Volunteering for Heritage – Best Practice Exchange Erasmus Project

Project Title

Volunteering for Heritage – Best Practice Exchange

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

The “Volunteering for Heritage – Best Practice Exchange” project aims at the improvement of qualifications of the adult education staff members who cooperate with volunteers on a daily basis as well as the exchange of best practices between the organisations operating in this field.
All the project partners work for cultural heritage and have experience in involving volunteers in these activities. The Churches Conservation Trust in England is in charge of 356 historic churches that had lost their sacral function. Conserving such a number of sites and making them available is possible thanks to ca. 2000 volunteers dispersed all over England and working in their local communities. The Satakunta Museum in Pori, Finland, is a regional museum that involves volunteers in its activities. What is more, its responsibilities include supporting small museums run by volunteers in the whole province. Such museums are grassroots initiatives of local communities cultivating their local heritage, and the official museum supports them with its professional staff and infrastructure. Culture Hub Croatia is an NGO forming partnerships with various local organisations and governments in order to support them in the management of heritage resources – especially the ones at risk of deterioration. Within these activities, it cooperates with professionals from all over Europe, who use their skills and training to support local governments in heritage preservation works within the volunteering project. The Chronić Dobro (‘Protect Goodness’) Foundation in Krakow, Poland, takes care of the oldest existing monastery in Poland by involving both local and international volunteers in building awareness of the role of heritage and the need to protect it. Within its activities, the Foundation strives to create a community of volunteers around a specific heritage site. Thus, all the partners have a strong common foundation and, at the same time, each engages in unique aspects of cooperation with volunteers that they can share with the other partners.
We also share the conviction that volunteering for heritage doesn’t only translate into tangible benefits in protecting the heritage, but, above all, it is a great way to strengthen local communities and support the advancement of a civil society that feels responsible for their heritage resources, for their localities and their surroundings; a society that develops its sense of empowerment and impact on their environment.
The project will involve adult education staff members working with volunteers in organisations. Each partner will organise a study visit and invite 3 representatives of the remaining participating organisations each – a coordinator and two persons involved in cooperation with volunteers. The study visits will serve the purpose of exchanging best practices and mutual inspiration, as well as strengthening the staff by developing their competences and reinforcing their motivation. In all, there will be one international meeting of the coordinators and four short training visits with each of the project partners in turn. Moreover, three trainings for participants will be organised (12 persons per training), devised to specifically address work with volunteers in the field of heritage. These will accompany some of the study visits.
The main result of the project will be the improvement of the competences of the staff of the organisations, which will translate into their daily work with volunteers as well as new inspirations allowing to broaden the scope of the activities conducted so far. The trained staff will share the new knowledge and skills with volunteers – so, ultimately, they are beneficiaries of the project as well. A stronger staff means stronger organisations able to improve the quality of their activities and broaden their scope. We are hoping that in the long term, this will translate into a broader recognition of the organisations and an increase in the numbers of volunteers willing to become involved for heritage.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 55552 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fundacja Chronic Dobro & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Porin kaupunki
• “Culture Hub Croatia” Platforma za edukaciju, kreativnost i poticanje razvoja kroz kulturu
• Churches Conservation Trust