DIGITAL CULTURAL HERITAGE AS A RESOURCE FOR EDUCATION, INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Digitalisation provides significantly more opportunities to preserve, access and share cultural heritage, yet digital access does not by itself create educational, innovative or sustainable value. This article examines the conditions under which digital cultural heritage becomes an active resource for learning, creative use and sustainable development. The study is a conceptual analysis of literature on digital cultural heritage, education and sustainable development, combined with a reevaluation of selected findings from the author's 2016 qualitative research on intercultural communication competence. That earlier work is not treated as empirical evidence about digital heritage; rather, it extends the conceptual lens of knowledge, motivation, skills, openness and experiential learning to contemporary digital heritage practices. The article argues that digital cultural heritage becomes valuable through a process that moves from preservation and access towards contextualisation, engagement, learning, skills development and creative reuse. Examples from Europeana concerning digital heritage education and immersive cultural experiences demonstrate both the opportunities and the limitations of technology-supported learning. The case of Uzbek audiovisual heritage, focusing on the photographic and cinematographic legacy of Khudaibergan Devanov, shows how historically significant archival materials can serve as tools for education, intercultural understanding, research and creative engagement. The article concludes that sustainable value does not come from digitisation itself, but from the interaction of digital infrastructure, cultural context, educational practice, institutional capacity and human creativity.