ERASMUS+

Green skills, gamification and cross-cultural communication for improved heritage projects

Target group: local cultural and heritage professionals (cultural operators, community developers and cultural programme organizers) and adult educators from Harghita county (Romania) and Friesland region (the Netherlands).

The project objective is to develop the key competences (increase competence in foreign languages, increase the level of digital competence and other competences) of the target group (cultural workers and adult educators) and to make our cultural heritage visible to young generation and foreigners, contributing to the improvement of the quality of life in the settlements of Harghita County.

Cultural workers making aware of how the heritage being strong identity factor, become an economic asset, a tourist attraction, a sustainability factor, a learning tool, and how it can contribute to social cohesion.

One of the main activities of the project is a 60 hour blended pilot course for the focus group (five settlement in Harghita county), and in each team will be 3 person (community developers and cultural programme organisers). The blended course will include 15 hours of online training on cultural heritage marketing and communication, 15 hours of online course on English communication, followed by an on-site transnational training to the Netherlands (3 days /18 hours of training) and 12 hours of follow-up phase.

A blended course aim is to develop the focus group intercultural communication, digital and green competences, piloted with 15 participants (5 teams*3 persons), attended by min. 50 more as autonomous learners during the project lifetime.

The website of the project: https://culturalheritageproject.eu/en

In April 2023, the focus group (20 people) participated in a three-day study tour/training in Leeuwarden, Friesland (Netherlands), to identify good practices, new approaches and opportunities for improvement, to gather experience in cultural heritage management.

The validation of the skills acquired through informal and non-formal learning will be made visible through the implementation of a local projects (five local proiect).

The grant activities will conclude in autumn 2024 with a Regional Heritage Fair and a conference: communicating cultural heritage in an intercultural context, presentation of the experiences from on-site transnational training, good practices and the implemented local projects.

Project details:

Programme: Erasmus+:

Call: 2022 – Round : Round 1 – Action type : Small-scale partnerships in adult education (KA210-ADU)

Number: 2022-1-RO01-KA210-ADU-000082438

Acronym: GRACING

Implementation period: 01.11.2022-31.10.2024

Project lump-sum: 60.000 Euro

Coordinator: Centrul Cultural Județean Harghita (RO)

Partners:

  • Spektrum Educational Center (RO)
  • 8D Games BV(NL)

The topics addressed by our proiect are:

  1. Community development
  2. Creating new, innovative or joint curricula or courses
  3. Cooperation between educational institutions and business

The partners will contribute their expertise, experience, tools and networks to the successful implementation of the project, mentor the course participants in the development of local cultural projects and demonstrate their competences.

ACT. 1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT, MONITORING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

This activity includes the promotional and the dissemination efforts, managing local initiatives, maintaining communication with the target group, and networking with stakeholders, including monitoring all associated costs.

The project website was launched in February 2023. The logo of the project was created by the end of the year 2022.

The target group is composed from three person from five municipalities from Harghita County Ciucsângeorgiu, Sândominic, Remetea, Lunca de Jos and Frumoasa.

Meetings with project partners:

  • Kick-off-meeting in Leeuwarden (NL): 30 November – 1 December 2022.
  • Final meeting in Miercurea Ciuc (RO): 18 October 2024.
  • Bimonthly online meetings.

Project management tools and methods, templates:

  • Project Implementation Plan,
  • Quality Evaluation Plan,
  • Dissemination plan,
  • Evaluations questioners.

ACT. 2. DESIGNING A BLENDED COURSE FOR HERITAGE WORKERS BASED ON COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK AND CURRICULUM

This activity includes: desk research, focus group discussions, interviews with 4 heritage specialists (2 specialists from Netherlands, 2 from Romania), it were developed a curriculum in Hungarian, develop competence framework in three languages, refining the curriculum, promoting the e-course.

Results:

  • Competence Framework for heritage workers- for public and private sector employees, managers and volunteers who wish to protect, enhance and promote local cultural heritage through education, training, community-building activities and tourism in three languages,
  • a collection of OER materials,
  • available in the following link: www.culturalheritageproject.eu/en/learning-platform/welcome

ACT. 3. IMPLEMENTING THE BLENDED COURSE FOR HERITAGE WORKERS COMBINING LEARNING ON AN ONLINE PLATFORM, A TRANSNATIONAL TRAINING SESSION AND LOCAL FOLLOW-UP PROJECT.

The designed course is for rural community and cultural programme organisers from a rural region.

The aim is to provide an up-to-date knowledge and approach to those working in rural areas, who are interested in the promotion and use of local cultural heritage for community and tourism purposes.

The training is designed as a “blended” training, with 60 learning hours (online, on-site phase and follow-up phase).

The curriculum is centered around the following themes: sustainability, gamification, co-creation, digital skills, recognizing local values. This approach provides a strong theoretical foundation and also encouraged practical application.

