Cultural Heritage Education for Intercultural Communication

Abstract

In this paper, cultural heritage is considered as an important aspect of intercultural communication and social cohesion, both in local communities as well as on the European level. In European societies of today, the role of the cultural heritage of arts and crafts is under discussion. Attention has turned to the importance of conserving and developing traditional knowledge and techniques. On the basis of this and the practical experiences from craft and cultural heritage projects in Finland and Cyprus, we briefly outline the project plan and its theoretical background. The main idea is to develop a European network of craft professionals and craft teachers who will develop and implement a series of training events and projects. Apart from supporting continuing professional development, the network will also initiate cooperation between artists, professionals and teachers. The aim is to create school and youth projects as well as cooperation between institutions in various countries in order to promote transnational projects. Occupation with traditional arts and crafts is not restricted to formal learning but expands to informal and lifelong learning activities. In this context, the transfer of trans-generational knowledge will be supported through community projects.