FUSION

Cultural literacy is essential for individuals to support acquisition of knowledge, skills and competences needed for effective intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding in European societies traversed by populist and extremist discourses, fear about migration and rising inequality. Existing research has examined the value of cultural literacy in formal and non-formal education. However, there is limited knowledge about the potential benefits of cultural literacy on social cohesion and inclusion. The current policies in Europe commonly have a narrow notion on how to integrate cultural literacy into education policies, which are diverse across countries, and how to implement it in practice. The FUSION project aim is to understand how cultural literacy in Europe can move beyond inclusion and nation-state containers towards diffusion of knowledge and infusion through a transnational and multidisciplinary approach in the different stages of education including in non-formal education that are better suited to capture current dynamics of the increasingly diverse reality of European societies. Building cohesion in Europe and inclusion of disadvantaged groups into the cultural and social life will remain illusory as long as preventing and reversing inequalities in education, overcoming discrimination and making better use of digital technology for learning and for participation in society, are not studied, understood and acted upon. With the complementary multiplicity of its methodologies as well as its multidisciplinary nature and innovative approaches, the project mobilizes expertise of data science, social sciences, humanities and the arts, policy research, local, regional and national partnerships, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, cultural and creative stakeholders to address these urgent challenges.