Session: #315

Regular session

The COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected societies around the world, tearing apart the social fabric and plunging the global economy into a deep recession. Despite its negative impact, the cultural sector has gained new experiences, contributing to the successful management of multiple issues and highlighting the essential role of cultural heritage in communication, social inclusion, and economic regeneration. In recent years new technologies, like remotely sensed imagery, GIS, web databases for remotely managing cultural heritage, VR, AR and MR for highlighting cultural heritage, widening the museum experience for keeping stable the visitors’ numbers, social web platforms for sharing cultural experience and gathering the community globally, have prevailed as new trends, thus contributing to a new ethics model which is being formed. The footprint is also visible in tourism, further affecting the sector of economy.
Remote access and remote management, open linked data, common sharing, are some of the “new normality’s” main aspects. People’s cultural and social experience is moving from the physical to the virtual. As a result, the term “virtual collective memory” might be considered rather appropriate.
Considering the pandemic as a catalyst for change, reinventing, through new practices, the common values that connect people worldwide, this session addresses issues like: “Where does the cultural sector really stands today? Have the new technologies worked out? What is in fact the new cultural heritage management model arising? Should we consider linked open data and crowdsourcing as the new scientific framework? How would the role of professionals in the cultural sector be shaped? How might the respective economic footprint be shaped? Should we talk for a virtually based future in the cultural sector?” Protecting, re-evaluating, revitalizing our common heritage, interpreting society’s needs and supporting tourism, should form our priorities for gaining back the balance between the physical and the virtual and achieving people’s re-integration.

Cultural heritage, New technologies, Virtual reality, Collective memory, Linked open data, Crowdsourcing

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Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports-General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, National Technical University of Athens, Finnish Heritage Agency, University of Helsinki, “Nilhamn” - Dutch Museum and Cultural Heritage consult company, The Netherlands

Athina Chroni (Greece) ^1,2

Pirjo Hamari (Finland) ³
Bonnie Nilhamn (Netherlands) ^4,5