Cultural Heritage and New Technologies: Exploring Opportunities for Cultural Heritage Sites from Gen Z’s Perspective

Abstract

The preservation and promotion of cultural heritage has been a major focus of European and international policy makers and researchers. Access to it is transformational (europeana.eu), which is why new technologies seem to be a good opportunity in doing so, especially in education. The young generation (Gen Z) is one of digital natives, as a result of their early exposure to the Internet and electronic gadgets. Thus, they usually expect more engaging experiences. At the same time, games have a powerful role in improving key skills and competencies required for success in education and professional life (Pellegrino, Hilton, 2012). Thus, this paper reviews available literature, exploring opportunities for cultural heritage sites through digital storytelling and gamification. A detailed bibliometric analysis provides insights about the progression of scientific papers related to cultural heritage and new technologies. Data was extracted from Scopus and mapped with VOSviewer visualization tool. Literature on Generation Z perception on cultural heritage is scarce. Even research on perception on cultural heritage of different generations is limited, with papers published in the last 2-3 years.