New technologies and digital communication are transforming societies, changing lifestyles, consumption patterns and power relationships in economic value chains. In this changing landscape, the role of culture is more important than ever.
Over the last decades, the application of digital technologies to the production and management of Cultural Heritage-related data has progressively been replacing traditional methods of data gathering, organization and management.
Today, almost all museums and cultural places are accompanied by digital tools, which improve their work and strengthen the public exchange. During the COVID-19 crisis, museums have gone from a total closure to reduced accesses according to social distancing measures. The pandemic had a twofold impact: the impossibility of experiencing the physical dimension of places of Cultural Heritage and the increasing attempts to ‘put online’ not yet structured cultural products and services.
Considering this background, the idea of the DCBox project came to life. Its main goal is to create a new generation of European professionals working in the Cultural Heritage sector, equipped with a recognised, cross-cutting and high-level digital skillset. More specifically, it aims at better defining and encourage the emerging professional profile of the Digital Curator, who represents the turnkey toward a real digital transformation of cultural experiences, as up to date there’s no single, unanimously agreed reference framework to empower learners with skills, competences and expertise a DC should provide, that is a synthesis of technical knowhow and humanistic background.
To this purpose, the DCBox consortium is currently working on the development of a free and open online course containing researched and innovative educational material regarding the knowledge/skills/competencies a Digital Curator should have, with particular focus on sustainable digitization for Cultural Heritage.
To take stock of the results achieved so far and discuss the next steps, representatives from Marche Polytechnic University, Sinergia Consulenze, University of Cordoba, the Cyprus Institute, Lusófona University, University of Niš and UNIMED gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, from 7th to 9th December, 2022, for the Learning, Teaching, Training Activity. It was an important moment of exchange and mutual learning to empower every professor and researcher involved in the project to properly use the Virtual Toolbox platform to be used in the second half of the project. To keep updated on the project results, have a look at the website and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn!
