Sidestone Press Education VIA Culture: Exploring Cultural Heritage Applications in European Educational Contexts

Heritage and Education are often cited as two areas that could benefit from collaboration and dialogue. This book includes some of the papers that were presented at the ‘Education VIA Culture’ conference, which was held online in December 2020. The chapters of this volume focus on how people can learn about heritage and engage with heritage through (formal and non-formal) educational processes. In the VIA Culture understanding, the best way to create awareness about cultural heritage is not just to focus on education about heritage but to make heritage a part of the educational process. Education VIA Culture brings together academics, researchers, education practitioners, teachers, heritage professionals, and students, and generates a broad discussion about the possible applications of cultural heritage in formal and non-formal education. The papers in this volume present a wide range of approaches to the teaching of local, regional and international cultural heritage, with case studies from Greece, Italy, Serbia, the UK and the USA. The volume explores the role of museums, archaeological sites, exhibitions and landscapes through teaching interventions involving diverse heritage assets such as the Ottoman monuments in Thessaloniki, Cardiff Castle and the world-famous Acropolis of Athens. In many of the case studies presented in the volume, tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets have inspired art-based teaching activities through drama, music and storytelling, some including digital applications for heritage education. The volume promotes the idea that in an increasingly diverse Europe, the cultural heritage of ethnic and social minorities can be used as a medium for creating inclusive and equal societies.