Watch now: How young people can use their voice and democratic muscles

On 4 June, DutchCulture, together with Museum Our Lord in the Attic, organised a workshop for libraries, young people, and Dutch heritage institutions as part of the project Democracy as living heritage.

About the workshop
Representatives from libraries and communities from Portugal, Denmark, France, Italy, and Romania met with heritage professionals from the Netherlands and young people to exchange experiences and perspectives. Museum Our Lord in the Attic offered a guided tour through the museum around the topic of tolerance, connected to their unique educational programme called Voices of Tolerance focussed on young people aged 16 to 18.

This workshop was part of The Europe Challenge, a summit organised by the European Cultural Foundation that brought together library workers, community representatives, policy makers and funders, from more than 20 European countries to exchange practices and ideas in response to shared challenges. The summit was inspired by "a call for libraries to be fully recognised as vital infrastructure at the core of Europe's democratic, cultural and civic life."

Voices of Tolerance
The workshop started with a presentation by curator Pieter Jan van Giersbergen on the historical background of the museum and Amsterdam's role in the development of the demoratic values ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘freedom of religion’. This was followed by an introduction from educator Luna Schwirtz, who explained how the Voices of Tolerance programme works in practice and guided the participants through the museum, completing the same excercises as the students who follow the education programme. Together they discussed the differences between tolerance, acceptance, and respect, and engaged in open conversations about these themes.

Democracy Fitness
The afternoon concluded with an interactive session led by Aarhus Library in Denmark. They demonstrated how they use the Democracy Fitness model, which views democracy as a collection of skills that, like muscles, need to be actively trained. During this session, participants focused specifically on curiosity through a series of exercises that encouraged everyone to strengthen this democratic "muscle" and inspired them to become even more curious in their everyday lives.

This workshop will have a follow-up. In fall 2026, libraries and heritage institutions will meet again for an in-depth knowledge exchange to explore how they can strengthen democracy within their organisations by working with their collections, whether books or heritage objects, and their communities.

Keep following us for more updates on the European democracy as living heritage project!