Museums have a pivotal role to play as agents of change and inclusion. In this presentation, we focus on how to foster inclusive adult education to create a mindset of equal access and non-discrimination, aiming at inclusive employment in the cultural sector. Drawing on the work of an EU funded project completing in 2024, titled INCLUDED, we will delve deeper into how museum HR departments can deliver an ecosystem innovative framework for inclusive employment specifically targeting adults with disabilities, based on open innovation and the Living Labs paradigm.

This presentation draws on the findings of a transnational Erasmus+ research project I developed and awarded funding for, titled "INCLUDED: Promoting Inclusive Employment in the GLAM Sector through Open Innovation".
This 24- month project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (EU), involves 6 partner countries from Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Lithuania.

The INCLUDED project promotes social inclusion and aims at improving the outreach to people with fewer opportunities, especially people with disabilities, in particular people with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), through a proactive, open innovation approach for inclusive employment in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums (GLAM) sector. INCLUDED brings together adult professionals in the GLAM sector, adults with ASD, advocacy support groups for human rights, and relevant stakeholders to achieve this goal.

The presentation focusses on:
- Guide for Inclusive employment designed following primary and secondary research in the partner countries of the project.
- Toolkit for HR departments, adult educators and cultural professionals, with museum learning scenarios for inclusive and accessible professional development of adults with disabilities.
- Blended learning course for inclusive employment, addressed to adults with disabilities.
- Living Labs handbook: establishment of inclusive living labs in communities with museums and stakeholders.

The INCLUDED ecosystem described, is transferable and scalable, as a path to design forward looking centres fostering inclusive employment. The findings of this 2 year project, suggest that it has potential to impact the lives iindividuals with disabilities, local communities and museums, creating new frontiers for equal recruitment procedures towards inclusive employment and non-discrimination in Europe and beyond.

Key takeaways:
-practical strategies to foster equal access and non-discrimination strategies for inclusive
employment in the cultural sector
- access toolkits and blended learning courses dedicated for professional development and training of cultural professionals/HR staff and people with disabilities
- improve their understanding of open innovation paradigm and the Living Labs concept for use towards accessibility, inclusion and community engagement

Keywords: Inclusive education, inclusive employment, museum education, digital competencies, culture.