Basic aim: Increase HEIs capacity, resilience and extroversion, using OI and contribute to the revival of cultural heritage in times of crisis. Specific objectives: 1.Document the positive impact HEIs collaborative outreach on cultural heritage and CHOs recovery through citizen-driven OI, gathering evidence on gaps and untapped potential 2. Enable HEIs to strengthen European identity by revitalising values & safeguarding cultural capital 3. Equip HEIs to address social needs 4.Offer training opportunities to HE staff & students on OI practices 5.Bring innovative learning & teaching methods and practices to HEIs and CHOs in the post-pandemic era 6.Enrich their insight and resources by prioritising identification, documentation, conservation, and dissemination of local cultural creation and tacit knowledge 7.Develop models for OI collaborations 8.Demonstrate financial and social sustainability of crowd-based cultural heritage Ps 9.Enhance active student participation in solving real life challenges 10. Enable people with fewer opportunities 11. Assess OIs added value 12. Provide a HEIs policy framework 13. Assess and showcase the sustainability of crowd-based cultural heritage projects by HEIs.14. Provide HEI-driven models of OI.
The project aimed to provide resilient and sustainable solutions through innovative methods like open innovation (OI) and citizen science (CS) to benefit society, focusing on how universities could support the recovery of the cultural and creative sector (CCS), particularly small and medium-sized cultural heritage organizations (CHOs). The pandemic highlighted the power of community-driven initiatives on digital collaboration, such as hackathons and maker spaces, but there was a lack of pedagogical resources on OI's potential and the role of HEIs in this context. The project sought to fill this gap by exploring how HEIs could use OI tools to support CHOs, address the economic and social impacts of their cooperation, and ensure sustainability. The project also emphasized the importance of CHOs in safeguarding collective memories, fostering civic engagement, and promoting social cohesion, especially in rural areas, where they risk disappearing in the competitive post-pandemic market. Reversing this trend was a key goal of the project. The project aimed to create a lasting impact by equipping HEIs with tools and methodologies to drive cultural heritage preservation and innovation, while also promoting social inclusion, and diversity.