Nonviolent Communication Approach in Museums and Memorial Sites: publication

We would like our compendium to serve the staff of historical museums and memorial sites. It is intended to be used as a practical support in their contact with visitors – mainly with adult visitors, who have a fully formed knowledge of life, history and beliefs – above all when those contacts concern the subject of the Holocaust of European Jews in the 20th century. To reach the broadest possible audience, we publish our work in five languages, Polish, French, Latvian, Macedonian and English – we can read in the introduction to the publication.

In 2019, in the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, we came to the conclusion that our staff needed to strengthen their ability to conduct dialogues with visitors. This particularly related to the many visitors, who came to the Museum’s Resource Center, asking numerous questions about the history of Polish Jews, the history of the Second World War in Europe and Polish-Jewish dialogue. Due to the importance and complexity of these historical events, we were often confronted with our visitors’ emotional reactions.

A communication model, which was developed in the 1960s, came to our aid – Nonviolent Communication (NVC) – came to our aid. This model was developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, a psychologist and social activist.

To the project, which was created in March 2020 and entitled “Nonviolent Communication Approach in Adult Education in Historical Museums and Memorial Sites”, we invited partners who were also facing similar challenges in their professional practices: the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of Macedonia, the Mémorial de la Shoah in France, and the Žanis Lipke Memorial in Latvia.

Read more about the project: Nonviolent Communication Approach in Adult Education in Historical Museums and Memorial Sites – Erasmus+ Programme project (2019-2023) →

In the final publication of our project, various staff members of museums and memorial sites share their experiences when using the NVC model: educators, knowledge centre staff, guides, museum collections curators, database managers, staff working with witnesses to history and institution managers and directors. Many of these people often perform different roles in their activities. They describe their successes and failures in interpersonal contacts. These texts are preceded by a methodological introduction developed by certified NVC trainer, Magdalena Malinowska-Berggren.

We believe that our publication with be helpful and that it will strengthen your communication skills, that it will provide you with hope in moments of doubt and that it may even be a sensational revelation.

The results of our work are available at Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe.

See the publication: Nonviolent Communication Approach in Adult Education in Historical Museums and Memorial Sites – project summary publication (2023) →

Project is co-financed by the European Commission under the Erasmus + program.

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.