The work created jointly by the Madonna Museum and the students is heard in Valencia!

From June 29 to July 1, a meeting of partners in the project TOWCHED - Transforming Our World: Collections at the Heart of Life-long Learning and Education, funded by the European Union program "Horizon Europe", took place in Valencia, Spain.

The leading partner of the project is the University of Valencia and cooperation partners are from Germany, Portugal, Italy, Serbia, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Latvia. Latvia is represented by the Association of Museums of Latvia.

The middle stage of the project and this face-to-face meeting were important, as the partners reported on the tasks completed in the work packages, presented the prepared project to the supervisors of the European Commission.

I represented Latvia both as a representative of the Association of Latvian Museums (LMB) and the Madona Regional History and Art Museum. Why the Madonna Museum? One of the most important works of LMB concerned the implementation, monitoring and compilation of results of pilot projects of museums based on sustainable education. From October 2025 to April 2026, ten Latvian and Spanish museums implemented pilot projects, which, based on the approach of sustainable education and each museum's collection, each chose its own direction. In Latvia, four museums participated in the pilot project implementation phase: Žanis Lipke Memorial (chosen theme – peace and non-violence), Eduards Veidenbaum Museum “Kalāči” (theme – survival and well-being of mankind), Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music (theme – human rights) and Madona Museum of Local History and Art (theme – environmental sustainability). The theme of the Madonna Museum on environmental sustainability was based on the material of the museum's collection about the formation of the city, research, about students walking in the urban environment and comparing history with today, by listening to students' ideas. The pilot project was implemented by Madonna Museum employees Zane Grīnvalde and Signe Prushakeviča, in collaboration with the 3rd grade of Madonna City High School (teacher Līga Riekstiņa) and together with exhibition curator, artist, project co-leader Sara Wenzingeri from Berlin. As a result, the students created urban signs on topics relevant to them that would help create an urban environment that is accessible, inclusive and friendly to all residents. Part of these signs created by the students, together with the results created by the other Latvian pilot projects, traveled to Valencia, where they were exhibited at the express exhibition at the National Museum of Ceramics and Art in Valencia.

I am proud that Latvian museum projects were evaluated, and I am especially happy about the international evaluation of the Madonna Museum pilot project result. The city signs created in the pilot project generated a lot of interest and clearly emphasize the sustainable education approach of museum specialists in cooperation with the educational institution, involving the community and giving a voice to one of the youngest groups of the city's population - students. The visual material of Madonna's pilot project appealed to the designers of the exhibition from Valencia, who created the arrangement, selected the appropriate visual materials (the author of the photographs is Māris Stiprais).

The museum specialists, together with the students and Sara Venzinger, have created an educational program that is based on the museum's collections, specialist knowledge, real knowledge of the urban environment, listening to the students and allowing them to create important signs for themselves in the urban environment, which, in their opinion, improves the well-being of the city's residents. And what the supervisors of the project also emphasized as a great value, the students presented these ideas to the municipality of Madona region, thus being heard. In a way, the pilot project has gone even further outside the cooperation network between the museum and the school. It forms the so-called "Culture HUB" or cultural center.

In the next phase of the project, ten selected European museums (out of more than 30 applications) will implement one of the educational programs created within the framework of the pilot project, including the Madonna Museum.

The implementation of the project will last from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027. The "TOWCHED" project receives funding from the European Union's "Horizon Europe" program under grant agreement 101177736.

Zane GREENWALD

Director of the Madona Regional History and Art Museum

Chairman of the board of LMB

Working hours:

• •Monday: Closed
• •Tuesday: 10:00 – 17:00
• •Wednesday: 10:00 – 18:00
• •Thursday: 10:00 - 17:00
• •Friday: 10:00 - 17:00
• •Saturday: 10:00 – 16:00
• •Sunday: 10:00 – 16:00