Approximately one-fourth of the population of Sweden will suffer from mental health problems at some point in their lives. This article shares a case study of collaboration between Jamtli Museum and a local hospital (K2) that aimed to provide adult learning opportunities for people with diverse mental health issues. Findings show some differences between how women and men experienced the visits, as well as a marked increase in participants' confidence, social skills and senses of well-being. New knowledge gained on historical agriculture, as well as skills through working experientially with animals, changed how participants viewed their own capabilities and competencies. As a result, cultural heritage organisations such as Jamtli need to be seen as important pedagogical sites that contribute in multiple ways to human well-being.
Is it morally acceptable for the heritage sector to see the growing population of senior citizens as a developing market? Jamtli is an open air museum in the north of Sweden. The main target group is families with children, but an increasing number of activities for older adults are being offered. The growing population of older people is a potential market for Jamtli's commercial role as a tourist attraction, if the right activities are offered. At the same time Jamtli has an important part to play in providing learning activities and working for social inclusion for various audiences. This paper takes as its starting point an acknowledgement that senior citizens as such are not a homogeneous group. Some are more active than others, and their willingness to get involved varies. Some want entertainment, others crave learning while social inclusion and access are important to some people. Four examples will illustrate why there might be a moral dilemma in being both a money-making tourist attraction and at the same time work with learning and inclusion, arguing that older adults are an important market for cultural heritage sites.
Datafication has become an all-encompassing infiltrator in societal processes, among other the formation of publics and the actors that support such processes (i.e. journalism and information technologies). This article reviews four approaches to the study of public formation. These are (1) public and civic connections, (2) issue publics, (3) networked publics and (4) algorithmic publics. The review is a point of departure to conceptually discuss how to study the formation of public in a datafied era and to present a hybrid research agenda with four entry points that can open up for critical analysis of how datafication challenges the relationship between journalism, platforms, algorithms and audiences. Our argument is that a holistic, interdisciplinary and hybrid research approach is needed if the complexity of datafication and its transformative effects on the formation of publics is to be fully grasped.
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