Creating an Innovative Vocational E-learning Model that Harnesses the Potential of Digital Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage has a vital role to play in higher vocational education. The need to look at the past to understand the present is common among generations and is rather universal. In 2014, the European Commission invited all stakeholders to progress towards an ‘Integrated Approach towards Cultural Heritage’, by viewing how public policies at all levels could better be organized to draw out the long-term and sustainable value of Europe’s cultural heritage (European Commission, Towards an integrated approach to cultural heritage for Europe—Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. https://eurlex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52014DC0477&from=en, Accessed 11 August 2022, 2014). According to the Eurobarometer (2017), 88% of European citizens agree that Europe’s cultural heritage should be included in the general education curriculum at all levels. The year 2018 was the European Year of Cultural Heritage, dedicated to celebrating Europe’s heritage as a rich and diverse mosaic of cultural and creative expressions. The European Year focused on four main pillars: engagement for heritage, sustainability, protection, and innovation. These pillars created a unique opportunity for education and showed the way for new skills, competencies, and sustainable learning. Humankind has always been curious with an enormous desire to see and learn about the cultural identity of different parts of the world. Relying on the four pillars, the current research paper proposes a new e-learning innovative model for vocational education. The analysis draws in the findings collected in three European countries (Cyprus, Italy, and Lithuania) between 2021 and 2022. A mixed research method has been applied to examine digital and cultural heritage competencies among young learners. Putting cultural heritage at the core of a vocational education curriculum, the proposed model contributes to sustainable education, and it is appropriate for formal, non-formal, and informal education.