Erasmus+ Project BePart

Proposal by the University of Macerata to Wikimedia Italia to participate in an Erasmus+ project KA2. See details below:

Action type:

Key Action 2 – Cooperation partnerships in the fields of education, training and youth
KA220- HED - Cooperation partnership in higher education

Deadline: 5 March 2024 at 12:00

Proposal

Name: BePart – Boosting arts and heritage students’ skills in promoting Participatory processes through digital tools
Keywords: arts and cultural heritage sustainability; cultural practices; participatory processes; community engagement; community well-being; cultural welfare.
Partecipants:
- Project leader: University of Macerata (Italy)
- Partners: Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (Hungary), Technological University Dublin (Ireland), Wikimedia Italia (TBD).
Expected results
- Review of practices and methods for promoting and implementing participatory processes in the field of arts and cultural heritage
- New participatory teaching methods in the field of arts and cultural heritage
- Innovative open-access methods for involving communities in the arts and cultural heritage
Estimated Start Date: October 2024
Project duration: 2 years

Proposal rationale and objectives

In the current context, a virtuous relationship is recognized between citizens’ engagement, arts and cultural heritage sustainability and community well-being. On the one hand, an increasing understanding of cultural heritage and its environment “leads to people valuing it more and […] caring for it better” (Thurley, 2005, p. 26); on the other, as stated by the Faro Convention, cultural heritage can be a “shared source of remembrance, understanding, identity, cohesion and creativity” (Council of Europe, 2005, art. 3). As a consequence, citizens’ involvement in cultural heritage can foster “a sense of shared responsibility towards the places in which people live” (Council of Europe, 2005, art. 8), supporting not only cultural heritage preservation through time, but also quality of life and well-being. This kind of virtuous relationship can be generally extended to various cultural practices, involving museums and libraries, visual and performing arts.

Within this framework, in the scientific debate, Cultural Welfare is emerging as a new, integrated approach to promote the well-being and health of individuals and communities through practices rooted in the arts and cultural heritage. In the last decade, scholars have explored tools to improve citizens’ participation in the arts and culture. Particularly, cultural professionals are required to learn and apply digital participatory tools to involve local communities and allow them to enjoy arts and cultural heritage and learn more.

Aiming to satisfy this need, the project aims to improve arts and heritage students’ skills in promoting participatory processes through digital tools. European HEIs involved in the project will learn and share new teaching methodologies and tools to involve communities in the arts and cultural heritage. The project’s results, i.e. review of practices and new participatory methods, will be open access.

Wikimedia Italia role

Project dissemination:

creating project pages on Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia and Wikiversity) and on Meta
supporting wiki activities with coaching and providing dedicated material
involvement of volunteers active in GLAM and Wiki Loves Monuments projects
involvement of the international wiki community (Wikimedia chapters)
job shadowing on Wikivesity (upload materials, create a new Wikiversity page, ecc)
participation in transnational meetings
sharing of training evaluation (used to evaluate the training of trainers)

Wikimedia Italia request

It is important to use Open Source Software (i.e Limesurvey) and release works under CC BY and CC BY-SA Licenses.

Team

Ilaria Diterlizzi (staff), as coordinator for Wikimedia Italia activities
Marco Chemello (staff), as experts in GLAM-Wiki activities
Elena Marangoni (WMI board)

Budget

TDB

Wikimedia Italia staff as in-kind contribution