New Publication: Integrating Multicultural Europe. Museums as Social Arena

Partners of the EMEE project (Eurovision - Museums Exhibiting Europe) have recently announced the online publication of a toolkit entitled 'Integrating Multicultural Europe. Museums as Social Arena'. The toolkit provides an idea of the museum as a public, non-commercial space that offers possibilities for people to meet, to discuss and to get in touch with the cultural heritage. It shows how these enhanced functions of museums can be used for presenting and discussing trans-regional and European topics especially regarding current issues and present-day problems. In that way, it contributes to integrating multicultural Europe. This publication is meant for everyday use by museum professionals and museum enthusiasts. With that consideration in mind, it was written by people who face the same challenges and demands on a daily basis as many other museum personnel around Europe. It is meant to be a quick first-aid kit to consult when professionals are lost and overwhelmed by challenges. The toolkit's sections successively address museum challenges, the rediscovery of the social roots of heritage, methodological frameworks and good practice examples related to relations with vulnerable groups and educational activities. The book was edited by Kaja Širok, from the National Museum of Contemporary History, Slovenia. Other authors include René Capovin, Katarina Kojog, Urška Purg, Janja Štefanic and Urša Valic. The EMEE project explores an innovative interdisciplinary approach for national and regional museums to re-interpret their objects in a broader context of European and transnational history. The necessary theoretical and practical framework is developed, put into practice and evaluated by an international, trans-sectoral network bringing together the creative excellence of museums and cultural workers in a project based on the scientific expertise of history didactics in mediating culture. It will be presented to the visitor in the so called Eurovision Lab. using the motto ‘One Object – Many Visions – Eurovisions’. The project is supported by the European Commission's Culture Programme and the Bavarian Research Alliance. The Toolkit on 'Integrating Multicultural Europe. Museums as Social Arena' is available at http://www.museums-exhibiting-europe.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/TOOLKIT2-Museums-as-social-arena.pdf