Crossroads in history

Crossroads in History (CROSSROADS) is a collaborative project between the Kalmar county museum and cultural heritage institutions in Lithuania, Poland and Germany and Klaipèda University in Lithuania. The project is financed by Interreg South Baltic. The goal of CROSSROADS is to strengthen regional identity through the use of the time travel methodology, which has been used by the participants within the project to explore the socio-economic phenomenon of migration.

The time travel method is a pedagogical method that the Kalmar county museum developed in the 1980s and which has spread throughout the world. It is an educational method that uses local places and stories to create an understanding of people and living conditions in the selected cultural environment. Past, present and future are connected in a learning process that includes time travel (role play). The time travel methodology has been used to better understand the challenges in modern society in the Baltic Sea region today by highlighting these challenges from a historical perspective. The focus has been on the shared history of the participating countries, which includes several major and minor population movements over the centuries.

Cultural heritage has been used within the project to contribute to better social cohesion in the southern Baltic region today. The main result of the project is a strengthened capacity of all partners in the Time Travel Methodology as well as in intercultural cooperation and the establishment of a regional network of museums. Within the project, each partner has carried out time travel and participated in the compilation of a manual on the time travel methodology. Several project partners have chosen to continue their collaboration within the project Baltic Sea Time Travels for Community Building (BSTT).

The period of the project

June 2018 – November 2021

Project website

Website for the project Crossroads in history 

Project owners and partners

Lead Partner is the Kalmar County Museum. Other Partners are Klaipèda University, Lithuania, European Solidarity Centre, Poland, National Museum in Gdansk, Poland, Gargzdai Land Museum, Lithuania, Hanseatic City of Wismar-Historic Museum of Wismar, Germany and Associated Partner Klaipeda Municipality History Museum of Lithuania Minor, Lithuania .