Training: “Memories that Shape Paths – Education for Inclusion through Cultural Heritage”

School Life and Education Museum is organizing a two-day training workshop as part of the European Erasmus+ project ALZ-Q: Training facilitators in small local heritage institutions to make them safe places for adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (2024-1-NL01-KA220-ADU-000253660).

The training workshop, titled “Memories that Shape Paths,” focuses on the role of cultural heritage, museums, and creative practices as tools for empowerment, inclusion, and support for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.

Thursday, May 29, 2025 | 17:00–20:00 | In-person session
Venue: School Life and Education Museum (17 Agias Filotheis St., Athens, 10556)

• Museums and Culture as Tools for Mental Empowerment
  Evangelia Kantartzi, Director School Life and Education Museum

• Dementia-Friendly Cultural Spaces
  Meropi Kalymniou, Psychologist BSc, MA, Alzheimer Athens

• Moving with Understanding: Exploring Laban Principles in Engaging with Individuals Affected by Alzheimer’s
  Ana Paula Alves, PhD in Child Studies / Supervision and Pedagogical Orientation, Education Department, Universidade Fernando Pessoa

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Friday, May 30, 2025 | 17:00–20:00 | Online via Zoom

• Museums and Culture as Tools for Mental Empowerment
  Evangelia Kantartzi, Director School Life and Education Museum

• Animal-Assisted Therapy: The Potential of Its Application in Dementia-Oriented Interventions
  Eugenia Karazioti, Special Education Teacher, MSc in Psychopedagogy (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Animal Therapist

• Memory Boxes and Personal Stories as Tools for Enhancing Memory in People with Dementia
  Niki Kantzou, Kindergarten Teacher – Author

• Designing Educational Activities for Older Adults: “Nature Imitates Art” – An Educational Program at the National Gallery
  Xanthoula Danavara, Museologist – Tour Coordinator at the Museum of Wheat/Melissa Kikizas

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Participation is free of charge.

Seats are limited and will be allocated on priority order.

Certificates of attendance will be provided.

Register by filling out the form here.
For more information: +30 210 3250341 | info@ekedisy.gr

ALZ-Q: Training facilitators in small local heritage institutions to make them safe places for adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease

A European Erasmus+ Initiative for Education, Empowerment, and Inclusion

The School Life and Education Museum proudly participates in the European cooperation project ALZ-Q: Training facilitators in small local heritage institutions to make them safe places for adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (2024-1-NL01-KA220-ADU-000253660).
Funded by the Erasmus+ programme, ALZ-Q brings together partners from across Europe to explore how cultural heritage and education can play a vital role in improving the lives of individuals living with early-onset dementia.

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Project Objectives

The core aim of ALZ-Q is to empower staff and educators in small heritage institutions to:

• Create dementia-friendly environments within museums and cultural spaces.

• Use cultural heritage as a tool to enhance memory, dignity, and emotional well-being.

• Promote inclusion and accessibility for adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.

• Develop training and educational resources tailored to the needs of cultural facilitators.

This innovative initiative aligns with our mission at the School Life and Education Museum: to ensure that culture and education are accessible to all members of society, regardless of age or cognitive ability.

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Target Groups

• Adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease

• Caregivers and family members

• Cultural educators and museum staff

• Facilitators and volunteers in heritage institutions

• Researchers and professionals in dementia care

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Key Activities

Throughout the project’s duration (2024–2026), the consortium will carry out a wide range of activities, including:

• Research on best practices in dementia-friendly museum programming across Europe.

• Development of a training curriculum for facilitators working in small cultural institutions.

• Pilot workshops and seminars (like the one hosted by the School Life and Education Museum in May 2025).

• Co-creation sessions involving people with dementia and their caregivers.

• Dissemination events and open-access publication of training materials.

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Project Deliverables

The ALZ-Q project will produce several tangible results:

1. Training Manual for Facilitators – with practical tools, case studies, and methods for designing inclusive programs.

2. Digital Learning Platform – hosting educational modules, videos, and resources for ongoing training.

3. Policy Recommendations – aimed at influencing inclusive cultural policies at the local and European levels.

4. Pilot Programs in Partner Museums – testing innovative methods of engaging people with Alzheimer’s through art, history, and storytelling.

