"<< Background >>The context analysis conducted by partners from six European countries within the Eramus+ KA2 project ""MADE - Museum and Art education for Deaf Empowerment"" (2019-2021), concerning the existing services and activities in museums enabling deaf people to learn about art and to be more involved in cultural activities, pointed out that the services offered by museums for deaf visitors are very few and those which do exist, consist mainly of video-guides in sign language. This results in a lack of interaction between deaf visitors and museum staff. The main objective of the MADE project was to train young deaf people as museum guides or facilitators to make culture accessible to a deaf audience. This goal has been achieved, and is still being pursued, through the cooperation between partner organisations and museums participating in the project activities which are still providing the opportunity to the trained young deaf people to become museum guides in their facilities.However, although the awareness of deaf people accessibility in the cultural field has increased, as well as the number of specific projects and available services, there are still challenges to work on in order to make art and culture even more accessible to deaf visitors, as shown below:1. small number of museum workers who know sign language to such a level to be able to welcome and accompany deaf visitors at any time. Generally, access to guided tours for deaf visitors takes place with the support of professional Sign Language interpreters, which is mainly possible on request and can be booked well in advance.2. the lack of specific sign language vocabulary regarding terms in the field of art that can adequately convey the meaning and emotions of the artworks to deaf visitors, in the same way as verbal language for hearing people.The abovementioned issue is further supported by a context analysis of training needs carried out in the ART&SIGNS partnership countries which pointed out that usually museum workers do not know the characteristics of the deaf people and cannot offer their specific services; on the other hand, most of deaf people have limited interaction with museum workers because there are no services adapted to them and workers do not have a proper education/training in this regard.Furthermore, it should be noted that the Sign Languages, much more than verbal languages, are in continuous evolution on the lexical level of enrichment with neologisms. In fact, the more the Sign Language is used in different sectoral contexts, such as in the places of culture, the more it is necessary to know, use and spread the sectoral neological signs. Deaf people are historically known for the excellence of deaf artists who, for decades, were known more by their deaf community than by the hearing community. Today there is a need for their mother tongue, sign language, to be increasingly spread and to collect in one container this lexicon of specific signs derived directly from deaf artists and their many years of hidden silent experience.This approach corresponds to and makes operational the one proposed by the Madrid Declaration ""nothing about us, without us"", which draws attention to the empowerment and self-determination of communities in confirmation of their own identity. It is therefore not a question of mere consensus, but of involvement that is translated into practical terms: lexical competence is recognised for those who use language as a habit of life. Moreover, the subsequent ""European Accessibility Act"" places political emphasis on the need to design and adapt services for the maximum inclusion of persons with different functional profiles for the realisation of the fundamental rights of the UN Charter of Rights of Persons with Disabilities: first and foremost, the right to education (Art. 14).<< Objectives >>In order to address the abovementioned needs, the ART&SIGNS project pursues the following main OBJECTIVES:1.development of an educational model aimed at providing to museum workers specific training allowing them to acquire basic language and technical skills in order to be able to welcome deaf visitors by explaining the meaning of the artworks hosted in their respective museums. In addition to the linguistic aspect, the educational model will transfer knowledge about the deaf culture as an integral part of the communication processes with deaf people. Deaf adults and young people with experience in the field of art and culture will be involved in the development of the curriculum and in the delivery of the training programme. This will promote the inclusion of deaf and hearing people both at social and professional level.2.Collection of the signs/terms related to the cultural and artistic context in video-dictionaries available in app/virtual space. These signs will be discovered and documented with the support of deaf artists in the different sign languages of the involved countries and also in International Signs so to enhancing the transnational inclusion of deaf people. 3.Building of e-learning platform that will host the video-dictionaries as well as teaching and learning materials (OER) developed on the basis of the project Curriculum framework, that will be free of charge available to the museum operators and the deaf community sign language users. This will represent an enrichment of the lexicon of the national sign languages of the countries involved as well as the International Signs. This solution will include the possibility to add new signs autonomously by registered users, making an incremental development of the video-dictionaries possible both during and after the project end.The TARGET GROUPS the project wants to reach through the implementation of the activities are:- Beneficiaries: Museum workers (curators, museum educators, museum docents, front-office employees); Deaf community.