MACU – Making Culture a Powerful Tool of Involving Seniors into Democratic Life

Description

MACU – Making Culture a Powerful Tool of Involving Seniors into Democratic Life is an Erasmus+ partnership coordinated by the University of the Third Age in Toruń, Poland, together with CEREHIS (Slovakia) and Liga Scriitorilor Timișoara Banat (Romania). The project explores how cultural heritage, personal memories and creative participation can bring generations together and encourage older adults to take an active role in community and democratic life. A key contribution from CEREHIS is an intergenerational oral-history initiative developed with the Department of Philosophy at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. In May 2026, university students interviewed older participants about everyday life under socialism in Czechoslovakia, the experience of political and social change, and their understanding of freedom and democracy. Preparatory sessions addressed historical memory, identity, ethical interviewing and the formulation of open-ended questions. The exchange was reciprocal: older participants contributed lived experience while students brought fresh questions and perspectives. The recorded testimonies, available with English subtitles on the MACU YouTube channel, offer history teachers a practical resource for exploring the relationship between personal recollection and historical evidence. Students can compare interviews with archival sources, discuss differing perspectives and develop their own oral-history projects. CEREHIS also organised heritage visits to Štós, Jasov and Barca, combining local history, discussions about religious freedom and civic participation, and a participatory photography workshop. Together, these activities show how intergenerational dialogue can make history education more inclusive, participatory and relevant to contemporary democratic life. Project website: https://macuproject.com/ English-subtitled interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@MACUPROJECT