Co-Creating History: The Case of WORTHY as a Virtual Collaborative Museum

ABSTRACT Value co-creation unfolds as a system of interactions in which the user and service provider play an active role in collaboratively creating values that go beyond economical and financial worth. Value co-creation is a growing trend in museums; however, little is known about how it can enhance educational activities, especially concerning digital technologies. This study analyzes the role of digital technology in the value co-creation process by addressing the following research questions: (1) how can museums, and schools implement actions to enhance co-creation activities? and (2) how does digital technology contribute to the generation of a value co-creation approach, engaging a young target audience in history education? The research adopts a single case study methodology, which is based on WORld Wars Toward Heritage for Youth (WORTHY), an educational European project that involves cultural and educational institutions from Germany, Poland, Croatia, England, and Italy. WORTHY creates a virtual collaborative museum through a digital platform. The paper’s findings make clear that digital technologies play a role in value co-creation through two main experiences: learning and sharing. In the learning experience, digital co-creation is grounded in artifacts and contents, while during the sharing experience, digital technologies play a role relatively to people and content.