Le ville e i giardini medicei rappresentano un vero e proprio microcosmo attorno a cui ruota la vita di corte. In questi luoghi i Medici prima, i Lorena e i Savoia poi si dedicarono alle proprie passioni: l’arte e il mecenatismo, la vita nella natura e la caccia, la convivialità a corte e la buona tavola. Per la ricchezza di arredi, motivi decorativi e tecniche artigianali custodiscono veri e propri tesori, testimonianze materiali delle arti minori del nostro territorio.
Stazione Utopia, in collaborazione con il Polo Museale della Toscana, propone una serie di attività ricreative e di formazione, laboratori e visite guidate finalizzate a far conoscere la storia e le opere conservate nelle ville e nei giardini, attraverso metodologie inclusive e una varietà di tematiche e approcci pensati per pubblici sempre più articolati e differenziati: dalle scuole, agli adulti, alle persone con bisogni educativi speciali.
A partire dalle potenzialità offerte dalle lavagne interattive, si propongono lezioni frontali in cui grazie a diversi supporti (video, interviste, immagini, rendering) si illustrano temi di ampia portata e vasto respiro.
ERASMUS+ STUDY VISITS ABROAD FOR YOUNG ADULTS
AND THEIR EDUCATORS
ERASMUS+ Study Visits (KA121-ADU) is an annual mobility programme for training and professional development abroad aimed at teaching staff and learners experiencing socio-economic or cultural disadvantage.
The partnership consists of Stazione Utopia (coordinator), Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino, Diskolè APS, and CPIA Firenze 1.
The following organisations participated in the project in previous years:
Ass. Anelli Mancanti, Arci Comitato Regionale, Consorzio Martin Luther King, Li-MO Linguaggi in Movimento, CPIA 2 Miriam Makeba Firenze.
The project is co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme.
Project code: 2020-1-IT02-KA120-ADU-095109
> MARSEILLE, FRANCE
During the study visit, we took part in the AFLAM Arab Film Festival, participating in activities, meetings, and exchange sessions focused on cultural mediation, including: a film production workshop conducted with inmates at Les Baumettes Prison; a meeting with the Head of Education and Mediation at the MUCEM; and a Migrantour city tour exploring immigrant communities in Marseille.
>> Location: Marseille, France
>> Period: 29 March – 4 April 2022
>> 10 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 7 learners (adults in education), including AMIR cultural mediators and students from CPIA 1 Torino
> ZARAGOZA, SPAIN
During the study visit, we took part in the seminar organised by the Faculty of Arts “Jornadas de mediación cultural y cultura comunitaria”, engaging in activities, meetings, and exchange sessions on cultural mediation. The programme focused on community arts practices and explored experiences of social inclusion through culture and heritage.
>> Location: Zaragoza, Spain
>> Period: 7–13 November 2022
>> 4 learners (adults in training), AMIR cultural mediators
>> 3 educators from the AMIR project
> MADRID, SPAIN
PORCHLIGHT
SHOW TIME LOUNGE
New York City
During the study visit, we participated in a programme of activities coordinated by Amecum, an association working in cultural mediation and community-based projects. Throughout the visit, we developed a critical reflection on the role of the cultural mediator, further strengthening our understanding of practices in contexts at risk of social exclusion.
>> Location: Madrid, Spain
>> Period: 14–20 May 2023
>> 7 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 8 learners (adults in training), including AMIR cultural mediators and students from CPIA 1 Torino
Visit Diskolè APS page!
> BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
The programme included activities and visits to museums and urban spaces focused on migration as a historical and social phenomenon, involving both Italian communities in Belgium and more recent African migration. The visit featured meetings with museum representatives and organisations working in intercultural training, museum tours, urban walks, as well as a visit to the European Parliament.
>> Location: Brussels, Belgium
>> Period: 5–11 May 2024
>> 8 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 113 learners (adults in training), including AMIR cultural mediators and students from CPIA 1 Torino
> MADRID, SPAIN
During the visit to Madrid, the AMIR mediator was hosted by the Museo Situado network, a collaborative network between groups and associations in the Lavapiés district and the Museo Reina Sofía.
She writes: I visited several local collectives and met different social groups working together on interconnected projects addressing the social and cultural issues of Madrid, particularly in the Lavapiés district. I presented the AMIR project during a workshop, and together with Museo Situado we worked on future cultural alliances between the AMIR project and Museo Situado. For the first time, I felt like I belonged to the European Union.
>> Location: Madrid, Spain
>> Period: 16–19 May 2024
>> 1 learner (adult in training), AMIR cultural mediator
> MALTA
During the visit to Malta, the AMIR mediator attended an English language school. The course lasted two weeks, starting on 19 August and ending on 31 August.
She writes: I left Italy with school-level English and returned after two intense weeks with more self-confidence and an A2 English certificate. This experience gave me the courage to believe in myself, so once back home I never stopped studying. Now I have English skills at B1 level and a strong desire to improve.
