"Culture is the social use of knowledge". Gabriel García Márquez.
"Culture is the sum of all the forms of art, love and thought which, over the centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved". André Malraux.
"Only he who knows is free, and the freer, the more he knows. Do not proclaim the freedom to fly, but give wings". Miguel de Unamuno.
Born of exchange.
From the contribution of different generations.
From constant dialogue.
From the continuous transaction of teaching and learning experiences.
From the decantation of history.
This is how culture arises, as a legacy and as a responsibility. As an alliance with the past, the present and the future. As a means of permanently enriching our inner life and our social commitment.
For this reason, the project Programme for a Longe-lived Society wanted to start its activity "Looking for Answers" with the applied research "The senior public in a cultural offer for all". This research, in turn, forms part of the initiative "Together we give more life to Zamora", within the area dedicated to Culture, one of the ten that make up its action plan.
To carry out the activity, a procedure was adopted which was as innovative as it was essential. Far from setting up a cultural action isolated from the environment, closed and unalterable, the proposal of our research was the result of dialogue and constant interaction with its potential participants. In this way, a dynamic, constantly changing, integrating and inclusive offer took shape. Connected from the outset with the interests of the preferential public we wished to address, without segmentation or discrimination of any kind.
Through this constant collaborative exercise, the specific cultural action to be developed was chosen, while at the same time, for its execution and also in a collaborative way, a new didactic methodology was designed and implemented. Accessible to all. Entertaining. Attractive. Imaginative. Creative. With a vocation to generate a spirit of community and belonging among all the participants. And, at the same time, of intergenerational connection and liaison; in short, a joint journey, adapted daily to the suggestions and needs of the participants. A cultural experience of action, construction and participation, endowed with mechanisms of constant evaluation, with the aim of generating protocols of cultural action that can be replicated in other national and international environments.
In this context, the cultural action Nativity Scenes of the World was born: in line with the long tradition of Nativity Scenes in the city of Zamora; linked to what has already been carried out annually in the city, but at the same time providing an experience as singular as it is exceptional, the culmination of which was the exhibition of an extraordinary international exhibition of Nativity Scene art, crowning a project which, in the light of the initial estimates, can be described as successful for all its participants who - between the on-site and online events - numbered more than 16,000.
The research "The senior public in a cultural offer for all" will soon complete its evaluation process, which will give rise to the mandatory report that can be consulted in its entirety to know in detail the phases, methodology and elements implemented in the entire project, as well as its definitive conclusions-learnings.
The research "The senior public in a cultural offer for all" is part of the project Programme for a long-lived society in the framework of the INTERREG V-A Programme, Spain-Portugal, POCTEP, 2014-2020, of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).