The legacy café- the holistic benefit of reviving lost arts, crafts and traditional skills through an early childhood intergenerational sustainable skills project

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe aim and focus of the early childhood intergenerational sustainable skill café was to highlight the potential of the lost arts and traditions of our cultural heritage. Kuttner (2015, 70, Educating for Cultural Citizenship: Reframing the Goals for Art Education. Curriculum Inquiry 45 (1): 69–92) argues for education to provide ‘cultural citizenship’ which emphasises the importance of sharing knowledge’s and traditions. Historically, early childhood has always recognised the importance of crafts and an awareness of a community ethos. Langland (2018, Craft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts. New York: W.W Norton and Company) argues for nostalgia or old-fashioned values, with traditional skills to be rekindled and the legacy café offered such opportunity as elderly residents shared their skills, mentoring families reflecting a bi-relational approach. Culture shapes our identity through shared histories and meaning making and at the ‘Earth Summit’ (UNCED 1992, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Agenda 21) it was rightly acknowledged that creativity and crafts are at the heart of cultural sustainability.