At the Museum of Happiness in Indra (Krāslava region) - as well as in two other cultural sites in the region, the Environmental Education Centre of Jaundome Manor and the Andrupene Rural Homestead Museum - an important accessibility project has been implemented. This initiative significantly improves orientation for visitors, especially for people with visual impairments.

As part of the project, SOCINTEGRA developed tactile maps for all three popular tourist sites in the Krāslava region, as well as a mobile tactile exhibition “Invisible Happiness”, which has now been installed at the Museum of Happiness in Indra.

SOCINTEGRA Chairwoman Marija Kožarina explains: “At SOCINTEGRA, we have been working on accessibility solutions for people with visual impairments for 15 years, and I am truly pleased that more and more regions of Latvia are paying attention to accessibility, making their cultural spaces more inclusive and appealing to diverse visitor groups. The cooperation project with the tourist sites of the Krāslava region was both interesting and valuable. I would especially like to highlight the unique Museum of Happiness exhibition ‘Invisible Happiness’, which now allows visitors to experience the world not only through sight but also through touch, sound, taste and other senses.”

Director of the Museum of Happiness Ilona Kangizere adds: “The mission of the Museum of Happiness has never been to provide a universal answer to the timeless question ‘What is happiness?’, but rather to show the diversity of happiness and to encourage visitors to create, experience and find their own answer. Until now, the museum environment was adapted for people with mobility impairments; now we have taken an important next step by introducing solutions for visitors with visual impairments. In cooperation with SOCINTEGRA, we have created a unique two-metre-long ‘museum-in-a-suitcase’ exhibition ‘Invisible Happiness’, which allows every visitor to experience it through all senses. Moreover, the mobility of this exhibition enables us to present ‘Invisible Happiness’ outside the museum walls as well!”

The accessibility solutions for the Museum of Happiness, the Jaundome Manor Environmental Education Centre and the Andrupene Rural Homestead Museum were developed and implemented within Project No. 25-03-CL12-C0LA19.2201-000004 “Creation of tactile maps and the exhibition ‘Invisible Happiness’ for visitors with visual impairments in tourism sites of the Krāslava region”, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Support Service. The LEADER project competitions in the Krāslava region are administered by the Krāslava District Partnership.