Conference Program

Patrimoni in valigia is a project co-designed by INDIRE and the Regional School Office of Tuscany that positions schools as active nodes within territorial learning ecosystems, capable of fostering democratization, equity, and well-being through the educational use of cultural heritage understood as a shared public good.

The project originates from more than fifteen years of research conducted by INDIRE on the pedagogical potential of cultural heritage in its broadest sense. This long-term reflection has emphasized the value of heritage as a tool for interdisciplinary learning, civic education, and community engagement. Within this perspective, Patrimoni in valigia focuses particularly on the INDIRE Antiquarian Collection of Youth Literature, a corpus of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century materials that offers a unique lens for examining how childhood narratives have historically contributed to the construction of stereotypes related to diversity and alterity. By engaging with these sources, students are encouraged to develop critical awareness of the cultural narratives that have shaped collective imagination and social perceptions over time.

The project involves teachers and students from both primary and secondary education, including adult learners in correctional settings, thus embracing a vertical and inclusive approach. It unfolds across four interconnected phases. The first phase includes the presentation of the project to schools and initial teacher training, accompanied by the delivery of a “suitcase” containing original heritage materials and reproductions selected by INDIRE on the theme of the foreigner and the “other.” The second phase consists of classroom-based action-research laboratories, designed and implemented by teachers with the support of INDIRE researchers and guided by a dedicated toolkit. During this stage, students explore the materials, reinterpret them, and produce new cultural artefacts.

The third phase focuses on public dissemination. Each participating school organizes a small museum-like exhibition open to the wider community, where students present the outcomes of their research and creative work—such as podcasts, videos, interactive pathways, written reflections, or artistic productions. This moment of restitution reinforces the role of the school as a civic center and a cultural hub capable of generating shared knowledge and fostering community participation. The fourth and final phase involves the digital publication of the materials produced, ensuring long-term accessibility and contributing to the creation of a distributed, open educational archive.

Within this framework, the school emerges as a community hub that connects heritage, territory, and the educational community, promoting collective agency, interprofessional collaboration, and democratic participation. The project also supports the development of the European Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2018), particularly multilingual, intercultural, civic, entrepreneurial, and learning-to-learn competences. By combining heritage education, active methodologies, and community engagement, Patrimoni in valigia demonstrates how cultural heritage can become a driver of equity and everyday democracy. The contribution discusses preliminary results, the potential of the model, and future directions for strengthening territorial learning ecosystems.