About

The OWHC Regional Secretariat for Northwest Europe and North America organizes on occasion of its 2021 virtual Regional Conference a special workshop, focusing on the use of digital tools in cultural heritage management.

Digital transformation can play an essential role in enabling cultural experiences, knowledge creation, preservation, and use and re-use of cultural heritage across borders. Digitized cultural objects moreover unlock the potential for broader societal, cohesive and economic benefits of sectors such as tourism, education and creative sectors. The possibilities opened up by the increasing advances in digital technologies are impressive and ever-growing. From 3D tech, to artificial intelligence and virtual/augmented reality, these are all being used to not only ensure preservation but also capture the imaginations of a younger, digital-native audience inspiring the admiration and appreciation for our vast cultural treasures.

Especially UNESCO World Heritage sites are facing the challenge to preserve their incredible heritage and at the same time make it accessible to a wide audience. The use of digital tools can support our OWHC cities in offering barrier-free and low-threshold knowledge transfer and information of their rich heritage. Based on a survey held in May 2021 amongst our Regional Secretariat member cities on the use of digital tools, we realized the need for training and competency strengthening in the field in general.

In an interactive workshop, we would like to invite all professionals in heritage management, sites managers, students, responsible people in the museums and visitor centres to learn and discuss tools of digitization and their use in heritage communication.

Input Presentation

“Why digital tools can support our efforts in Cultural Heritage management”
Anika Kronsberger, FH Joaneum Graz (University of Applied Sciences)

DI (FH) Anika Kronberger, MA., is a designer, content strategist, and lecturer. Her work includes research, ideation, interaction design, user experience design, exhibition design, visual design, and content strategy. Her clients come from the fields of art and culture, museums, education, and non-profit organizations.  Anika Kronberger is also a researcher and lecturer at the FH JOANNEUM at the Institute of Design and Communication in Graz. Her research interests and areas of activity include information design in media production and interactive spaces, user experience design, content strategy, and mixed reality environments.

A virtual heritage experience journey

Travel the phases of heritage facilitation and communication: an interactive discussion and practice examples in subgroups, based on the different levels of interaction with our audience in cultural heritage communication

1. strictly at home –  with our tablet on the couch (digital only)
2. preparation of a visit on site/in real (support tools)
3. interaction – personal encounter on-site (digitally supported)
4. digital immersion  (new technology)
5. take the culture home / share your impressions (blog/social media/rating platforms)

Examples from our member cities and beyond – get inspiration!

Summary by Dr. Matthias Ripp, Regional Coordinator OWHC Northwest Europe and North America

We would like to invite you to share actively your experiences with digital tools in your work, to bring in examples (also negative ones), and to learn from each other. With support of Mural, a whiteboard collaborative tool, we will try to collect your input and structure our discussions.

End of registration: October 19th 2021

Registration for our workshop closes October 19^th – should you be an OWHC member city and still be interested to participate, please contact directly the organizing Regional Secretariat in Regensburg: [email protected]

Contact

For questions or input, please contact the Regional Secretariat: [email protected]