Through DIGI.MUSE, the partners aimed to: • Strengthen the educational and integrative role of small museums through the definition of innovative digital solutions • Increase the capacity of museum operators to create itineraries and projects to increase use by disadvantaged groups • Increase opportunities for accessing the Erasmus programme through a personalized Capacity Building path • Enhance the quality of work and practices of the organizations involved • Promote international collaboration between small museums by setting the stage of the first European Network of small museums • Attract new participants to the Erasmus programme • Support active European citizenship and bring the European dimension to the local level
This project was born from the need to increase the use of digital technology in small museums and participation in European programmes, two factors that are still extremely limited. According to the Network of European Museum Organizations in 2019 only 1% of Erasmus projects were carried out by museums. Museums act as spaces for the exercise of active citizenship and participation in democratic life, but only if the physical, economic, social and cultural barriers that stand between the citizen and the cultural heritage are broken down. To this end, the DIGI.MUSE partners have recognized that digital combined with the support of European Programmes, in particular Erasmus, can contribute to strengthening the educational role of museums and creating a structured and integrated system of diversified, low-cost, sustainable and renewable over time, which make museums more inclusive and accessible. DIGI.MUSE therefore offers a response to the need to strengthen the skills of museum staff in accessing and participating in the Erasmus programme, in networking at a European level, and in the use of digital, to increase the educational and inclusion function of small museums.