Training for the Contact Zone

Training for the Contact Zone (TCZ), is an Erasmus+ Adult Education project, running from 1 September 2024 – 31 August 2026 that aims to raise awareness about the importance and challenges that museums and heritage sites face in reaching and serving a broad and diverse audience

TCZ addresses the needs identified by one of CAE’s previous projects, the Heritage Contact Zone (HCZ), which worked with cultural mediators and artists to open up current heritage structures as “contact zones” towards more inclusive narratives. The continuation of this work in TCZ will result in the development and testing of training materials for heritage sector professionals, artists, cultural mediators, staff, and volunteers, as well as conducting training sessions to enhance the skills of cultural mediators and innovate their practices. The main goal is to make heritage institutions more representative of contemporary European societies, promoting a transnational view of history and contributing to greater social inclusion.

The following organisations form the TCZ consortium:

• Culture Action Europe (Brussels, Belgium), in the lead for networking and knowledge sharing
• Conexiones improbables (Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain), in the lead for curriculum development 
• Etz Hayyim Synagogue (Chania, Crete Greece)
• Goethe-Institut (Bucharest, Romania), in the lead for communication and dissemination
• Humán Platform (Budapest, Hungary) 
• PELE (Porto, Portugal), in the lead for the training
• Stichting Herengracht 401 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) as the overall project management lead partner 

European history is as much a history of shared cultural accomplishment as it is a history of violence: wars, colonisation, totalitarian and imperial regimes, religious violence, economic violence leading to social injustice, racial violence and generally, the creation of groups of ‘others’ and their suppression. Recognizing all aspects of history, including conflicts, can make Europe’s heritage more inclusive. Engaging with marginalized citizens can uncover hidden histories and foster a genuine European culture of remembrance.

Training for the Contact Zone will:

• develop a curriculum and training material – Training for the Contact Zone 
• train more than 100 participants in 3 training events across Europe
• build a sustainable peer-coaching infrastructure 
• engage more than 300 participants in 2 multiplier events