Exploring European Cultural Heritage for fostering academic teaching and social responsibility in Higher Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Exploring European Cultural Heritage for fostering academic teaching and social responsibility in Higher Education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage

Project Summary

The project aimed to indicate how higher education could more effectively use the resources of European cultural heritage, promote its educational and social value, and implement its mission of a socially engaged and responsible institution. The project assumed that the presence and influence of universities on the closest social environment should be strengthened. Cultural heritage is diverse, but in every dimension (European, regional, local), it could integrate communities and include underrepresented groups in the mainstream of social life. Target groups in the project were academic staff, leaders of social enterprises ( non-governmental organizations), educators of cultural institutions, employers, managers, and decision-makers managing the cultural heritage of the specific region. Teachers, students, and citizens of local communities were intended indirect beneficiaries of the project.

The consortium consisted of five universities: University of Lower Silesia (Poland, leader), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), University of Malaga (Spain), The Open University of Cyprus (Cyprus), and University of Leiden (Netherlands). The project has had Associate Partners in each partner country with whom it developed and disseminated intellectual outputs. The Partners represented various academic disciplines and traditions of using ECH (European Cultural Heritage) in the partnership with local social actors, different regions of Europe, and diverse, rich experiences in building the European identity.

The project aimed to develop five intellectual outputs. The first was a comparative research report, “Cultural Heritage Between Sectors. Mapping the Cooperation of Universities and Social Partners”. Partners researched to find out how different communities perceived the role of the university in the local environment and what was state of the art in mapping relationships and modes of cooperation between universities, social actors, institutions involved in the fostering and cultivating ECH (museums, cultural institutes) and/or solving local social problems (NGOs, local government). The second intellectual output was a collection of good practices in heritage management aimed at educational and social goals, developed by Partners and Associate Partners “”Inspirational Practices in Cultural Heritage Management. Fostering Social Responsibility””. The subsequent output, “Together for Cultural Heritage. Booklet of Recommendations for Social Partners” was a set of recommendations for local governments, partners, and social enterprises aimed to strengthen and expand cooperation with universities by exploring the potential of ECH as well as to strengthen and disseminate the idea of social responsibility of the university in respect to the immediate environment. The fourth intellectual output was the academic course curriculum”Collaborative Heritage Learning. Course syllabus” with an innovative, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral character, designed based on the European Higher Education Area standards and meeting the quality demands of European Standard Guideline (ESG).

The project also included eleven multiplying events disseminating results in the form of local workshops, open lectures, an international conference, and five short training activities organized by each Partner. The impact of the project was ensured by its activities, which consisted in cooperation with associated local partners and others that participated in short training activities, as well as intellectual outputs (such as the academic course curriculum, available to the university, a tool for mapping university and local environment cooperation, open-access teaching materials). The project’s long-term impact concerned the change of social attitudes towards the European cultural heritage, which was explored for educational purposes (formal / non-formal education) and local policy revealed its role in building more inclusive communities. The project raised awareness of cultural heritage’s multifaceted nature and diversity and strengthened the university’s presence and links with the local community

Project Website

http://eucul.com

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 269697,84 Eur

Project Coordinator

DOLNOSLASKA SZKOLA WYZSZA UCZELNIANIEPANSTWOWA & Country: PL

Project Partners

• ANOIKTO PANEPISTIMIO KYPROU (OPEN UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS)
• UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN
• UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA
• GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITET