Calimera Guidelines

The European Union is committed to making serious inroads into the eradication of poverty and social exclusion. The European Council of Lisbon in March 2000 recognised that the extent of poverty and social exclusion was unacceptable. Building a more inclusive European Union was considered an essential element in achieving the Union's ten-year strategic goal of sustained economic growth, more and better jobs, greater social cohesion and the eradication of poverty. A Community Action Programme was launched, and each of the EU Member States was obliged to prepare and implement a National Action Plan for social inclusion based on the common objectives adopted at the Nice European Council [1]. Some countries also have national social inclusion policies.

The challenge for cultural heritage institutions is to pull together the disparate strands of legislation, influential reports and initiatives and integrate them into their services. Their policies should take account of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [2], the European Convention on Human Rights [3], the European Union Disability Strategy [4] and the Community Action Programme to Combat Social Exclusion 2002-2006 [5].

Cultural heritage institutions are ideally situated to contribute significantly to community regeneration by taking the initiative to reach out to people at risk of social exclusion in their locality and to strengthen the social cohesiveness of their area or region. This involves adopting positive measures for social inclusion, adapting and extending the range of services provided, forming new links and partnerships with the community, and challenging some of their more traditional values and practices. Museums, libraries and archives can support learning, crime reduction, rural development, economic and cultural regeneration, cultural diversity, creativity, re-skilling, eGovernment and democracy, sense of community, citizenship and cultural identity, all of which contribute to social inclusion.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES Back to Scope

This guideline is equally applicable to museums, libraries and archives. There is much scope for co-operation among all three domains.

Archives, generated by individuals, families, businesses or institutions, tell the story of our past, showing us how we came to be what we are as individuals, as communities and as nations. An awareness of history leads to a better understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our culturally diverse heritage. Archives offer contact with historical events through documents, letters, film, recordings, maps, plans, drawings, posters, photographs – the primary sources of history.

Museums, through thoughtful approaches to collection, display, programming and interpretation, can help to engender a sense of belonging for groups which may have been marginalised, encourage mutual respect, understanding and tolerance between different communities, tackle discrimination and challenge the stereotypes that feed intolerance.

Libraries have historically provided people with informational, educational and leisure-related materials and resources. They can now enable people without access to computers to use the Internet for information and communication purposes, provide homework facilities for children from socially excluded families, make virtual services available to housebound and isolated people, and much more. The EU has recognised the contribution libraries can make by funding through the European Social Fund (ESF), the EQUAL programme [6] which tests new ways of tackling discrimination and inequality experienced by people in work and those looking for a job.

Being closer to their communities, local institutions can have a greater impact than national institutions, particularly when they encourage individuals and groups to build their own collections or community archives, or to participate as volunteers. Compared with large national institutions, they can appear less intimidating, and may be less constrained by bureaucratic procedures, enabling them to be more responsive and flexible. Engagement with cultural heritage institutions can potentially impact positively on the lives of people by increasing self-esteem and personal confidence, enabling the learning of new skills, and providing opportunities to explore a sense of identity and belonging.

At risk groups Back to Scope

Some local institutions in Europe already provide services for the following at risk groups, although provision is by no means consistent geographically or by service type or quality:

· disabled people (including people who are temporarily disabled through accident or illness, those with long-term disabling illnesses such as arthritis, those with age-related disabilities, print-disabled people, learning disabled people and people with mental health issues);

· housebound people;

· older people at risk of social exclusion;

· children growing up in at risk families;

· unemployed people;

· people with drug and alcohol problems;

· homeless persons;

· refugees and asylum seekers;

· immigrants;

· ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural minorities;

· people with skills requirements;

· people who left school early;

· rural populations;

· poor people;

· prisoners.

Cultural institutions can further help combat social exclusion by:

· mainstreaming social inclusion as a policy priority within all their services. The organisational culture should be one in which social inclusion can flourish;

· consulting and involving socially excluded groups, both users and non-users, in order to ascertain their needs and aspirations, and positively targeting these;

· locating services wherever there is a demand, but building upon existing facilities and services wherever possible;

· considering the possibilities of co-locating their facilities with other local services;

· providing mobile services to reach people in all outlying areas, staging exhibitions in the community, arranging travelling exhibitions, etc.;

· adopting more flexible opening hours, not necessarily increased opening hours, but tailored to reflect the needs and interests of the community;

· forming partnerships to develop and deliver services;

· providing services for people in institutions e.g. residential accommodation, hospitals and prisons;

· ensuring that collections and exhibitions reflect the cultural, linguistic and social diversity of their local communities, e.g. libraries should ensure they hold books, newspapers etc. in minority languages and alternative formats;

· tailoring services to meet the needs of specific groups;

· redefining the role of staff to include a more socially responsive and educational role;

· changing the image of museums, libraries and record offices to make them more welcoming to socially excluded groups, without alienating traditional users;

· ensuring that the diversity of the local population is reflected in the workforce e.g. recruiting people from ethnic minorities and disabled people;

· making full use of IST (Information Society Technologies) to combat social exclusion.

Use of IST to combat social exclusion Back to Scope

In the modern world it is important for all people to have access to IST facilities, which increasingly pervade every aspect of community life. Some level of IST skill is required in most jobs, and shopping, banking, and many leisure pursuits involve using IST facilities. Local cultural institutions are well placed to narrow the digital divide which exists between those who have and those who do not have access to technology by providing public access to digitised services.

With a high percentage of unemployed, low-income or people of low educational achievement among their inhabitants, disadvantaged neighbourhoods in both urban and rural areas are characterised by low Internet penetration. This has implications for the local economy, and for the general quality of life in these areas, making public access facilities particularly important. (See the guideline on Social and economic development.)

Museums, libraries and archives traditionally collect, preserve and organise items as physical objects. IST enables the creation of digital surrogates which can be organised in different ways e.g. by theme. The cultural heritage of a community can be recorded as an inter-related collection of books, objects, photographs, documents, oral history recordings, film and video footage etc. which can be searched by keyword, subject or free text. This can be a socially inclusive way of providing services as it enables people to use collections in a way that is relevant to their own background and circumstances and so increases their sense of belonging within the community. (See also the guideline on Cultural identity and community cohesion.)

Examples of how IST could be used with at risk groups include:

· IST services can be delivered to people with poor health, either at home or in hospital;

· older people who are no longer educationally or economically active can learn to use IST facilities, or can have services delivered to them if they are housebound;

· children from socially excluded families or living in deprived neighbourhoods can use IST facilities for homework purposes;

· unemployed and unskilled people can use IST facilities to upgrade their skills and to find employment;

· IST services can be used in prisons to help in rehabilitation;

· IST can make available to homeless people facilities usually only available to those with fixed addresses;

· people whose first language is not the main or official language of their country of residence can benefit from online services provided in minority languages;

· the growing population of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Europe often share other criteria of exclusion such as low-income, language barriers, or living in disadvantaged areas. On-line facilities for immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in their native languages can assist them in getting accustomed to their new environment;

· people without personal access to the Internet can use IST facilities to keep in touch with relatives and friends, which helps to keep families together and keeps people from feeling isolated. They can also use IST facilities for leisure purposes such as playing on-line chess, which may seem frivolous but is improving their skills as well as quality of life;

· services can be delivered to disabled people when accessible formats are provided.

Mobile services Back to Scope

Innovative approaches to service delivery can result in a high-quality service being available to everybody, especially where a high proportion of a local or regional population lives in rural areas or small towns. Many people who live in rural areas are affluent, but distance, geographical isolation, poor access to jobs, transport, services and other opportunities compound the problems of at risk groups in rural areas. Mobile services can be used to deliver services such as arts activities, exhibitions, information campaigns and library services to small communities and schools, and to individual homes. Technological developments such as broadband, wireless networks and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) open up many more ways of providing a service to individuals in their own homes or in community centres such as village halls, e.g.

· computers can be carried on mobile vehicles and used to access catalogues and the Internet;

· computers can be taken into people’s homes or residential establishments;

· laptops can be lent to individuals or groups;

· computers, digital cameras, audio equipment etc. can be lent to groups for content creation purposes.

Accessibility issues (see also the guideline on Accessibility in the Technical guidelines section) Back to Scope

It has been estimated that people with disabilities represent 10 to 15% of the total population of Europe. Disabled people are twice as likely as others to have no qualifications; education is not as consistently available, and is often at a lower academic standard than for others, while further and higher education, vocational training and work experience are sometimes less available to them. They are around five times as likely as non-disabled people to be out of work. The identity of disabled people has undergone dramatic change over recent decades. The view of disabled people as valuable citizens with equal rights, who make their own life decisions and choices, continues to gain ground and shows disabled people as part of society and influential in its progress. The culture of social inclusion recognises that disabled people exist, meets their needs and creates a space where they can contribute.

The European Union Treaty Article 13, which recognises the need to combat discrimination against disabled people, provides stimulus for a campaign for full civil rights for disabled people. (See the European Union Disability Strategy [4]. The European Disability Forum [7] is campaigning for a disability specific directive covering access to all services. Cultural heritage institutions must be aware of and comply with European policies, which will influence the development of disability rights in all member states. For example, in the UK, the European Employment Directive 2000/78/EC [8] will have the effect of extending the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 [9] to all employers, regardless of how few employees they have, from 2004.

Accessibility issues for disabled people, i.e. people with physical impairments (reduced mobility, reach, balance, stamina and/or height), sensory impairments (reduced vision and/or hearing), and ‘print-disabled’ people (people with a visual, mental or physical impairment as well as dyslexic persons who encounter difficulties reading conventional print) can be categorised in four main areas:

· physical access (to buildings, service counters, workstations, reading rooms, shelves etc);

· intellectual access (to the content of information carriers, including the availability of alternative format materials, adapted workstations and special software);

· virtual access (to services for those not able to visit the actual building, which can include visits to housebound people as well as digital access);

· and training for staff members in helping disabled people.

Institutions should make accessibility integral to the values of the organisation. When a new service is being planned, or when an existing service is being digitised, then accessibility issues should be considered from the start of the planning stage, and not added on afterwards. However most institutions will be running existing services which they need to bring up to the standards demanded by legislation and guidelines. A useful way to start is to carry out an accessibility audit covering all aspects - building, furniture, equipment, signage, publicity materials, stock, website etc. Audits can be carried out by staff or an outside contractor can be employed to do it. Having a professional audit done can often help in cases of dispute or compensation demands.

It is advisable to involve disabled people from the start if possible, and to consult them regarding their needs and the suitability of the services provided.

If finance is an issue, expenditure on alterations and improvements should be proportionate to the purpose of the service and how it will be used. In most cases institutions are expected to do what is “reasonable” in terms of alteration to buildings etc. Managers should check whether any financial help is available from government. For example there may be VAT or tax allowances for the purchase of some equipment. It may also be possible to get sponsorship from charitable or commercial organisations. Budgeting for disability access should be included in core budgets for refurbishments, stock acquisition, events, publications and exhibitions.

Staff training should include disability awareness, and also specific training in the use of any special equipment, and in dealing with people with specific types of disability. Using technology to provide services to disabled people is dealt with in the guideline on Accessibility in the Technical guidelines section.

Conclusion

Museums, libraries and archives which are run by a local authority can work together with other departments on policies to combat social exclusion. (An example of such a policy might be to enable disabled p