T4EU Science Café Session 'Universities and Heritage'

The event, being part of the T4EU initiatives, was designed to promote science beyond the university boundaries, exchange knowledge and maintain a culture of dialogue. Its goal was to present to the GLAM stakeholders and the wider public in the region diverse research areas and modern technologies in an attractive manner and engage a wide audience with important social issues like sustainable heritage.

Our team organized a discussion around the significance of preserving and sharing cultural heritage by employing modern technologies and digitalization. We were driven by the need to foster a broader understanding of the importance of this process and respond to the newest challenges we face as a society nowadays. We were inspired by the theme of the tangible and intangible impact these processes have on people’s lives.

In this day and age, pretty much all public sectors are being transformed digitally. Especially over the past decade, this fast-paced process has demonstrated greater and easier access to cultural products in times of crises (i.e. COVID-19, remote access, etc.) What promotion strategies and instruments could we use to deepen the connection between individuals and the cultural and creative sectors? How does digitalization help preserve cultural heritage and what is its invisible influence on our lives? Could technology serve as a tool for preserving archives, museum collections, etc. and transforming them into virtual galleries, digital libraries (permanent access to documentation), ‘visiting’ archaeological sites online and/or travelling exhibitions? Is digitalization an effective way of promoting national/regional culture globally and how can this process contribute to the sustainable development of Culture and Arts? We tried to answer these questions with our guests: prof. Vasil Marinov (SU), assoc. prof. Stelian Dimitrov (SU), assoc. prof. Maria Baramova (SU) and assoc. prof. Roberta Altin (UniTs). Moderator: Victoria Lekova (PhD candidate and R1 researcher at Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’).