Mapping the cultural resources of the neighbourhood and guided tours help women to create bonds and to encourage them to express what they wish to do in their leisure time, with other peers or their family. Sometimes cultural activities are perceived like something extra, money constraints make the cultural activities not a priority in their daily lives but, in fact, cities are plenty of free cultural and educational resources. To visit the centres and receive a friendly welcome encourage migrant women to use the cultural resources later on their own.
InCommon project in Spain carried out three visits to museums and cultural centres in the city of Santander. All the tours were decided by women themselves after mapping the city and discuss about their interests. Family members and children were also invited to join the visits.
The interventions included a guided visit to the Centro Botín (art centre), the Cultural Center “Los Arenales” (public library) and the Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria of Prehistoric Art. The visit to all the centres was guided and personalised not only to promote cultural discussion and exchange of perspectives but also to show the free resources they can use: free entry pass, access to digital media and internet, study rooms with computers, books and film loan, free activities for children, cinema, etc.).
The visits can be applied to levels 2 and 3 of the Cultural Citizenship Scale that means migrant women active in the communities where they live however, these contacts are not directly related to the expression of their own needs or do not respond to an explicit cultural awareness. It is usually a passive participation in which the initiative does not arise from the woman and the culture of the host community can be perceived as strange or distant to their personal interests.
Women in level 1 can benefit from the visits but the groups have to be homogeneous to create a circle of confidence to break the isolation and language skills have to be taken in account for a clear communication.
