A collaboration has been initiated between Europeana Europe’s largest host platform for digital cultural content), the DiCultHer network and the Central Institute of the Union Catalogue of the Italian Libraries and Bibliographic Information (ICCU) (which manages Culturaitalia, the Italian National aggregator) in order to promote digital cultural heritage.One of the objectives of the collaboration is to ensure the “right of every citizen to be educated in the knowledge and responsible use of digital technology for the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage”. The partners believe that cultural heritage (or legacy, with its identity-informing impact), citizenship education and intercultural dialogue is an increasing driver and strategic resource towards the development of a strong European identity.
The 2018 launch of this collaboration during the European Year of Cultural Heritage represents the natural continuity of Europeana and CulturaItalia’s work, “transforming the world with culture”. It also represents a continuation of DiCultHer’s mission. This emphasises the social and economic relevance of cultural heritage, today and in the future, proposing new interventions for the strengthening of a European identity and how this develops socially, in work, in the sharing of common values, and through education.
With that aim, the DiCultHer Network School has joined with Europeana and Culturaitalia to undertake the challenge of delivering on this shared mission.
It is a priority for the Italian education sector in 2018 to increase awareness about the importance of involving and empowering young people and their teachers, to take an active role in exploring and informing their European citizenship.
A series of joint initiatives have been planned in order to reflect together on Digital Culture as an impactor of contemporary cultural identity and to co-create and consolidate a homogeneous and shared digital culture. This shared digital culture should be based on the knowledge of the digital ecosystem, and on the critical issues and opportunities connected to the responsible use of digital technology for the protection and enhancement of European cultural heritage.
To this end, one of the main goals will be the integration of digital cultural heritage content in the school curricula. Students and lecturers will then have the opportunity to browse the Collections and the many thematic paths of Europeana and Culturaitalia and those that will be created together with DiCultHer, designed to offer different perspectives on historical, political, economic, cultural and human developments throughout European history and beyond.