Echoes of the Past- Heritage Futures. Vocational Educational and Training in Post-Industrial Landscapes

The Echoes of the Past –Heritage Futures. Vocational Education and Training in Post-Industrial Sites (ECHOES) project combines two essential and complementary areas. On the one hand Education and Training and on the other hand Culture and Heritage. If we came to analyse all these areas individually we would soon find various aspects that they have in common. Living in society requires knowledge, the human capital that is passed from one generation to the next one. In order to progress it is important to know and learn with previous experiences. What better way to make progress for the coming generations than contribute to the safeguard of Europe’s cultural heritage? With the ECHOES project we set out to do that through Education and Training by selecting a specific area in the field of Cultural Heritage – the post-industrial landscapes. But why post-industrial landscapes? First, is because landscapes are important to mankind. We live in landscapes, we express ourselves through landscapes, and we transform landscapes… Second, is because the Industrial Revolution was responsible for significant changes in the landscapes and in the way people lived and live until today. A third reason is that when industries finish their useful cycle the industrial landscapes risk simply disappearing. Not only the factories that were built (with all the types of machinery inside) but with it all the social, cultural, economic, and technological conditions that drew out of industrialisations processes. Losing all these references is the equivalent of losing knowledge and a countless number of experiences.ECHOES promotes excellence in industrial heritage education and training, by producing vital knowledge for unemployed people, like ex-workers of industrial units that have recently been closed, school teachers/trainers lacking heritage educational skill, trainers of people with special and professionals working with post-industrial heritage and landscapes. During the project implementation (2015-2017) the ECHOES consortium produced a set of educational material to support professionals, teachers and trainees in active and continuous learning activities using post-industrial heritage and landscapes as a valuable and active trough educational resource:- The ECHOES Methodology Handbook, an overview recommendations and good practice guide on heritage education in post-industrial landscapes.- The ECHOES eLearning Web Quests, a series of web quests setting training tasks according to specific needs of the target groups - The ECHOES Curriculum, for training courses that make use of the industrial heritage as it’s main educational resource.- The ECHOES Competences Matrix, with the specification of level (EQF), learning outcomes linked to the training tasks of the Echoes Quests. - The ECHOES educational resources are all available for use in the ECHOES Open Educational Platform at http://echoes-vet.eu/ The ECHOES partnership is a joint initiative made up of six partners fromfour different countries:Fundação Robinson, Portalegre, Portugalhttp://www.fundacaorobinson.pt/ Elderberyy AB, Hägersten, Swedenhttp://www.elderberry.nu/ Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, Oeiras, Portugalhttp://www.isq.pt/ Stadrarchiv Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austriahttps://stadtarchiv.dornbirn.at Municíoio do Fundão, Fundão, Portugal https://www.cm-fundao.pt/ Culture Coventry Trust, Coventry, United Kingdomhttp://www.culturecoventry.com/