illnesses, including mental diseases, caused by the spread of the virus and the restrictive measures defined by governments (WHO, 2021).

The Inclusive Memory project wants to promote an innovative strategy for social inclusion, derived from the creation of a new teaching methodology, the use of digital tools and based on the development of transverse competences in both university teachers, students museum users, thus promoting well-being, health and social inclusion. The project is based on the concept which sees museums as teaching and learning environments, and Universities as active social actors, both strengthening their role of cultural integration facilitators. The Inclusive Memory project is being developed as a shared process among academics, researchers, healthcare and social care, educators and museum professionals and involves different partners who already showed their interest in participating and their commitment to the project goals.

Main activities and outputs

The project foresees 7 main results:

  1. The development of a report on the State of the art of Museums as Inclusive Spaces for Health and Wellbeing development. – Desk research on the use of Museums as Inclusive Spaces for Health and Wellbeing promotion – Investigation on inclusive and customized didactic and teaching museum practices for people with health problems – Identification of the disadvantaged groups for which Museums may become key Inclusive spaces and analysis on how to engage them; – Catalogue of Best practices of initiatives and actions to transform Museums into Inclusive Spaces for Health and Wellbeing promotion.
  2. Handbook on the use of technology for inclusive educational activities in museum context. – Investigation on the use of technology to support the development of visitor’s cross sectional skills and wellbeing; – Analysis of best practices in the use of technologies for museum accessibility; -Short report on evaluation and assessment of museum-based activities for health and wellbeing development through technology.
  3. Using 1 and 2 project results, partners carry out the action plan for the development of a blended pilot-course to train future museum professionals, social care givers, school teachers and healthcare personnel into the idea of Inclusive Museums. – identification of teachers, trainers and key competences to be developed within future museum professionals, social care givers, school teachers and healthcare personnel – design of the course curriculum for Inclusive Museums for Health and Wellbeing promotion.
  4. Based on previous outcomes, IM blended course will be designed, translated, implemented and delivered, focusing on museum and social inclusion applied to the best suitable technological solution for each teaching module and adapted to local communities needs, according to the ABDC approach. Partner organisations will test the IM blended course in higher education institutions and museum institutions in Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Italy and Greece: – Pilot Course delivery, to be performed in the form of virtual mobility – Design, preparation and implementation of Workshops, Labs and Video-storytelling on the pilot experience – Media enhanced electronic handbook for the replicability of the experience.
  5. Partners will design IM OER and IM MOOC for HEIs students in the fields of education, social care and medical sciences. Based on the pilot phase, the created OERs and courses are redesigned into MOOC form to be freely available to a large public of (future) museum professionals, social care givers, school teachers and healthcare personnel worldwide. – Guidelines for designing OERs – OER design and creation – MOOC design and realization.
  6. Starting from knowledge acquired through the IM course pilot-phase, partner organisations will develop art-based activities, laboratories, workshops and permanent installations to live the Museum as an inclusive space for Health and Wellbeing promotion devoted a group composed by people with health problems, users with disabilities and disadvantaged learners. – Design the IM paths for Health and Wellbeing promotion – Erogate the IM paths for Health and Wellbeing promotion – Assess the efficacy of the paths in terms of skills, wellbeing and health development within participants.
  7. The last project result is devoted to the development of assessment tools framework in the field of Inclusive Museums for Health and Wellbeing; – Assessment tools for the evaluation of the pilot phase, also in terms of key skills development within participants – Assessment tools for museum-based activities, workshops and labs in terms of social inclusion, Health and Wellbeing promotion within participants; – Assessment tools for MOOC.

Main target groups

The Inclusive Memory project is for:

  • (Future) museum professionals.
  • Social care givers.
  • Educators.
  • Healthcare personnel.

Project partners

More info

If you want to learn more about the project:

Inclusive Memory is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.