Cultural Heritage Education in Action: Florence as a Case Study

Description

To build dialogue across cultures and to reinforce a strong sense of belonging, it is essential to raise awareness of the value of cultural heritage among young Europeans.

It is about preserving the past, but also about helping new generations understand how history and identity can shape the present and the future.

Not only does heritage education represent an opportunity to show how different cultural identities can coexist and enrich each other, but the promotion of Europe’s cultural heritage and active citizenship are strategic objectives of the European Union.

This course introduces participants to Cultural Heritage Education, one of the pillars of the European Heritage Strategy for the 21st Century (ST21).

Taking advantage of Florence (with its historical and artistic legacy) as a unique living case study, it will explore how heritage can be taught as history, but also, and most importantly, as a resource for identity, citizenship, and sustainability.

Using the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage as a reference, the course will combine theory with practice, showing how cultural heritage education can deepen understanding of contemporary societies while contributing to more inclusive, cohesive, and sustainable communities.

Thanks to a mix of guided visits, experiential learning, interactive workshops, and different pedagogical approaches, participants will connect directly with Florence’s monuments, historical neighborhoods, and cultural institutions, experiencing firsthand the city’s diverse cultural layers.

Each experience will be linked to classroom practice, showing teachers how to design lessons, develop cross-curricular projects, and encourage students to engage critically and creatively with heritage.

Through collaborative activities, moreover, participants will have the chance to share approaches and adapt what they learned to their own teaching contexts.

By the end of the course, they will have developed practical strategies to integrate cultural heritage into everyday classroom activities, and they will be able to develop effective cross-cultural applications from that content.  

They will also leave the course with a deeper appreciation of heritage as a tool to support sustainability, inclusivity, and active European citizenship, finally sharing a renewed inspiration to help their students see themselves as curious, responsible custodians of Europe’s shared past and future.

Concept by Sheila Corwin

Learning outcomes

The course will help participants to:

• Acquire a deeper understanding of Florence’s cultural heritage and its relevance to European identity;
• Design and adapt classroom activities that integrate cultural heritage education with different subjects and suit various age groups;
• Apply Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to help students make connections between monuments, neighborhoods, and historical narratives and to interpret them in meaningful ways;
• Use heritage interpretation methods to engage learners in reflecting on both tangible (buildings, artifacts) and intangible (tradition, stories) cultural heritage;
• Promote inclusive approaches by showing how cultural heritage can support dialogue, mutual understanding, and sustainable community values;
• Encourage students to become aware of the past and make them understand their role as active custodians of Europe’s shared heritage (for the past, but also for the future).

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Course introduction

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools.

Introduction to Cultural Heritage Education and Florence

• What do we mean by “Cultural Heritage”?
• Introduction to the key concepts and the role of Cultural Heritage Education;
• Getting familiar with Florentine culture, history, and identity;
• Guided historic neighborhood exploration and task: visiting a key heritage site.

Day 2 – Tangible and intangible heritage

• Understanding the difference between tangible and intangible heritage. How to interpret both in education?;
• Sharing circle: participants present something from their own cultural heritage;
• Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS): using art, monuments, and urban spaces to foster observation and critical thinking;
• Guided historic neighborhood exploration and task: visiting a key heritage site.

Day 3 – Florence as a living case study for cultural heritage in pedagogy

• Task and project-based and cross-curricular learning in cultural heritage education;
• Collaborative Workshop: Lesson planning – small groups design sample classroom activities using observed heritage;
• Group work: collecting examples of tangible and intangible heritage (for potential classroom use);
• Guided historic neighborhood exploration and task: visiting a key heritage site.

Day 4 – Heritage interpretation and experiential learning

• Heritage interpretation strategies for fostering social inclusion in storytelling;
• Designing activities linking local heritage to students’ own communities;
• Guided historic neighborhood exploration and task: visiting a key heritage site.

Day 5 – Consolidation, lesson planning, and course reflection

• Consolidation of learning: translating cultural heritage education principles into lesson planning;
• Action planning: preparing to implement heritage-based projects in participants’ schools or communities;
• Peer Presentations: share developed activities, receive feedback, and refine ideas with peers.

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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