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The UV coordinates a European project on cultural heritage and educational transformation through artistic expression and Sustainable Development Goals

  • January 13th, 2025
Heritage
Heritage

TOWCHED Transforming Our World: Collections at the Heart of life-long learning and Education

On 1st January 2025, the Horizon Europe research project TOWCHED - Transforming Our World: Collections at the Heart of Lifelong-Learning and Education, coordinated by the University of Valencia, started its activities. TOWCHED will demonstrate the transformative potential of inclusive, arts-based educational interventions mediated through cultural heritage collections for children and youth, using Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a results framework.

These interventions, piloted in collaboration between Creative and Cultural Industries, collection-based organizations and educational institutions across Europe, will be critically assessed, providing a field-tested and well-supported roadmap for fostering artistic and cultural awareness and expression in education and training across Europe, thus making Europe and our world a better place for all. The project innovative approach relies on the application of the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) as a project planning tool, which is foundational in Agenda2030 and the SDGs.

TOWCHED will actively engage with children, young people, educators, creatives, heritage professionals, policymakers and professional development providers to ensure our goals and impacts are not only achieved, but that stakeholders are empowered to shape these goals in line with the principles of 'leave no-one behind' and the right to development. Furthermore, we will focus on lifelong perspectives, from early childhood education and care to young adult education in formal and non-formal learning environments. We will seek to empower community-based organisations to be more effective in supporting sustainable development through educational activities that foster people's active, free and meaningful participation. Our transdisciplinary approach will lead to work closely with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and other similar initiatives.

The project is coordinated by the Universitat de València through its principal investigator, Ester Alba Pagán, professor of the Department of Art History from the Faculty of Geography and History. There are also international institutions in the consortium such as the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), based in Rome, and the International Institute for Environment and Development Europe (IIED Europe), based in the Netherlands; European institutions such as the Network of European Museum Organisations (Germany), Young Educators - European Association (Portugal), as well as KULTURALL (Serbia), the Climate Academy (Brussels), ZEMOS 98 (Spain), the Latvian Museums Association (Latvia) and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture (Greece).

More information: Esther.Alba@uv.es

Links: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101177736

Programmes:

HORIZON.2.2 - Culture, creativity and inclusive society (Main Programme)

HORIZON.2.2.3 - Social and Economic Transformations