The Association of Cultural Heritage Education of Finland is a non-governmental organization founded in 2006. We develop and promote culturally sustainable education through our projects. We produce and publish learning materials, policy ideas and pedagogical models. Our activities cover the entire spectrum of cultural heritage: intangible and tangible cultural heritage, cultural environments, world heritage, digital and difficult cultural heritage.
What is cultural heritage education?
Read the article by Ira Vihreälehto here.
We are involved in multidisciplinary networks and expert groups, make statements and influence, and write and publish scientific articles. We have twice won the Europa Nostra European Heritage Award for our projects.
- European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Grand Prix for the project Kulttuurivoltti 2018.
- European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award for the project Heritage Hubs 2021.
Our international projects
CREATECH – Creative Early Education supported by Technology for Cultural Heritage
Createch is a two-year project funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ program. The project is coordinated by The Association of Cultural Heritage Education in Finland (FIN) and implemented in partnership with INTO SCHOOL (FIN), La Fundación SM (ESP), KulturAll (SRB) and Harp (IT). In addition, two kindergartens from each country participate in the project.
Createch aims to develop heritage education in early childhood education. It combines creative digital pedagogy with cultural heritage education and encourages learning from local cultural environment and heritage. Project activities strengthen ECEC teachers’ skills and competencies in multidisciplinary and phenomenon-based learning, paying particular attention to children’s creative learning processes. It also strengthens children’s cultural skills, inclusion and encourages their creative production.
A phenomenon-based creative project will be implemented in the participating kindergartens in 2024-2025. Training to the teachers and workshops for the children will be organised to support project implementation. The participants explore and study cultural heritage as an everyday phenomenon by using different senses and emotions. They explore their immediate cultural environment through the layers of past, present, and future. At the end, the children create their own online 360° environment to tell their heritage story, for example, through music, video, photography, visual arts, and drama. The heritage stories are displayed in an online exhibition, which offers viewers and listeners a completely new kind of an experience.
The project also publishes a research article, a CREATECH guide and recommendations for heritage education in ECEC. For these purposes, the project’s research team conducts small-scale research.
For more information, contact the coordinator of the project Kati Nurmi / kati.nurmi@kulttuuriperintokasvatus.fi / +358 400 937 081
Earlier projects
Erasmus+ project Future Narratives (2021–2023), with partners from Spain, Serbia and Finland. Our partners are INTO School (Finland), Urban Development Center (Serbia) and Fundacion SM (Spain).
The project developed and tested a Europe-wide model of cultural heritage education based on storytelling and technology-enhanced creativity. The starting point was both the students’ own relationship with culture and the discovery of a common and shared, diverse cultural heritage. Through this, the project will support students’ inclusion, creativity, critical thinking and digital skills, as well as cultural competences and intercultural dialogue skills.
We have partners in two Erasmus+ projects: Creative placemaking – the path to active European Citizenship, coordinated by KA-MATRIX from Croatia, with the participation of The Urban Gorillas from Cyprus (2022-2023). Policing the policies Grassroots advocacy initiative for EU-level aligned and inclusive youth strategies, led by the Serbian People’s Parliament, with the participation of CRISP from Germany and Fundacja Pole dialogue from Poland (2022-2024).
We were involved in the project LIVIND – Creative and living cultural heritage as a resource for the Northern Dimension region, which aims to strengthen the role of living heritage in Northern Europe (2022-2024).
Other our past international projects include:
- Europa Nostra Youth for Cultural Heritage 2020-2021
- Heritage Hubs 2018-2020
- Co-creative cooperation with culture volunteers 2018-2020
Our strategy
The Strategy of the Association of Cultural Heritage Education in Finland 2022–2030 supports the development of the association’s activities and the strategic and societal debate on cultural heritage education.
Download our strategy in pdf format here.