Partner – The Sapieha Palce
Location – Vilnius
Since 2025
Language Bridging Cultures was a cultural education initiative aimed at reducing language barriers and increasing access to cultural education for people living in Lithuania whose first language was not Lithuanian. The project created opportunities for linguistic minorities, migrants and refugee communities to participate more actively in the country’s cultural life. Educational activities included in-person sessions for school students and seniors, online programmes and initiatives that brought cultural content beyond museum walls. Museum education sessions and exhibition tours were delivered in simplified, plain Lithuanian (A2–B1 level), enabling museum visitors to engage meaningfully even without advanced language skills. As a result, cultural experiences became more accessible and fostered dialogue, self-expression, and confidence.
A key component of the project focused on strengthening educators’ competencies. More than 40 educators from museums, galleries, and non-governmental organisations took part in training sessions and consultations led by plain language specialists from Vilnius University. These sessions explored how to simplify communication without compromising content quality or depth. The outcome of this process was a set of practical plain language guidelines, which were integrated into the ongoing staff training programmes at the Sapieha Palace and made publicly available.
Language Bridging Cultures not only enhanced linguistic inclusion within the cultural sector but also helped build more sustainable relationships between cultural institutions and linguistically diverse communities. By equipping educators with new tools and creating safe, open learning environments for visitors, the project contributed to the development of more empathetic, inclusive, and accessible cultural education practices in Lithuania.
During the project:
Over 170 participants (museum, gallery, cultural institution workers, community consultants, school students took part in the project activities
Project activities included educational activities of different formats (online, on-site, mobile, off-site workshops for different audiences and age groups (children, teens and students, and adults)
Project activities included 3 educator’s training workshops and 8 educational sessions for both children and elderly adults
Educators who participated in the project’s seminars and training sessions reported a significant improvement in their ability to communicate more effectively with visitors whose mother tongue is not Lithuanian