On the 9th of December 2021, at the reception hall of Palazzo Tursi, the town hall of Genoa (Italy), the results of the first output of the #AACcessibleculture project – Erasmus+ (N 2020-1-IT02-KA227-SCH-095549) were presented to the city, press, and stakeholders. Participants in the discussion were politicians, technicians, museum conservators, representatives of schools, and associations who brought their expectations and proposals for the implementation of the next project's results.

All the speakers showed great interest in the idea of ​​cultural inclusion that our partnership is pursuing, for all the international partners and all those wasn’t able to be present there was the possibility to follow the discussion online. The representatives of the administration (Piera Castagnacci, Direction of Cultural Marketing Activities and Gianluca Saba - Office Manager International Relations Office - Municipality of Genoa) and the world of culture (Serena Bertolucci - Director of Fondazione per la Cultura di Palazzo Ducale, M.C. De Palma - Conservator of Castello D'Albertis Museo delle Culture del Mondo and S. Maione - Educational and Didactic Services - Municipality of Genoa) have grasped the importance of using the AAC to communicate cultural content and have expressed their intention and willingness to expand the concept of accessibility even to people with communication difficulties. The world of schools (M.C. Costanzi - Head of the Disability Support Office of the Municipality of Genoa, M.E. Tramelli - ICTeglia School Manager) has confirmed the need to implement training courses that involve both school and museum operators to cooperate and make the tools and strategies identified in the research phase concrete and applicable. The world of associations (A.N.G.S.A. Liguria and FAST Cureangelman) is enthusiastic about the project's intention to define guidelines, materials, and tools to improve the methods of visiting for students with special needs in all its phases and aspects.

For the staff of Solidarietà e Lavoro, project coordinator, it was exciting to present a project that talks about culture and inclusion in its city, as these two topics have always been fundamental for the cooperative mission.

During the research phase that has just ended, we noticed a great investment of professionalism and resources to make museums, libraries, theaters, and cinemas more and more accessible from a physical and sensorial point of view. On the other hand, we found out that people who cannot use normal communication channels are often excluded from the understanding of the cultural contents of these structures. Imagine being alone in a foreign country, where everyone speaks a different language, where everything is written in a way that is incomprehensible to you, where even gestures do not have the same meaning. It is from this thought that the AACC project was born. Augmentative and alternative communication provides a set of strategies, techniques, tools, and technologies that contribute to breaking down the communication barriers. If AAC strategies are shared by the various subjects who pursue the inclusiveness of culture, this will make museums and cultural heritage really "open" to each one of us.

In our research, we selected and analyzed 77 projects from all over the world involving the use of AAC or other accessibility tools to overcome communication barriers in different fields, from healthcare to sport, and, of course, in the fields of education and culture. The results were very interesting and confirmed the need to systematize the many good practices that emerged in the various areas analyzed.

At the end of the analysis and systematization phase of the results, we will begin the training phase, which is essential to experiment and exploit what we have highlighted.

Follow the project progress on https://aaccproject.eu/ and the social channels, and do not hesitate to contact us for more information.