The next step in the development of the time travel method through transnational cooperation

Kalmar County Museum, together with cultural heritage organizations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Poland and Sweden, has started a transnational exchange and collaboration regarding the development of the time travel method through the Baltic Sea Time Travels for Community Building (BSTT) project.

The project, which starts in the fall of 2022, will coordinate organizations that have worked with the time travel methodology for a long time. The aim is to meet each other, share experiences and, based on that, guide, adapt and promote the development of the method and its area of use.

- Since all organizations in the project are already working with the time travel method, we can focus on the goal of taking the next step, says Adam Norman, project coordinator at the Kalmar county museum.

The time travel method is a pedagogical method that the Kalmar county museum developed in the 1980s and which has spread throughout the world. The method is based on the local cultural heritage and consists of a process in the form of a role play. In the role play, all participants are active and involved in various practical activities while discussing important issues such as power, gender equality, the environment, migration or democracy. By developing the method, preschools and schools can develop teaching and educational activities.

- The project will contribute to strengthening the time methodology's ability to meet tomorrow's social development. Within the Baltic Sea area, there are many cultural similarities and collaborating across geographical borders with culture as a tool feels more urgent than ever, says Adam Norman, project coordinator at the Kalmar county museum.

The collaboration will primarily consist of network meetings, both physical and digital, where different themes will be raised. Among other things, it will be about method development, current challenges in the Baltic Sea area and conditions for international collaborations in our region.

The project is financed by The Swedish Institute.

The project runs from October 2022 to March 2024.

Background

The educational unit at the Kalmar county museum has for a long time conducted extensive international activities and the educational method of working with time travel has spread throughout the world. It makes it possible to take advantage of Kalmar County Museum's interests and to gain inspiration, monitoring of the world, knowledge and experience from other organisations.

The best-known network is the international association Bridging Ages, which works with applied cultural heritage and time travel methodology and which is based at the Kalmar county museum.