From July 29 to August 1, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders (CIFAL) Jeju organised the workshop “Harnessing Heritage Assets for Inclusive Growth and Community Empowerment in the Asia-Pacific Region”, gathering cultural institutions and government representatives from nine Asia-Pacific countries to discuss and address local issues.

Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders (CIFAL) 

Prof Eugene CH'NG, Dean of the School of Culture and Creativity, was invited to deliver a lecture titled “Digital Tools and Creative Technology for Heritage Promotion and Access”. He highlighted how digital tools and creative technology can go beyond intangible and tangible heritage assets in creating immersive environments that extend, replicate, simulate and enhance culture and heritage through accessible computational tools and approaches, and through community co-creation and storytelling, all within local environments with limited resources and infrastructure.

Prof Eugene CH'NG emphasised through real-world digital heritage projects how AI, VR, AR and interactive 3D are transforming the heritage landscape. He focused the lecture on the importance of educating the younger generation in the tools of the future, and what the School of Culture and Creativity is doing in creating programmes that target the digital heritage workforce through courses such as 3D Modelling, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Digitising Heritage, and Generative AI Workflow for Media. These courses equip students with the skills to create and tell stories of their heritage, while meeting the growing demands of the digital heritage workforce.

Prof Eugene CH’NG noted that the workshop not only provided an opportunity for academic exchange. He said, “All of us have become friends both in partnerships in our single vision to explore how socio-economic models, digital technologies, finance models, community and participatory approaches can harness tangible and intangible heritage assets in our own localities.”

Ambassador Sung-Chul SHIN (second from left) is currently the seventh Director of the Jeju Island/Jeju International Training Center (JITC) of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research