- Professionals: Deaf trainers, Deaf artists, trainers sign language users, VET providers.- Stakeholders: deaf associations, museum institutions, organisations and companies dealing with accessibility of various vulnerable groups including physical disabilities, public authorities dealing with disability at different levels.<< Implementation >>•Design of a Curriculum addressed to the museum workers aimed at transferring basic and technical-professional skills on national Sign Language and International Signs, deaf culture knowledge and communication approaches to be used with deaf visitors. The preliminary activity will be a context analysis for understanding the skills gap among museum workers with reference to the interaction with deaf community. The analysis will be carried out through specific digital and technological tools (social media, videos, etc..) allowing to reach and interact more effectively with the deaf community, which is known to use such tools. The results from this analysis will represent the basis for the Curriculum Version 1. (RESULT 01 - CURRICULUM)•Training activity addressed to deaf and hearing trainers sign language users aimed at developing the learning content of the Curriculum addressed to museum workers and define a set of skills and methodologies trainers should acquire in order to teach museum workers. (LTTA).•Development and implementation of a multilingual platform for a virtual video-dictionary space including video-dictionaries collecting sectoral signs related to the art and culture filed. The platform will host the teaching and learning materials developed within the curriculum framework (RESULT 02 – E-learning platform).•Development of innovative educational materials including video-dictionaries meant as a sort of incubators that will gather signs related to the cultural and artistic context in the partner national Sign Languages and International Signs. These signs will be “discovered” with the support of deaf artists and, more generally, deaf community by using appropriate tools that take into consideration their needs (social media, videos, etc...).The partnership will also develop the learning materials based on the learning outcomes expected by the Curriculum (RESULT 3 – OER)•Training pathway addressed to 15 museum workers per country involving deaf artists supported by deaf and hearing trainers with experience in the training contents (art, culture, Sign Language, International Signs, Communication). During the training, the video-dictionaries and OER hosted in the e-learning platform will be used by the trainers and learners.•Systematisation of the signs related to art and culture in the lexicon of national Sign Languages and International Signs.•Setting up of a transnational network of deaf and hearing trainers sign language users, deaf artists and museum operators working together through a dedicated virtual space.<< Results >>MAIN OPERATIONAL RESULTS AND OUTCOMES:-context analysis in six countries for understanding the skills gap among museum workers with reference to the communication with Deaf people; production of knowledge about existing practices of awareness-raising and training addressed to museum staff related to the culture accessibility for Deaf people;-one Curriculum addressed to the museum workers aimed at transferring basic and technical-professional skills on national Sign Language and International Signs, Deaf culture knowledge and communication approaches to be used with Deaf visitors;-acquisition of skills and competence by Deaf and hearing trainers/artists on methodologies and approached to be used for teaching museum workers;-7 video-dictionaries in 6 national sign languages and International Signs, available in app/virtual space, as incubators collecting specific signs related to the cultural and artistic context in the partners national Sign Languages and International Signs; involvement of Deaf artists in the discovery of sectoral signs related to the art and culture;-development of innovative educational resources aimed at training museum workers in national SL, International Signs, sectoral artistic signs and Deaf culture.-Development and implementation of a multilingual e-learning platform for hosting virtual video-dictionary and open educational resources;-6 training courses addressed to museum workers involving Deaf artists, Deaf and hearing trainers experiences in the topic of art, culture, sign language, Deaf culture and communication strategies to be used with Deaf people;-Setting up of a transnational network of Deaf and hearing trainers sign languages users, Deaf artists and museum operators working together through a dedicated virtual space.-Involvement of museum institutions, public authorities, organizations working in the field of art and culture for systematizing project approaches, tools, and methods at operative and policy level;-Improvement of partners’ staff competence in the specific fields targeted by the project;-Setting up of a strong network among partners and between partners and project stakeholders at national level."