Targeted to Intermediate English (B1+) speakers.Read more
This is the standard requirement for most courses. Participants at this level can participate actively in discussions and manage everyday and professional situations. If they are unsure about their English level, they can test it here or explore our courses facilitated in Basic English.
Cross-Curricular.Read more
The listed audiences are those for whom the course is especially recommended, but courses are not exclusive to them and are open to everyone. In fact, most of our workshops are built around the collective sharing of participants’ experiences and having a variety of profiles enriches the learning process and is highly encouraged!
Description
Promoting cultural heritage plays an important role in preventing misinformation and prejudice and shaping how young people understand key democratic concepts such as identity, citizenship, and multiculturalism.
When explored critically, heritage sites and cultural narratives not only can help reflect on the past, but also question stereotypes and better understand how contemporary European societies are shaped.
This course introduces participants to Cultural Heritage Education (CHE) as one of the primary objectives of the European Heritage Strategy for the 21st Century (ST21) through the concrete example of Vienna.
In fact, as a city shaped by centuries of multilingual, multicultural, and political transformation, Vienna is one of the most diverse cities in Europe.
Its history as the capital of a formerly vast multilingual and multiethnic empire continues to inform its identity today and serves as an excellent case study on the values of tolerance, inclusion, and sustainability.
Participants will explore key European Heritage Label (EHL) heritage sites – such as the Hofburg and other major museums – alongside digital resources like the Common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage 2025-2030.
Through a combination of educational visits, interactive activities, and different pedagogical approaches, the course will connect physical and digital heritage spaces, showing how both can support critical thinking, digital literacy, and engaging interdisciplinary learning.
Also, thanks to collaborative lesson design sessions, participants will engage fully with the concept of “Heritage Interpretation”, experiencing Vienna’s diverse cultural heritage and creating lesson plans and project initiatives based on shared knowledge.
Finally, special attention will be given to how CHE supports active citizenship, intercultural competence, and sustainability across different age groups and subject areas.
By the end of the course, participants will have attained useful strategies for implementing CHE practices within their own classrooms and appreciate its value in producing responsible, digitally literate, and tolerant critical thinkers.
What is included
Learning outcomes
The course will help participants to:
- Explain how cultural heritage contributes to European identity, citizenship, and democratic values;
- Analyze Vienna’s heritage as a case study for multiculturalism, sustainability and historical memory;
- Design classroom activities that implement CHE practices across different subjects for various age groups and levels;
- Apply “Heritage Interpretation” techniques to critically and productively analyze experiences of material and digital heritage spaces;
- Utilize inclusive pedagogical approaches that foster learners’ appreciation for sustainability, active citizenship, intercultural competence, and community;
- Integrate strategies that develop learners’ critical thinking and digital literacy skillsets;
- Ensure younger generations appreciate the importance of understanding the past in order to appreciate the present and protect the future.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Introduction to the course
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools.
Defining cultural heritage and why it matters
- Introduction to CHE and the European Heritage Strategy for the 21st Century (ST21);
- Vienna as a multicultural European capital: history and identity;
- Reflection: cultural heritage in participants’ own contexts.
Day 2 – Heritage interpretation, Vienna, and European identity
- From Maria Theresa to the Ringstrasse: key Viennese events and artifacts that shaped modern European culture and identity;
- What is “Heritage Interpretation?”;
- Group activity: sharing participants’ cultural heritage experiences;
- Visit to a heritage site (Wien Museum Karlsplatz).
Day 3 – Vienna as a case study
- Applying “Heritage Interpretation” in practice using Vienna as a case study;
- How CHE promotes inclusivity, interdisciplinarity, and cross-curricular approaches;
- Visit to a heritage site (Kunsthistorisches Museum).
Day 4 – Cultural heritage education and digital literacy
- Exploring digital heritage platforms (e.g., Common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage);
- Making the digital tangible: implementing games and practical activities to make digital literacy and CHE fun;
- Lesson planning: participants design and present a lesson plan using Heritage Interpretation and a digital site;
- Visit to a heritage site (Hofburg guided walk and visit to the Imperial Treasury).
Day 5 – Cultural heritage and projects
- Making learning inclusive and creative: using CHE projects to cultivate respect for sustainability, inclusivity, and diversity;
- Drafting of a project idea focused on one of the key themes of CHE to be shared with the class;
- Visit to a Heritage site (Votivkirche).
Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.
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