The Ostrobothnian Children’s Culture Network BARK celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. From the beginning, international collaboration has been a crucial part of our work. We have undertaken countless projects on heritage education, Time Travels, and intangible heritage in education with partners from Europe, Africa, and America. Sometimes people ask us why we do this. Wouldn’t it be easier to just work within our region? After all, international collaboration requires writing applications, being flexible, investing time, and engaging in discussions, usually in English.
We live in an increasingly international world. Diversity is evident in our communities and societies, with people from various backgrounds speaking different languages. This diversity is also visible in the children’s culture field, particularly in Ostrobothnia.
A New Perspective
When we began our work in 2009, we identified heritage education as a development field in children’s culture. Time Travels quickly became part of this initiative. Since Time Travels were relatively uncommon in Finland at that time (with only a few organizations involved), we naturally looked beyond our borders. We joined the newly founded international network, Bridging Ages, which focused on heritage education and Time Travels. During our first ten years, most of our international collaborations stemmed from partners we met through this network, especially since I was the president of Bridging Ages from 2015 to 2019. This involvement led to many international projects and collaborations on heritage education and Time Travels. Working with European, American, and particularly African partners brought many new insights and perspectives to our work. For instance, the Time Travel methodology has evolved from being a history lesson about the past to a method where the past and present meet, providing a platform for discussions and reflections on both yesterday and today. Heritage and history are not only about the past; they are also about the present.
Working with societies where democracy is newer and where society is still being shaped can enhance our reflections on our own society. It can introduce new ways of working with heritage, museums, and history. It can bring new types of partners with fresh perspectives. Sometimes, we become fixed in our own world, but international collaboration forces us to think outside the box and see things from a different viewpoint. Our work with history and heritage would be different if we hadn’t collaborated with partners in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda.
Benefits and Challenges
International projects provide opportunities to address challenging topics. How do you deal with migration, both past and present, in America, Africa, and Europe? How do you handle difficult history and heritage? How do you include diverse groups of children in culture and heritage activities? What role does intangible cultural heritage play in education? These have all been topics of various projects we have worked on over the years, often in collaboration with our Nordic and Baltic neighbours, as well as Germany, Poland, Spain, France, and Romania.
In recent years, we have participated in Erasmus projects with very contemporary themes, such as creating digital tools and programs in heritage education and exploring how heritage and the history of a place can assist youth in rural areas. Through these projects, we have received funding to develop new models for working with children and youth, which we otherwise wouldn’t have had. These projects have also provided us with new perspectives, which are very valuable when working with a diverse community, as is evident in our region today.
For BARK, international work has brought methods and models for our work with children’s culture. The global pandemic also introduced us to many new digital tools, allowing us to work remotely with distant partners. However, international work also takes time and can be frustrating, as working cultures and customs differ, and project goals can be interpreted in many ways. You must be flexible and willing to challenge your viewpoints and see the world from another angle. You can’t assume everyone will understand you immediately. Some projects are just projects, but then there are those where different cultural perspectives create new methods or models that go beyond the norm. Being part of such transformative work is very exciting, creative, and rewarding!
Annina Ylikoski
Coordinator, The Ostrobothnian Children’s Culture Network BARK
Photo: The international work has taken us to far away places, here at the Finland embassy in Pretoria South Africa 2016.