>> Location: Malta
>> Period: 17 August – 1 September 2024
>> 1 learner (adult in training), AMIR cultural mediator
> AMERSFOORT, NETHERLANDS
During the visit, an initiative jointly organised by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Rome, the Cultural Participation Fund, the National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts (LKCA), and DutchCulture, we were hosted by several Dutch organisations. The meetings aimed to foster mutual inspiration and exchange, further develop existing partnerships, and explore new collaborations in the fields of arts, culture, and social work.
>> Location: Amersfoort, Netherlands
>> Period: 19–23 November 2024
>> 2 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
> MADRID, SPAIN
During the study visit, we will take part in a programme of activities coordinated by Museo Situado / Museo Reina Sofía, a network of associations and communities of people of foreign origin living and working in the Lavapiés district of Madrid. The Museo Situado is a permanent assembly that organises awareness-raising initiatives, activism, and training activities for local communities.
>> Location: Madrid, Spain
>> Period: 4–10 May 2025
>> 3 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 2 learners (adults in training)
> ZARAGOZA, SPAIN
During the study visit, we will take part in a programme of cultural mediation and participation activities, in which the University of Zaragoza is a partner. We will meet a network of associations and communities of people of foreign origin living and working in Zaragoza, and we will learn about participation projects promoted by the community of Épila.
>> Location: Zaragoza, Spain
>> Period: 22–25 May 2025
>> 2 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 7 learners (adults in training)
> ATHENS, GREECE
During the study visit, in collaboration with Scola Society, we followed adult education activities, meetings, and exchange sessions on cultural mediation, deepening our understanding of practices in contexts at risk of social exclusion. We also had the opportunity to meet curators from contemporary art and ethnographic museums, museum educators, and mediators of non-European origin, as well as visit major sites and museums of the city.
>> Location: Athens, Greece
>> Period: 15–20 October 2025
>> 2 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 7 learners (adults in training)
> BERLIN, GERMANY
During the study visit, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Multaka Networks, we took part in meetings and panel discussions that allowed us to deepen our understanding of cultural mediation practices and to gain insight into ongoing transformations in the museum sector. We also reconnected with colleagues, met new partners, organised and participated in workshops, followed discussions, and joined guided tours in some of the city’s most renowned museums.
>> Location: Berlin, Germany
>> Period: 04–07 December 2025
>> 3 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 4 learners (adults in training)
> LISBON, PORTUGAL
During this study visit, in collaboration with Museu Nacional de Etnologia and Museu de Arte Popular, the group took part in urban walks focused on the theme of slavery and the presence of African people in Portugal’s history. We also engaged in exchange sessions exploring approaches that value the plurality of cultural perspectives and non-European knowledge systems. Meetings with museum curators, cultural mediators, and activists of non-European origin allowed us to reflect on decolonial practices in museum work and in public space.
>> Location: Lisbon, Portugal
>> Period: 23–28 March 2026
>> 3 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 5 learners (adults in training)
> FLORENCE, ITALY
The guest for this study visit was Katarzyna Žák-Caplot from the Museum of Warsaw, head of the museum’s library and coordinator of projects aimed at people with migrant and refugee backgrounds, as well as a language lecturer and researcher in applied linguistics. During the visit, we shared meetings, workshops, and visits, exploring tools, practices, and methodologies for developing participatory language projects in museums and approaches to transcultural heritage mediation.
We also had the opportunity to meet museum educators, researchers, and students of cultural mediation in different contexts, including MAD Murate Art District within the framework of the Master’s Degree in Transcultural Mediation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Florence (SAGAS), the Museo di Orsanmichele with a guided visit in LIS (Italian Sign Language), and, within the AMIR project, the Rothko exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi.
>> Location: Florence
>> Period: 25 April – 11 May 2026
>> 1 educator (community educator, volunteer, teacher)
> ZARAGOZA, SPAIN
During the study visit, we participated in a programme of cultural mediation and participation activities organised by the University of Zaragoza, within the framework of the Laboratory on Cultural Rights and Cultural Diversity. We then took part in a seminar dedicated to glottophobia, linguistic justice, and processes of linguistic rationalisation, as well as a workshop focused on the theory and methods of linguistic intercomprehension. The visit concluded with a meeting with a network of associations and communities of people of foreign origin living and working in Zaragoza, offering an important opportunity for exchange on the dynamics of inclusion and intercultural participation in the local context.
>> Location: Zaragoza, Spain
>> Period: 11–16 May 2026
>> 8 educators (community educators, volunteers, and teachers)
>> 15 learners (adults in training), including AMIR cultural mediators, students from CPIA 1 and 2 Firenze, and students from Diskolé APS
Progetto co-finanziato dall'Unione Europea nell'ambito del programma Erasmus+
