Early Education in Museums for an Inclusive Future

Purpose of the project

Starting in October 2025, Early Education in Museums for an Inclusive Future (MusEdu) is a two-year Erasmus+ project (KA220-SCH – Cooperation Partnerships in School Education) focused on developing museum-based early childhood education services. The project is funded under the Finnish National Agency for Education.

MusEdu promotes inclusive and high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in collaboration with museums. The project designs and implements museum pedagogy-based learning services for preschool-aged children. By combining art-based approaches with design thinking, the initiative supports children’s learning, creativity, active citizenship, and sustainable development.

Partners come from Finland, Italy, Romania, and Norway:

The project includes a network of educational institutions, an association, two universities, museums, and early childhood education providers:

PaCO Design Collaborative from Italy is an international network of design professionals who train members and others to use design and education to promote social innovation and sustainable development.

All Grow Association from Romania collaborates with students, teachers, and supporters to develop community-level change projects.

Two universities are involved: the University of Lapland, with partners from art history and art education, and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design in Norway.

Each of the four partners collaborates with an institution providing early childhood education services:

In Italy: Scuola Dell’infanzia Paritaria “Maria Bambina”

In Romania: Gradinita cu Program Normal Piticot, affiliated with Episcop Dionisie Romano Primary School

In Norway: Tradisjonshåndverk opplæringskontor og Kompetansesenter MiA – Museene i Akershus, located next to a kindergarten

In Finland: Rovaniemi Art Museum, representing the city of Rovaniemi, in collaboration with the North Sámi language nest Davvisámegiela giellabeassi. A language nest is a daycare group for children from minority or Indigenous language backgrounds, where North Sámi is spoken with the children.

Each country thus has a museum and educational service provider working with a local preschool and/or daycare. Each partner emphasizes a specific focus area in the project, such as designing and delivering museum pedagogy content that considers physical, linguistic, social, and economic perspectives.

In Finland, the focus is on long distances in Lapland and supporting minority language and culture. The University of Lapland’s partners—Rovaniemi Art Museum and the North Sámi language nest Davvisámegiela giellabeassi—design and develop educational content and learning materials aimed at supporting children’s Sámi cultural identity and knowledge of Sámi culture. The project also aims to share information about Sámi art, culture, and minority language internationally. At the end of the project, the learning materials will be freely available online and translated into both English and North Sámi.

A key aspect of content creation in the project is collaboration with children and early childhood educators. The project also aims to engage other stakeholders in early childhood education and supporting cultural sectors. Training sessions will be organized for early childhood educators and other project participants. Educators will receive training in museum-based learning methods to strengthen their professional skills.

MusEdu will create an innovative art-based early childhood education curriculum and teacher training to promote museum-based learning. The project will produce a digital open-source resource bank containing virtual exhibitions, success stories, and a gamified museum adventure to complement the curriculum. This approach promotes inclusive and sustainable education, strengthens preschoolers’ critical skills, and deepens collaboration between schools and museums.