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Inter-collect Intergenerational Toolkit for Museum Collections

“Heritage collections have the power to connect people across different age groups. An intergenerational approach has been shown to boost self-worth in older adults, while the exchange of valuable cultural information and ideas between young people and their elders can be transformative for both groups. This dialogue has the potential to help achieve better social cohesion and can be facilitated as part of a museum’s outreach activities…” (p.1)

 

“Here you will find practical tools for promoting collections-mediated intergenerational dialogue, based on the following three approaches to communication:

 

STORYTELLING is the most traditional mechanism for cultural transmission and a natural choice for intergenerational programmes, particularly those relying on the sophisticated relationships between objects and oral histories.

 

CO-CREATION is a way for audiences to actively participate in the conception and realization of cultural programmes, similarly to how citizen science engages the public in scientific research. This helps ensure such programmes have relevance to society.

 

MENTORING is a form of one-on-one training, usually involving a senior person (the mentor) supporting the personal development of someone younger (the mentee). However, the learning in a mentorship can go both ways.” (p.1)