With this pilot project, named Winsome, we wanted to involve migrants more actively in the society where they ended up. We did this by offering an educational program in school museums for non-formal groups of migrants. The idea behind this is that school museums are easily accessible because of their familiarity and contact can be made in a playful manner with the target group. The goal was to promote the integration and welfare of migrants who because of displacement, often have fewer opportunities. An important objective was to investigate what specific qualities adult educators in these museums needed to have to receive these groups, given the challenges that the participants often faced.
Migrants in Europe are a group with many challenges. Despite the enormous diversity, we can talk about a sense of displacement to a greater or lesser extent. This creates a real or perceived distance from the society and culture of the country they have arrived in, whether temporarily or not. Museums are generally perceived to have a high threshold for many populations, but this is not true to the same extent for school museums. The collections on display here are recognizable to everyone. After all, everyone has been educated in one way or another. With this in mind, the partners in this project saw opportunities to playfully welcome and integrate immigrants into the country they have come to live in.