Project update summer 2021
The past few months we have been working diligently. From the autumn onwards, everything will accelerate, but where do we stand now?
The web platform and image management system
In order to disclose and digitise the 100,000 heritage objects from the five participating collections (Design Museum Gent, Huis Van Alijn, Industriemuseum, Archief Gent, STAM), we have built the necessary technological infrastructure (OSLO standard). We linked an image management system as well, which is easy to use, consult and manage.
The five collections can be consulted on a web platform that will be launched in the autumn of 2021. Besides consulting the collections, residents, organisations, companies and professionals will also be able to add extra information to certain objects or images. This will then become 'the sixth collection', in addition to the collections of the five participating museums.
The CoGent box
Besides the availability on the website, you will also be able to consult these collections in the CoGent box, a high-tech mobile space. By using stories from their neighbourhood, residents will be able to discover the extensive collection of heritage in Ghent. In the box they will be able to use a180-degree screen and an interactive table with touch screens, among other things. In the box we also encourage residents to enrich the collection with their own material and stories (in the form of audio, images or text).
In the summer of 2021 the technical plans for the box will be finalised, after which the material for the construction will be ordered and the construction will start in October. From 2022 onwards, the CoGent will then begin its tour of Ghent, starting in Wondelgem.
The three districts where the CoGent will have its residence have been decided a while ago:
Spring 2022: Wondelgem, in the front yard of the Liberteyt, a residential care centre
Summer 2022: Watersportbaan-Ekkergem, near the Bollekensschool
Autumn 2022: Tolhuis-Sluizeken-Ham, in the Tolhuispark
If you would like to see a test set-up of the CoGent box, you can visit the Krook in the autumn. We are organising a number of test days in which visitors can experience and test the technology and set-up of the box. Afterwards, we will use the test results to adapt the navigation and/or certain elements in the box.
© Huis van Alijn
Input from residents, organisations, interest groups, cultural sector, etc.
Project partner iDROPS developed a toolkit with methods for involving residents in the use of cultural heritage. The toolkit is meant for professionals in community work, culture, museums, schools, organisations, associations, heritage institutions and key figures in a neighbourhood. They can use it together with residents to link their own ideas for projects and activities to the Collections of Ghent and the stories from the neighbourhood. In September 2021, iDROPS will organise a training on the use of the toolkit. Attention will be paid to developing the skills needed to guide residents in heritage projects.
Neighbourhood activation plans are also being drawn up for the 3 selected neighbourhoods. These plans consist of various activities to encourage local residents to participate. Besides sharing their own stories, residents can also (help to) organise activities in and around the CoGent-box. A first activity in Wondelgem is 'de Zomer van de Neptune'.
In addition, the people of Ghent can also visit the cultural data lab for various workshops and activities. This is a hybrid meeting place in the Krook for those who wish to immerse themselves in the use and re-use of Open Linked Data and the data of the Collections of Ghent. The cultural data lab kicked off on 10/06 with a livestream lunch session. In the autumn we are planning a number of more creative and in-depth workshops around the use of Open Linked Data.
Finally, in September we will launch the Co-creation Fund. The Co-creation Fund supports projects that use the Collections of Ghent in an innovative way. If you use heritage data in a technological or creative way then you have a chance of getting a financial boost of 2,000 to 20,000 euros.