ICARE milestone: Three key framework sources now available

A major milestone in the ICARE project has been reached: the research and methodological work that will support the next phases of the project is now complete. Over the past months, the four partner organisations have combined theoretical research, policy analysis and consultations with adults with migrant backgrounds and educators to shape the ICARE approach. The result is three connected sources, now available to read, download and reuse.

ICARE Theoretical and Policy Framework is the thinking behind the approach. Members of all four partner organisations contributed chapters on European policies that treat participation in cultural life as a right rather than a courtesy; on cultural and linguistic mediation and the changing role of the museum educator; on translanguaging in adult education and museum spaces; on participation and community engagement as a question of who holds authority over what heritage means; and on the competencies educators need in participatory work, drawing on the example of the AMIR project. A closing chapter brings these strands together and considers what they mean for participatory cultural and educational practice.

Target Group Consultations Analysis summarises what we heard between March and June 2026 from field research with 38 adults with migrant backgrounds and 14 educators from cultural, heritage and art institutions in the partner countries. Much of it is practical. Time, cost, transport, childcare and unclear information keep people away even when the interest is there, and trust takes time to build. Learners said they want to share what they know, not only to learn, and to see that their contribution matters. Cultural and artistic activities also emerged as spaces for social connection, confidence and wellbeing, and in some cases as a way of developing skills or ideas that could extend into professional life. Educators described the same shift from their side: from delivering activities to facilitating a process, and the time, resources and institutional support this requires.

ICARE Participatory Education Model is the document for anyone planning a participatory project in a museum, gallery, library, community centre or adult education programme. It sets out the preliminary principles of the approach and introduces the Participatory Cultural Project Canvas, a planning tool that asks not only what will happen in a project, but who decides, in which languages, and what continues after the project ends.

All three outputs are published under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY 4.0) and can be freely used, adapted and quoted with attribution.

Now the framework has to prove itself in practice. The international Art Camp in Warsaw in spring 2027 and the four participatory cultural projects that will follow in the partner countries will test it together with adults with migrant backgrounds. What we learn there will feed into the practical manual planned as the project’s practical experience and final result.