Concept for the Arts and Crafts Book
Karlskrona Municipality and the Swedish National Property Board cooperate on developing Karlskrona as a tourist destination. They wanted to develop a product that promotes available and child friendly things to do and see in the municipality of Karlskrona, including World Heritage attractions.
A similar effort had been done in Mörbylånga Municipality and this Art & Crafts Book was used as an inspiration when creating the book for Karlskrona. Through the Art & Crafts Book children, and their parents, can discover Karlskrona and its World Heritage in an easy and fun way.
Development Process
The Art & Crafts Book for Kalmar/Öland was agreed to be used as inspiration for the Karlskrona version. A group was formed with representatives from the DUNC-project, Karlskrona Municipality (World Heritage Coordinator), the Swedish National Property Board, Visit Karlskrona, the City Hosts, the Naval Museum and Blekinge Museum to help design the content of the book. Local company Infab was engaged for the layout.
Several meetings between these stakeholders during two months resulted in a beautiful Art & Crafts Book for children aged 6-11 years.
Stakeholders
- The DUNC-project (Sofie Dahl)
- Karlskrona Municipality (World Heritage Coordinator Elena Peverada)
- The Swedish National Property Board (Marlene Bergström)
- Visit Karlskrona (Therese Hagström Andersson)
- The Naval Museum (Veronica Westerblom)
- Blekinge Museum (Maja Heuer)
- The City Hosts (Carl-Axel Ottosson)
The Product
The Art & Crafts Book Elis Äventyrsresa i Karlskrona (Eli’s Adventure Journey in Karlskrona) is designed for children aged 6-11 years and aims at promoting available and child friendly things to do and see in the Municipality of Karlskrona, including several World Heritage attractions.
The book is 16 pages long and includes information on sustainability, equality and the importance of taking care of natural and cultural heritages.
It is printed on environmental friendly paper, it has the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and encourages users to recycle it.
The book is available for visitors and inhabitants for free at two local museums (the Naval museum and Blekinge museum) and at the tourist information office. Schools are encouraged to use the book as educational material, it provides a fun and easy way for children to learn more about the history of Karlskrona and its World Heritage.
Sustainability
The book has contributed to the fulfilment of the Global Goals, specifically to targets 11.4 Protect the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage and target 12.8 Promote Universal Understanding of Sustainable Lifestyles.
It is printed on environmental friendly paper, it has the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and encourages users to recycle it.
Furthermore a gender neutral character with a unisex name, Eli, was chosen as the central figure in the Karlskrona Art and Crafts Book for children. In that way both girls and boys are able to identify themselves with the main character. The aim was also to keep a balance in the book between women and men of great importance in the history of Karlskrona.
Piloting
A draft of the Art & Crafts Book was tested by Infab on children at a local school in Karlskrona. The response was very good.
Evaluation
During June-November 2020 a survey was conducted for the Art & Crafts Book. Testers were encouraged to fill in the survey and get the chance of winning a gift card worth 50 € in Karlskrona City.
Costs
Layout work Infab: 15 000 €
Printing cost 23 000 copies, Mixiprint: 7000 €
Lessons Learned
The process of choosing what material to include in the book was a quite challenging process. A small group is preferable, but it is also a good idea to later consult many people about the historical details.
Relevance to Other Sites
To create an Art & Crafts Book for children is relevant to all the World Heritage sites around the south Baltic Sea, and also to other sites of course. The book gives the opportunity for children, and their parents, to discover a site and its cultural and/or natural heritage in a fun and easy way.
Through this concept the product can easily be adapted to other locations than Karlskrona. Within the DUNC project similar initiatives were carried out also in Stralsund and in Wismar.
The Art & Crafts Book and the Global Goals
The Art & Crafts Book has contributed to the Global Goals targets 11.4 Protect the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage and 12.8 Promote Universal Understanding of Sustainable Lifestyles.
