DISC – Concluded the first cycle of pilot sessions in the Multisensory Space in Palermo
Fostering digital skills, active citizenship and social inclusion among social disadvantaged groups, these are some of the objectives, the DISC project aims to achieve through its activities.
In this context, two best practices will be adapted and transferred to the local context of the five partner countries, Finland, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and Italy: The Multisensory Space methodology and the SMART self-assessment tool.
Testing the Multisensory Space in Palermo
Between November 2019 and January 2020, the first workshop in the Multisensory Space testing this innovative best practice has been taking place in Palermo. The space fosters a deeper processing of information through non-formal learning providing the audience with a multisensory experience, including not only the audio-visual senses, but also the tactile and gustatory senses.
The Palermitan Multisensory Space has been created at CESIE’s office and has been experimented with by seven participants from different countries, among them Chile, Colombia, Gambia, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Italy. In the three-months-long course, and with the help of CESIE’s facilitators, they chose a topic and created their own digital projects to be presented in the space at the final event, in which CESIE’s Multisensory Space has been officially inaugurated.
The inauguration of CESIE’s Multisensory Space
On Friday, the 14th of January 2020, the Multisensory Space at CESIE’s office has been officially inaugurated with the workshop participants’ presentations. During the event, the chosen topics have been as diverse as participants themselves: Some took the audience on a journey from Palermo to South America, inviting them to get to know the Chilean civil movement or learn about Colombia’s cultural, climatic and natural diversity, while one participant presented a make-up study, presenting the role of make-up, especially lipstick, in our self-presentation. One group presented the created blog, called “The Map of the Neo-Palermitan”, a useful instrument for everybody, who has just arrived to the city and wants to get useful information on health services, education and language courses, cultural events and exchanges or meeting points as well as useful links related to educational offers, workshops and work opportunities.
For their presentations, all groups additionally chose photos and music as well as brought personal objects and home-made food into the space, in order to create the right atmosphere and invite the audience on a multisensory journey.
Next steps
The piloting of the Multisensory Space methodology in the different countries will go on for the first half of 2020. At the same time the DISC partnership is adapting the second-best practice, the SMART self-assessment tool, to the different local needs, preparing it for the piloting phase.
