Museums, memorial sites, and educational institutions are increasingly using digital technologies to address and commemorate the history of the Holocaust, such as digital testimonies of survivors, interactive remembrance games, and engaging social media formats. However, few projects have the digital strategies and infrastructure necessary to become lasting resources. This results in a “sustainability crisis” in digital Holocaust memory and education, as projects are abandoned due to a lack of support for long-term maintenance and impact analysis.
The working paper, “Sustainable Digital Futures for Holocaust Memory and Education,” published by the United Nations and the Landecker Digital Memory Lab, emphasizes the key interventions needed specifically from policymakers and funders to ensure that digital Holocaust memory projects are not short-lived, but rather can be maintained for the long term.
Its findings were informed by a workshop that the Landecker Digital Memory Lab held together with The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme in June 2024. The workshop brought together policymakers, funders, and transnational stakeholders. In discussions, these participants developed recommendations on how to support the sector in adopting long-term digital solutions, such as promoting knowledge exchange between projects and institutions and establishing an interdisciplinary, central advisory committee to assist funders and applicants.
You can read the full paper, which includes the key analysis and recommendations, here.
About the Landecker Digital Memory Lab
How can Holocaust museums, memorial sites, and archives make better use of digital technology? This question lies at the heart of the Landecker Digital Memory Lab. The Lab aims to promote knowledge and experience sharing in the field of digital Holocaust remembrance, fostering productive academic discourse and new practical initiatives.
Funded by the Alfred Landecker Foundation, the Lab is located within the Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies and the Sussex Digital Humanities Lab at the University of Sussex's Faculty of Media, Arts, and Humanities.