Digital Cultural Tourism and Diplomacy | UNESCO Chair Winter School 2022

The 2022 edition of the UNESCO Chair Winter School will be realized on the theme of 'Digital Cultural Tourism and Diplomacy' in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage at the Cyprus University of Technology in Cyprus. Applications are open to join the Winter School 2022 of the UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), also known as “living heritage” or “living culture”, refers to living practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills passed down from generation to generation. This heritage provides communities with a sense of identity and is continuously created and recreated to express their own deepest values, and in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and history. It is called “intangible” because its existence and recognition mainly depend on human knowledge and will, which is immaterial, and is transmitted by imitation and living experience.

The 2022 Winter School done as a collaboration between two UNESCO Chairs: “on Digital Cultural Heritage” and “in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites”, is dedicated to investigating how ICTs designed to enhance the tourism experience can help in preserving and transmitting living heritage and bring people to work and live closer together, while at the same time promoting different forms of tourism – cultural, historic, religious, eno-gastronomic, etc. – that go beyond traditional “sun sea and sand”. Cyprus with its richness of tangible and intangible heritage will provide a suggestive background, as well as an ideal environment with various case studies.

Lectures and talks, visits to UNESCO World Heritage Sites and other places, experience of unique local traditions, hands-on exercises, and a range of formal and informal activities will allow participants to understand how to leverage smart digital technologies for sustainable tourism and cultural diplomacy in order to preserve and transmit living heritage.

A certificate of participation that will include the detailed program and list of speakers will be issued at the end of the Winter School. ECTS credits are not granted, but academic institutions may recognize ECTS credits upon presentation of this certificate.

APPLICATIONS: send a complete CV and a one-page motivation letter to: unescochair@usi.ch by 22 November 2021.

All participants must meet the COVID-19 protocols applicable for travel to Cyprus - see guidelines.