The URB_ART project is a response to the COVID19 crisis that has inhibited intercultural exchange and severely affected the cultural and educational sectors. This project aims to support low-skilled adults in marginalized communities through activities and concepts of Urban Arts Education. Possible on-going pandemic constraints and changes will be considered in the project by implementing innovative formats of (digital) education, communication, participation, dissemination, etc. To achieve these goals, the consortium will carry out activities to manifest Urban Arts Education as a tool for social inclusion. URB_ART will stimulate social inclusion and empowerment processes through its project activities and results. By providing scientific studies, technical literature, further trainings, and audio-visual toolkits on the potentials of Urban Arts Education, a sustainable awareness of the different target groups shall be created. The definition of Urban Arts Education is based on the conceptual triangle of arts education, urban adult education and urban arts. Thus, it encompasses the creative and personal development of the individual as well as the understanding of regional and international arts and culture in large, densely populated urban areas with a diverse population. Dealing with arts in the community of low-qualified adults from marginalized groups overcomes socio-cultural barriers and provides access to new social groups. Here, transdisciplinary art disciplines function as communication instruments for intercultural dialogue and social integration. URB_ART will incorporate linguistic concepts such as metro- and multilingualism to classify and implement an intercultural dialogue. URB_ART makes use of the correlation of these three concepts by realizing five project activities that build on each other: IO1: The "Baseline Survey on Transdisciplinary and Multilingual Urban Arts Education" will formulate national and transnational needs and challenges regarding marginalization in the fields of culture and education as well as success indicators with regard to Urban Arts Education, taking into account concepts of transdisciplinarity, metro- and multilingualism. IO2: The "Compendium of Storytelling Resources Through Urban Arts Education" aims to list success stories for transdisciplinary and multilingual Urban Arts Education based on the Baseline Survey. In this way, the Compendium will create specific knowledge about the resources of storytelling through urban arts and empower cultural and educational actors. IO3: The "In-Service Training Package on Urban Arts Education" offers opportunities for further education for adult education providers and community actors. The results generated from IO1 and IO2 are conveyed in a practice-oriented manner in training courses in all five partner countries, whereby the results and recommendations can be directly integrated into the thinking and actions of those involved in practice. IO4: The "Toolkit of Video Case Studies on Community Urban Arts" aims to present media-based successful transnational practices for the inclusion of marginalized communities in urban arts programmes and initiatives. IO5: The "Policy Paper on Promoting Urban Arts Education" deals with the potentials of Urban Arts Education regarding social inclusion. The aim is to develop operational and policy recommendations for decision-makers and policymakers in the fields of culture, education, and social affairs. In addition to these outputs, the partner consortium will regularly organize transnational meetings, a transnational staff-member training, national multiplier events to disseminate the project results and a European Symposium, to which policy-makers and stakeholders will be invited. In the project activities, artists will be directly involved to actively build a bridge between the educational and the creative sectors. The partner consortium consists of five non-governmental organizations from the United Kingdom, Iceland, Slovenia, Portugal, and Austria. In addition to the project partners, other stakeholders are directly and indirectly addressed by this project: 1) associated adult and community educators, social workers, professionals from the cultural sector 2) low-skilled adults in marginalized communities 3) independent arts educators and artists of different art disciplines 4) policymakers and decision-makers With this transnational and transdisciplinary approach, URB_ART breaks down social barriers in times of COVID19 and promotes social inclusion through the concept of Urban Arts Education. URB_ART offers further training possibilities for associated adult and community educators, social workers, professionals from the artistic and cultural sector as well as for independent arts educators and artists of different art disciplines to establish access to culture and education and to achieve empowerment for low-skilled adults in marginalized urban communities.
URB_ART aimed to develop innovative forms of communication, participation, dissemination and education to facilitate social cohesion in urban European communities through the triangle concept of arts education, urban adult education, and urban arts. It combined the creative development of individuals with understanding of regional and international arts and culture in diverse urban areas. The project utilised this transdisciplinary approach as an instrument of communication for intercultural dialogue and social cohesion, to be reflected in all outputs. Baseline research provided evidence from the field, directly from practitioners, on the needs, challenges and success indicators on marginalization in culture and education. Then, identified innovative practices were made appealing and accessible to a wider audience in a narrative digital format. The needs of practitioners were addressed through a training package, providing tools to facilitate social inclusion through Urban Arts Education. A video toolkit presented successful practices on inclusion through urban arts programmes. Lastly, through policy papers, the consortium provided recommendations as well as a future orientation for the research agenda on urban arts education.
The URB_ART project was developed as a response to the Covid-19 crisis, which saw the non-formal creative and education sectors being affected through discontinuation or disruption in cultural education activities, which are proven to strengthen community building, transcultural participation and integration. The consortium recognised the importance of integrating multi- and multi-lingual concepts in cultural education activities to stimulate intercultural dialogue between diverse communities, thereby resulting in a facilitation of social inclusion (Jaworski, A., 2014 Metrolingual art: Multilingualism and heteroglossia). The Intellectual Outputs were thereby conceptualised within this framework. Once produced, their dissemination and use involved engaging stakeholders at multiple levels, from in-person dissemination exercises to online dissemination through networks such as EPALE (https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/resource-centre/content/urbart-project-results). This allowed for a comprehensive engagement as well as feedback from the target groups, allowing the consortium to meet its initial goal of producing results that are applicable and adaptable.