[Air-L] [Selfie] Digital Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage

[Dennis Redeker]

[SELFIE]

Together with a couple of friends, I started a project to safeguard culture
online. The project is called Island Ark Project. By now our team has grown
and we are approaching our first field work in the island country of Palau
to test the platform (not yet public) and train locals to use it. We are
very excited about it! I would love any feedback, tipps or criticism that
you may have! 

Dennis

Below is a longer description of the problem and our proposed solution:
(another take on it can be found on medium.com - http://bit.ly/1meywGn)

In island states around the world, living culture is under threat. A myriad
of factors, including man-made climate change, environmental degradation,
extreme weather events, globalization, increased pressure to migrate, small
and scattered populations, and lack of resources exacerbate the challenges
to cultural continuity. In order to properly address these issues and
preserve intangible cultural practices, careful preparation is needed on the
part of governments and civil society.

In response to these problems, the Island Ark Project team is in the process
of developing an online platform for cultural heritage protection. This web
platform will function as a repository where cultural practices collected by
local islanders can be safeguarded for current islanders and future
generations. The digital nature of the platform will enable communities to
continue to access information about immaterial heritage even if individual
members lose their physical connection to the community. You can read more
about Island Ark Project on http://islandarkproject.org. The development of
a viable platform in line with the community's expectations requires an
in-depth research effort on the ground relying on interviews and focus
groups. We are about to start that journey!

@island_ark, www.facebook.com/islandarkproject