Cēsis Municipality Launches Project for More Inclusive and Accessible Culture

We are pleased to announce that, with support from the European Regional Development Fund, Cēsis Municipality will carry out a three-year project to make cultural activities more accessible to socially vulnerable groups and to improve accessibility and create more inclusive environment at six cultural heritage sites across the municipality.The project will make it possible to continue and further develop the “Museums on Prescription” programme, introduced in Cēsis Municipality as a pilot initiative within the Interreg Baltic Sea Region project “Arts on Prescription” (2023–2025).

The existing cooperation with the Cēsis Municipality Social Service, Cēsis Clinic and the Senior Care home of the Līgatne Rehabilitation Centre will continue, and a new partnership will also be formed with the Cēsis residential care home.
The programme aims to enhance social inclusion and mental wellbeing through participation in cultural and artistic activities, engaging people at risk of socioeconomic exclusion who may otherwise have limited access to culture due to practical barriers, personal circumstances or social prejudice.

Building on the Arts on Prescription approach already piloted in Cēsis Municipality, the programme will be expanded with new activities based on museum collections and the transmission of traditional craft skills at the museums and cultural heritage sites involved in the project. Participants will also have opportunities to experience professional art, including contemporary art. Artists and other creative professionals from the fields of visual arts, theatre, music, poetry, literature and related disciplines will contribute to the programme.

During the three-year period, four programme cycles are planned each year, with each cycle comprising 12–16 activities. Activities will take place at six cultural heritage sites in Cēsis Municipality: Cēsis Medieval Castle, Cēsis New Castle, the Cēsis Exhibition Hall, the Eduards Veidenbaums Museum “Kalāči”, the Kaudzīši Memorial Museum “Kalna Kaibēni” and Lielstraupe Castle.

As the programme expands, activity leaders – including museum staff, artists, craftspeople and other professionals involved in developing new activities – will receive training to strengthen their skills and preparedness for engaging with socially vulnerable groups. The training will focus on psychological support, inclusion and diversity managing, while also introducing internationally recognised arts and cultural methods for different target groups, including Andrew Greenwood’s dance-based approach for older people with chronic health conditions.
The project will also further develop the collection and evaluation of “Museums on Prescription” programme results, contributing to a reliable evidence base on the positive contribution of museums and cultural participation to mental wellbeing and social inclusion.

To make the Arts on Prescription approach more widely available in Cēsis Municipality and across Latvia, the project will organise experience-sharing seminars for museum professionals and specialists working in the cultural, health and social sectors. This will help build the capacity needed to introduce the approach in other communities.

The project is also expected to create a basis for a national competence centre for culture and health at the Eduards Veidenbaums Museum “Kalāči”, to be run by the NGO “Culture and Health”. The centre would provide training, professional support and knowledge exchange and help develop new partnerships and spread the approach across Latvia.
Alongside the “Museums on Prescription” programme, the three-year project will also improve accessibility at cultural heritage sites and develop other inclusive cultural activities, including wellbeing residencies and the arts, music and poetry festival “Veidenfests” for young people, as well as a dedicated cultural programme for Latvian diaspora and returnee families.

Project “Enhancing the Role of Culture and Tourism in Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Social Innovation in Cēsis Municipality” is being implemented by Cēsis Municipality with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund.

Programme Manual Online

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