Results:

  • Blended course:
    • 15 learning hrs long online course with 15 participants (content developed under the previous activity),
    • 15hrs online English communication course,
    • On-site training and study visit in Leeuwarden (workshop at 8DGames, visiting cultural institutions, participating in treasure Hunt Games, sightseeing tour with A Guide to Leeuwarden, taking photos, feedbacks about study visit),
    • Follow-up phase.
  • The e-learning course translated in EN, RO,
  • 100 more people follow the online course (141 registered person on the e-learning course).

ACT 4. A GOOD PRACTICES COMPENDIUM FOR INCLUSIVE, SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT AND INNOVATIVE HERITAGE – CO-CREATED BY RO AND NL HERITAGE WORKERS

Activities:

  • desk-research and collect the good practices in Romania and the Netherlands as well,
  • organization the photo and video documentation of the heritage sites, projects visited during the on site phase (training in Leeuwarden, NL),
  • processing the participants feedbacks and reflection of study visit,
  • elaborate the “Tips and Tricks” guidance on applying the lessons learnt in the Netherlands,
  • presentation of local pilot projects, four inspiring good practices from Harghita County and five from the Netherlands, and finally “tips and tricks” based on the experiences of the study trip in Friesland.

Local pilot projects: five municipalities from Harghita County (Ciucsângeorgiu, Sândominic, Remetea, Lunca de Jos and Frumoasa) have developed projects based on local values.

The handbook was edited in three languages: English, Romanian and Hungarian.

The hand book can be downloaded from the project webpage:

https://culturalheritageproject.eu/en/page/26/good-practice-compendium-of-sustainable-approaches-to-cultural-heritage

ACT. 5. DEVELOPING INCLUSIVE, SUSTAINABLE, RESILIENT AND INNOVATIVE LOCAL HERITAGE PROJECTS

This activity contains mentoring activities, meetings with focus group, prototyping and reviewing local heritage projects, implementing and evaluation these projects

Each pilot project was tested by target group and by GRACING team, and according feedbacks was improved.

Also have been produced short films which presents local projects in three languages (EN, RO, HU).

Five municipalities from Harghita County (Ciucsângeorgiu, Sândominic, Remetea, Lunca de Jos and Frumoasa) have developed projects based on local values. They have all developed their concepts around sustainability, cross-cultural communication, inter-generational approach, gamification, co-creation and digital skills.

Results:

  • Mentoring 5 local heritage worker teams to plan, prototype and pilot 5 local heritage projects in Romania
  • Implementing the 5 local heritage projects:
  • Sândominic’s pilot project: Non Recuso Laborem – The Life of Bishop Áron Márton
  • Ciucsângeorgiu’s: pilot project: In the Footsteps of the General Sándor Gál
  • Remetea’s pilot project : Life in the Etnographic House of Remetea
  • Lunca de Jos’s pilot project: “Csángórózsa” Card and Puzzle
  • Frumoasa’s pilot project: Title: The Route of Milk in the Village of Frumoasa

These projects are based on local values, some of them use the elements of intercultural communication, others can be developed.

ACT. 6. DEVELOPING AND PILOTING THE ADULT EDUCATOR’S GUIDE FOR VALORIZING LOCAL HERITAGE

Results:

  • Analyze the AE value of the developed materials in the project from AE perspective
  • Design and publish a Guide in EN, RO and HU for Adult Educators

A practical guide has been developed for adult educators on how to incorporate gamification techniques and activities into their daily work of teaching and facilitating adult education.

The adult educators can incorporate this knowledge into their non-formal adult education lessons and activities.

In guide are offered advice to adult educators in the areas of sustainability, cross-cultural communication, gamification and facilitating transnational learning activities.

A successful adult education path with transnational mobility element:

The final Guide was published on the project webpage: https://culturalheritageproject.eu/en/page/27/adult-educators-guide

ACT. 7. SHARING WORKSHOPS AND INNOVATIVE REGIONAL HERITAGE FAIR IN ROMANIA

Title of the conference: Heritage through Play – Good Practices Conference and Fair

Date: 18 October 2024, between 9-15 hour

Location: Miercurea Ciuc (RO), Harghita County Council, 5th Libertății square

The program of the conference: project presentation, presentation of good practice compendium, Serious games presentation, GRACING platform presentation, the presentation of the five pilot projects, presentation of four inspiring good practices from Harghita County, Learn and try – good practices fair.

Media links about the conference and fair:

https://maszol.ro/eletmod/Oroksegvedelem-jo-peldakat-mutattak-be-Csikszeredaban

https://hargitanepe.ro/hirek/csikszek/oroksegvedelem-jatekosan

Participants feedbacks: “recalling the past”, “becoming leaves from roots,” “we are rich,” “our cohesive community,” “rethinking and passing on,” “preservation of values.”

The project is implemented with Erasmus+ support under the Programme KA2 – Small-scale Partnerships in Adult Education.

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the National Agency and Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.