In the modern world, the role of the museum is constantly being transformed and rethought (Dalle Nogare, Murzyn-Kupisz, 2021; Castillo et all, 2021). Nowadays the key trend in European countries is building interaction between the spheres of culture and education, especially Universities, to create a common space for the generation of meanings (Poce et all, 2022; Ippoliti, Casale, 2021). This question is so actual that The Network of European museum organizations created special group The learning museum (LEM) to develop partnership between museums and education (NEMO, 2022).  

One of the key requirements of modern society in relation to museums is that they become a place of public discussion, dialogue between different generations.  Moreover, at present, the museum space, like other urban spaces, can become a place for the formation of a community of learners who would be united by common interests and goals. Belonging to such a community can improve educational results, have a positive effect on the development of communication skills and other "soft" skills by adolescents. Such a community is characterized in research as "The Community of Inquiry". It involves the combination of four closely related components: teaching presence, social presence, cognitive presence. All three components are positively interconnected and improvement in one of them inevitably leads to changes in the other.

This is fully consistent with the most current brain-friendly museum concept, which has successfully begun to be implemented in European museum spaces in recent years (Banzi A., 2023; Forte M., Pietroni E., 2022; Banzi, A., Ferrara, V., Folgieri, R., Lucchiari, C., Riva, M. A., Sironi, V. A., & Vanutelli, M. E., 2023). This transformation of the museum's position is reflected in the new definition proposed by the International Council of Museums, in which the museum becomes a democratizing, inclusive and polyphonic space for critical dialogue about the past and the future (ICOM).

However, such a turnaround is not always easy for museums, especially with regard to communication with teenagers and young people. In order to make the expositions really interesting for young people, special mediation methods are required. Unfortunately, as an alternative to the classic monologue tour, museums often, entertain visitors (quests, quizzes, shows, etc.). Such ways of working can attract attention for a while, but do not contribute to a deep understanding of the exposition, artifacts and their role in the life of the visitor and modern society. Another alternative is to use participatory approach, when a museum designs spaces, communication methods and other modern museum products in collaboration with visitors. It assumes the active position of the visitors and building a direct dialogue with them. Such interactions allow the heritage to “work” in a completely different way promoting the growth of civic consciousness and understanding of social reality. But the results of international studies indicate that schoolteachers and museum workers often estimate projects working with soft skills development through participation of teenagers in reconceptualization of the exhibitions as too difficult task (Hooper-Greenhill Е., 2007; Ateş A., Lane F. J., 2020; 52. Skydsgaard M. A., Møller Andersen H., King H., 2016).

Thus, the purpose of the study was to identify how participatory practices work with soft skills of adolescents, as well as with building the community of teenagers, which share same interests and experience. The resulting model can be successfully used in thematically other museums in different countries, since it includes universal methods of building participation and working community.

At the preliminary stage, the research method was the analysis of existing cases: of the introduction of participatory strategies into the organization of museum events and of the construction of a creative inclusive community of students. As a result, a prototype of the model was designed, which needed to be tested during the second stage of the study. In accordance with the action research method, the implementation of educational events was both the first experience of implementing the model and material for subsequent analysis. Testing of the developed model included several mandatory components. Each participatory project involved two groups of teenagers: an experimental group (directly creating the museum product) and a testing group, which participated in the evaluation of the developed tool. The project participants also took part in focus groups and in-depth interviews: a total of 6 focus groups and 6 interviews were conducted. During the focus groups and interviews before the implementation of the projects, the level of soft skills development was determined. The first participatory project within the framework of the study was carried out place in the Museum of the Sergei Obraztsov Puppet Theater in Moscow. Two groups of teenagers participated in the study (totally 70 teenagers) for 3 months. During the group work the participants selected 6 puppets and came up with personal narratives for them, what made a base for creating a musical performance audio guide and the route map. The second participatory project was implemented at the Mikhail Bulgakov’s Museum, dedicated to the biography of the outstanding writer, who became the author of such works as «The Master and Margarita» and «The White Guard». The museum was attended by 17 students from various schools, some of whom continued their participation after the previous participatory project. As a result of the participants' activities, a chatbot for exploring the exposition was developed. Even though the group participants may not have known each other initially, during the project they involved friends and classmates in it, which also had a positive effect on building a community. This was achieved, due to a stable interest of the participants in completing the project and due to the emergence of a new common experience. Work on the products also continued in the online space, and participants joined a single chat in Telegram, which allowed the community to develop and continue in an online format.

The study resulted in the development of a model that allows transforming the museum space into a place for developing soft skills in teenagers, as well as forming a community out of them by introducing participatory methods and a different presentation of the exposition. Thus, double testing of the model showed that it allows for the formation of a community The first component of the model describes the process of revealing the educational potential of the museum space. After a problematizing question is brought into the museum space, it reveals its own potential for forming both skills and values, literally entering into a dialogue with both the visitor and the external environment. The second component draws attention to the fact that the source of the question should be the target audience of the educational event itself. Their participants, most likely, have certain requests that should be established at the stage of designing a professional trial using interviews, focus groups, and discussions. Paying attention to requests, highlighting similar features allows participants to more deeply feel common interests and become closer to forming a community. The third component of the model describes how exactly participatory behavior should be built during a developing educational event. Typically, such an event is of an ongoing nature, includes several meetings at the museum, independent project work by students. Thus, the model allows, using a participatory approach, to: reveal the educational potential of the space of a cultural institution, launch the process of forming a creative community of students and promote the development of soft skills, including critical and creative thinking

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