Module 1: Open innovation in academia-society cooperation: examples of cultural heritage preservation in situations of crisis.

 

Authors’ statement

The scope of this online module is to *act* for the cultural heritage sector, and to raise awareness of the action-driven impact of citizens to preserve a cultural continuum in an armed conflict. The dimension of taking action takes the shape of participatory practices that bring together citizens in Ukraine and abroad, the Ukrainian diaspora, experts, academics, civil society organisations with the aim of contributing to the healing of the cultural heritage crisis. Open innovation will be the vehicle for reaching this ultimate goal. This online resource is an example of what citizen engagement -and broadly, humanity- is positively capable of doing in the face of a disaster. It can be broadly seen as a manifestation of the value that citizens can bring to a fractured world.

The authors, well beyond dichotomies and fractures, have faith in culture serving humanity for a better world- and taking action in this direction is the sole motivation of the authors, resulting in the creation of this resource.

 

Authors take full responsibility for any omissions or mistakes.

 

Abstract

This module is one of 6 online modules on the topic of open innovation methods and practices for the cultural heritage sector. They have been released within the framework of the EU-funded project eCHOIng (https://echoing.eu/).

This module is designed to share knowledge on the way open innovation can enhance academia-society cooperation in cultural heritage preservation, especially in crisis situations.

In this context, the European Commission (2016) defines open innovation as involving far more actors in the innovation process, from researchers, to entrepreneurs, to users, to governments and civil society.

The module takes the current Ukrainian conflict as a case study, by providing examples that emphasise the connections between open innovation, citizen engagement, and academia-society cooperation for the benefit of the cultural heritage sector.

 

Module Duration: 15 hours

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module participants will be able to:

• Understand in-depth the notion of open innovation as a form and a means of citizens’ engagement;
• Identify how academia-society cooperation in crises has been further developed through open innovation;
• Analyse concrete examples of open innovation-driven initiatives in the cultural heritage sector with contributing citizens and academic staff to tackle the Ukrainian crisis;
• Plan mixing and matching activities that support citizen engagement.

 

OI project:

Learners will acquire valuable and concrete knowledge on how to organise and run a hackathon for the cultural sector, as the module provides a detailed description of the steps required to be taken as well as resources for learners to delve deeper on this open innovation practice.

 

Module structure and components

The module is divided into 5 parts. At the end of the module, there is a quiz to assess participants’ understanding of the resources:

 

• Unit 1: Open Innovation as crisis response in academia-society cooperation
• Unit 2: Open Innovation as a response to cultural heritage crises and the role of academia-society cooperation
• Unit 3: Case study: Impact on Ukrainian cultural heritage
• Unit 4: Open innovation in academia-society cooperation
• Unit 5: A concrete example of an open innovation initiative for cultural heritage in times of crisis

Materials and resources

The module’s main materials are based on a variety of resources:

• Studies and reports issued by distinguished authors and international organisations on cultural heritage protection and preservation in times of crisis
• Material provided by CHOs and HEIs through their official webpages

 

Authors: Stefania Oikonomou, Katerina Zourou

Contributors: Mariana Ziku, Maria Grazia Oikonomou

 

Reviewer: Milena Dobreva, Ph.D.