HERITAGE EDUCATION FOR INCLUSION AND EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP – Calabria UNESCO Experience (HEIC-UE)

“Heritage Education for Inclusion and European Citizenship – Calabria UNESCO Experience”  is an innovative Erasmus+ training programme specifically designed for teachers and school staff from all educational levels exploring how cultural heritage, especially UNESCO-recognised sites, traditions and landscapes can become a powerful tool to enrich school curricula, promote inclusion and foster intercultural dialogue among students of different ages and backgrounds.

Building on expertise developed through European collaborations on cultural heritage education, this programme invites school professionals to discover Calabria’s exceptional artistic, historical, natural and intangible heritage, transforming these resources into engaging learning activities suitable for diverse school contexts.

Calabria, a land shaped by centuries of Mediterranean civilization (from Magna Graecia to the Byzantine, Norman and Aragonese eras) preserves some of the world’s most significant cultural treasures. Its UNESCO sites, traditions and landscapes offer an immersive learning environment ideal for developing new teaching strategies, enhancing pupils’cultural awareness and strengthening their sense of belonging to the European community.

Through the discovery of Calabria’s heritage, participants will not only explore local and Mediterranean history but also strengthen their understanding of European citizenship, learning to connect local identities with shared European values and intercultural dialogue.

The JUMP ACADEMY offers an immersive experience of Calabria’s culture:

• exploring the Mediterranean diet through interactive cooking workshops, connecting culinary traditions with cultural and historical heritage;
• visiting the city of Reggio Calabria (UNESCO site), “National Archeological Museum” monuments and urban heritage;
• discovering the Greek-speaking Calabria (Calabria Grecanica), home to a precious ethnic minority that continues to preserve its unique linguistic, ritual, and gastronomic traditions;
• visiting the Scolacium Archeological Park located in Squillace which preserve the remains of the ancient city of Scolacium, a settlement with origins in the Greek and Roman periods;
• participating in digital workshops to create booktrailers and multimedia content, enhancing digital skills while exploring and interpreting the cultural heritage of the region.

This combination of experiential, digital and interdisciplinary activities ensures that participants can immediately translate their learning into innovative and engaging teaching practices for students of all ages.

LEARNING GOALS AND PRIORITIES

Cultural heritage education – especially in regions with a deeply stratified historical identity such as Calabria – acts as a natural bridge toward active citizenship and a deeper understanding of the European dimension.

Exploring UNESCO cultural sites and traditions in the region means:
– understanding Europe’s Mediterranean roots;
– recognising the value of cultural and linguistic diversity;
– develop an understanding of the key concepts and research areas related to European cultural heritage;
– learn to distinguish and work with both tangible and intangible forms of cultural heritage;
– promoting intercultural and inclusive approaches in the classroom;
– developing transversal skills related to history, geography and culture.

The course highlights how Calabrian heritage can become a living laboratory for interdisciplinary teaching activities, storytelling, education and it is designed to address the Erasmus + priorities for school education:

• Inclusion and diversity: cultural heritage becomes a tool to value students’ identities, promote intercultural understanding and European citizenship;
• Digital transformation: use of digital tools for documentation and storytelling, developing students’ digital literacy and critical thinking;
• Common values and European citizenship: UNESCO heritage provides a bridge between the local and the European dimension, strengthening students’ sense of belonging to Europe;
• Innovation in teaching practices: new methodologies and laboratories that engage students in exploring, analysing and reinterpreting cultural heritage.