5. Awareness Campaigns – promoting the message of inclusion and mental well-being through culture.

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Our Role in the ALZ-Q Partnership

As a key partner, the School Life and Education Museum brings its long-standing experience in educational and intergenerational programming to the project. We are responsible for:

• Hosting training seminars and awareness events in Greece

• Contributing to the development of training content and inclusive practices

• Promoting community engagement and intergenerational dialogue

• Disseminating project outcomes to educators, museums, and local stakeholders

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Building a More Inclusive Cultural Future

ALZ-Q is not just a training initiative — it is a call to reimagine museums as spaces of care, connection, and memory. By engaging cultural institutions in the conversation on dementia, we help reduce stigma, foster empathy, and ensure that no one is left behind.

For more information about ALZ-Q and our upcoming activities, please visit the projects website:
https://alzq.substack.com/

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The Erasmus+ programme Outdoor Education for Museums and Cultural Organizations has compiled a comprehensive Handbook, available in four languages – English, Greek, Italian, and Spanish – to provide a holistic understanding of this enriching approach to learning. Delve into the theoretical foundations of outdoor education in Greece, Italy, and Spain, and uncover practical educational activities from each partner organization that exemplify the principles of experiential learning in the outdoors. This valuable resource serves as an essential guide for educators, trainers, and anyone aspiring to incorporate outdoor education into their curriculum or practice.

See the Handbook on the project’s website https://oemco.weebly.com/handbook.html

Outdoor Education for Museums and Cultural Organizations (OEMCO) is a project that is funded by the European Union Erasmus+ programme (Grant Agreement Number 2021-2-EL01-KA210-ADU-000050334). The general objective of the project is to provide to the participants and stakeholders with basic knowledge, skills and tools for planning, organizing and implementing outdoor education activities / programs by relevant bodies (educational and cultural institutions, museums, etc.), in order to improve the availability of learning opportunities for students, educators and adults.

The project’s specific objectives are:
• To strengthen the participants and stakeholders theoretical background on the role, objectives and benefits of outdoor education.
• To provide participants and stakeholders with first-hand knowledge, ideas, best practices and practical experience as well as a range of group exercises and experiential activities related to outdoor education on school and museum sites, in local parks, in monuments, in urban settings etc.
• To cultivate participants and stakeholders social awareness in order to work cooperatively in a wide range of situations outside the walls of the traditional museum and educational environment – to develop methodologies based on exploratory learning, experiential approach, learning by doing principles, play-centered learning.
• To bring the participants and stakeholders in contact with various practices and activities of outdoor education implemented by cultural institutions in different environments and for different purposes and cognitive objects.
• The participants and stakeholders to acquire skills and tools suitable for the design and implementation of museum-educational programs based on the principles of outdoor education.
• The participants and stakeholders to share knowledge / experiences / best practices about outdoor education with their European colleagues and build a network with those who work in the outdoor education field around Europe.
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The project is implemented by:
• Ethniko Kentro Erevnas kai Diasosis Sholikou Ylikou (EKEDISY), Greece
• Espacio Rojo, Spain
• Centro Machiavelli S.r.l., Italy

More info on the project’s website https://oemco.weebly.com/

 

HEROES focuses the pedagogical issues linked to the relevance of Cultural Heritage Education, combining some of the main concepts included in the Faro Convention (27.X.2005) with the priorities established by Erasmus+ about the social and educational value of EU cultural heritage as contribution to social cohesion, economic growth and job creation.

It aims to improve and strengthen the synergies between Educational System and Cultural Heritage Education.

General project objectives and goals

To create an innovative participatory approach to cultural heritage, shared at eu level, that encourages intercultural dialogue among teachers and pupils and fosters students’ critical thinking, self-empowerment and civil awareness.

To develop the heroes model for cultural heritage education, adding to the traditional school teaching a fresher and more interactive approach based on peer relationships, improving the interactions among formal and non-formal education in a life wide learning perspective.

Specific project objectives

Promote interactions among cultural educators of museums and school staff, fostering their mutual exchange and the permeability between different education and training pathways;

Encourage teaching staff to positively combine formal and non-formal learning for cultural heritage education, fostering learners’ motivation and gaining more effective outcomes;

Make adolescents protagonist of their knowledge path and -more widely- of their own growth, enabling their learning success;

Limit the possible arising ESL dynamics especially among those students with complex background, engaging them with Cultural Heritage Education as value and personal way of emancipation.

Add to the concepts of youth participation and wide access to the common European cultural heritage also the concept of ACCESSIBILITY of this heritage.

All Model’s educative practices will include activities which pay attention also to special needs, underlining the innate value of inclusivity of these specific contents for society.