Virtual Inclusive Cultural Entrepreneurs (VICE)

Funder

Erasmus+, Call 2020 Round 1 KA2.

Value

€279,730 (CU €50.920,00 EUR)

Project team

Nitin Thakrar, Dale Hawkins, Karyn Murray, Jacqueline Cawston, Michael Loizou, Sarah Merry, David Powell, Mashkura Begun, Denis Detling, Jesenka Ricl, Werner Matt.

Partners

• ELS (Lead)
• Elderberry,
• Muzej Slavonije
• Stadtarchiv Dornbirn

Project duration

01/06/2021 – 31/05/2023

Project overview

The Virtual Inclusive Cultural Entrepreneurs (VICE) project has 5 partners from 4 countries: UK, Sweden, Austria, and Croatia. Each bringing complementary skills and expertise in the fields of adult education, teacher training, post-digital cultures, archives, museums, and cutting-edge learning technology.

According to a report by UNESCO at the height of the global lockdown, 95% of museums had closed and 9 out of 10 countries had closed their World Heritage properties. This unprecedented crisis has shone a light on how the entire cultural sector itself is weakened by this collapse. This has resulted in many intangible cultural practices being disrupted, which has an impact on the cultural life of communities.

In addition, whilst social distancing becomes the norm, meeting or collaboration technologies that help remove physical obstacles between people are quickly becoming essential and are predicted to last well beyond a post COVID-19 situation.

For many culture and heritage organisations technology that enables worthwhile experiences in virtual reality or 3D is still often cost-prohibitive, this has only been made worse by the financial situation in the cultural sector during and post-COVID-19.

In recent years, more and more GLAM organisations working in an intercultural perspective have increasingly started to re-examine and re-assess existing collections using different perspectives, which include the viewpoint of individuals and communities. Local communities can supply information regarding its history and community context, the GLAM organisation can respond by setting up a program with the objective of working collaboratively with communities and academics – to explore the meaning of objects and share stories, beliefs, and opinions around them. An extension to the idea of co-curation at the core of the VICE project is the innovative concept of GLAM organisations, businesses, cultural entrepreneurs, and communities working together to exploit artistic and cultural capital and assets through the development of programs of Adult Education in Cultural Entrepreneurship through a Virtual platform.

Project objectives

1. Develop formal education skills and competencies in Adult Educators and prospective cultural entrepreneurs that facilitate the development, creation, production, and preservation of assets that embody cultural, artistic, or other creative expressions and create cultural value and wealth for both creative producers and consumers of cultural services and products.
2. Enhance the acceleration of digital transformation and use of digital means in the GLAM and cultural sectors by creating an open-source platform that will enable collaborative learning through the creation of interactive 3D virtual exhibitions facilitated by custom 3D avatar/ guides that can be viewed in virtual reality (VR) or on a mobile device or PC.
3. Develop a handbook and new interactive digital toolkits and resources to support formal and informal learning activities that foster creativity, cultural entrepreneurship, collaboration, use of archives and cultural assets, storytelling, media production, culture and multiculturalism and sustainability;

Outputs

1. VICE Interactive Methodology Handbook and Implementation plan
2. VICE Open Source 3D Educational Exhibitions Platform
3. VICE Continuous Professional Development Curriculum, Course & Learning Outcomes Matrix (LOM)
4. VICE Digital Tool Kits

Participants will include adult educators, museum education officers, (prospective) cultural entrepreneurs, archivists, community & special interest groups and their students and
groups.

It is expected that the VICE project will increase the numbers of people accessing professional development training through the VICE CPD Course and Digital Tool Kits to improve skills in using innovative methodologies, technology, and tools in adult education; and enhance personal and professional competences of adult learners, GLAM professionals, and educators in the cultural sphere. The project also aims to provide awareness about cultural entrepreneurship and increase the number of active cultural entrepreneurs in Europe through awareness, the handbook, course, and toolkits.

Furthermore, the VICE project will increase the number of open-source digital learning tools/ e-learning and resources, materials, courses, platform, and online collaborative channels to foster creativity, culture, and multiculturalism within adult education, cultural entrepreneurship, museums, and the community and will provide an open-source platform that enables the creation of 3D exhibitions with custom avatar guides that can be experienced through virtual reality (VR) or in 3D on a tablet or PC. This type of technology is often cost-prohibitive, and the VICE platform will enable a much larger number and range of organisations to access this type of technology across Europe and potentially the globe.